Ferdinand von Schirach, CRIME
btb - Stories - August 2009 - 220 pages
Ferdinand von Schirach had to deal in his profession with people who have done or experienced extreme things on a daily basis. The monstrous is the normal case for him. He represented innocent people who came into conflict with the law, as well as extremely dangerous criminals.
"His cool, lucid lyrics seemed as if they'd been carved with a chisel. Yet they were more touching than anything that sought to stir. His stories were only a few pages long. Nevertheless, they told more about life and death than some of the more rambling novels of contemporary German literature." - NZZ Folio
"These stories are so moving because the narrator avoids any pathos in a controlled way. His cool prose is the literary discovery of the year." - Abendzeitung
"Anyone who wants to give a non-lawyer an understanding of the world and the work of a defence lawyer should definitely take Ferdinand von Schirach’s crime to heart. Not only because of the clear, precise, beautiful language with which he composes his stories. But also because it is rare to find such a literarily skilful examination of the principle of guilt in German criminal law. Schirach has succeeded in writing an extraordinary book, for lawyers and non-lawyers alike." - Financial Times Deutschland
"A successful Berlin criminal defence lawyer proves to be a startlingly perceptive narrator, who shows in highlighting stories how the parallel world of crime has taken root in the bourgeois world." - Literarische Welt
"A lawyer tells how life is - razor-sharp and tender at the same time. You want to be defended by the man immediately." - Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung
"One is amazed at his ability to create a mood, a feeling for an atmosphere, a face, a character in just four or five short sentences […] a real masterpiece […] This here is a particularly urgent reading challenge!" - Falter
"What is captivating about this book is the perfection of form, the pure aesthetics of language. Schirach does not write about crime, he shapes crime into literature. He does not overcome chaos by writing, but elevates it to an aesthetic phenomenon. This is fascinating and disturbing at the same time." - taz
"Every single story proves that reality can be much more bizarre than the most distant fantasy of a crime novelist. Schirach tells his stories very soberly and undramatically, which is precisely why they have such an impact." - Der Standard
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