Go, Went, Gone

By Jenny Erpenbeck, Susan Bernofsky (translator),

Book cover of Go, Went, Gone

Book description

Go, Went, Gone is the masterful new novel by the acclaimed German writer Jenny Erpenbeck, "one of the most significant German-language novelists of her generation" (The Millions). The novel tells the tale of Richard, a retired classics professor who lives in Berlin. His wife has died, and he lives a…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Go, Went, Gone as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Janet Golden

Author

This book transported me to the Berlin of today, where desperate immigrants are struggling to find a way to live.

It put me alongside a retired professor (which I am) who slowly comes to know some of these African men and who tries to help them and to make their lives easier, and in the process, realizes that his life as a widower and as someone no longer with a job or a title still can have enormous meaning for him and for others.

It is a book about the world outside of books and how people can endeavor to…

From Janet's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Anne Raeff

Author

This is a beautiful book about a retired academic and widower who finds himself embroiled in the lives of young African refugees trying to seek asylum in Berlin. What I love about this book, besides the beautiful writing, is that neither the widower nor the refugees are portrayed as saints and neither really finds redemption. It is, rather, a very real story of fragile yet real connections between people who, for entirely different reasons, are very much alone. I love this book because it holds us all accountable as human beings and asks us how we can retain our humanity,…

From Anne's list on looking for and finding refuge.