German / Germany
Was wir nicht wollten. Eine (fast) wahre Geschichte
(What we didn’t want. An [almost] true story)
Höra, Daniel
(text)
Berlin: Ueberreuter Verlag, 2018. – 253 p.
ISBN 978-3-7641-7086-8
Kidnapping | Disability | Group dynamics | Disinhibition
Reading age: 14+
White Ravens issue: 2019
What are you supposed to do when a situation escalates? When things get worse and worse and take a direction you neither foresaw nor planned. This is what happens to Koko, Tomi, Betty, Scholle, and Spargel. When Bobbo’s Mum snitches on them for a trifle, they decide to take revenge: They plan to kidnap Bobbo, who, due to an accident, has a mental disability, in order to give his mother a nasty shock. However, Heiner, the estate’s bully, witnesses their act and in turn blackmails them. As soon as everything gets out of control, the once tight group disintegrates into wobbly alliances and a dog-eat-dog behaviour. There is guilt and fear on one side, but also the fascination of power and bullying on the other. Using Spargel as the narrator, Daniel Höra has created a meticulous observer who captures interpersonal dynamics as well as the motives of each person.