Reunion

Name: Reunion
ISBN: 9787559813183

弗雷德·乌尔曼 / 吴永熹Guangxi Normal University Press · ChinaJun 2019

4.4

Word count: 32K words
Chapters: 21
ISBN: 9787559813183

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Summary

In 1932, at the Alexander Gymnasium in the Wittenberg district of Stuttgart, Germany, a new boy joined the class of sixteen-year-old Jewish student Hans Schwarz. The boy, whose full name was Count Konradin von Hohenfels, was descended from a prominent local aristocratic family, and his arrival made teachers and students alike stiffen with formality. Hans, like the other boys, longed to catch Konradin's attention, and by a chance opportunity, thanks to their shared love of Hölderlin and ancient Greek coins, he and Konradin became the closest of friends. But from the very beginning this friendship was overshadowed by the Third Reich: as the anti-Semitic situation steadily worsened, Hans and Konradin, whose positions in life were so different, had a fierce quarrel, and though they agreed to remain friends, the friendship still drifted toward its end. Hans's parents decided to send him alone to America; this was Hans's last winter in Germany, but before parting the two boys never truly reconciled. Thirty years later, Hans, living in America, had become a successful lawyer. After learning that his parents had been forced to commit suicide, he never opened another page of Hölderlin's poetry and tried to forget that war and his own past as a German. One day, Hans, a devoted philanthropist, received a letter sent by the Alexander Gymnasium, enclosed with a list of alumni who had died in the Second World War... Can Hans and Konradin meet again on the other side of the world?

Editor's review

Reunion is a short novel with a long afterlife. It begins in 1932 at a secondary school in Stuttgart, where Hans, a Jewish boy, and Konradin, the scion of an aristocratic family, are drawn together by Hölderlin and an ancient Greek coin. Their friendship cracks under the shadow of the Third Reich, followed by parting, silence, and thirty years of avoidance. Fred Uhlman does not drive the narrative with grand battle scenes; instead he lets historical pressure settle on the relationship between two boys. A quarrel, an unreconciled letter, a poetry collection never opened again—each becomes the mark the era leaves on an individual. Wu Yongxi's translation keeps the narration restrained; emotion accumulates not through sentimentality but through detail and what is left unsaid. It is a book to read quietly in one sitting, and one to revisit for readers interested in German history around the Second World War, friendship, and memory. After finishing, it is worth asking: is the "reunion" a meeting with an old friend, or a meeting with a past that cannot be avoided?

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers who prefer restrained narration where detail carries emotion
Readers interested in German history and the fate of Jews around the Second World War
Readers drawn to themes of friendship, betrayal, and memory
Readers looking for a short work that lingers

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting battle scenes or strongly plot-driven storytelling
Readers who prefer light entertainment and avoid heavy historical subjects
Readers seeking full historical background explanation rather than literary narrative

Reading tips

Read it in one sitting if possible; the book is short, and continuous reading makes the emotional gap created by the time span more palpable.
Slow down at the quarrel between Hans and Konradin and at their parting, and note how the "unreconciled" affects what follows.
Use the two motifs of Hölderlin and the Greek coin to trace changes in the relationship, and to see how the author lets material detail carry historical pressure.
After finishing, take a moment to reflect on the meaning of the "reunion" at the end before deciding whether to reread the opening chapters.

About the publisher

Guangxi Normal University Press China · Founded in 1986

Guangxi Normal University Press is a publisher known for literature, foreign literature and history titles. Its 1,175 books in the database show a solid accumulation in classics and prose collections, including foreign literary works such as Les Fleurs du mal: Annotated Poems of Baudelaire, Snow Country, Dubliners and The Wild Palms, as well as modern prose compilations like The Complete Prose of Zhou Zuoren. History and philosophy also hold a notable share, with titles such as Running Dogs: Clerks and Runners in Qing County Yamen and The History and Thought of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom reflecting attention to Qing local administration and modern history. In art literature there is the 16-volume Ten Bamboo Studio Painting and Calligraphy Manual. Its author resources include foreign writers Charles Baudelaire and Yasunari Kawabata, translators and annotators Liu Nanqi and Zou Bo, and scholars such as Zhong Shuhe, Bradly W. Reed and You Chenjun. As public information is limited, this characterization is based only on the books in the database, which together present a profile balancing Chinese and foreign literary classics with academic works in the humanities and social sciences.

版权信息
序言
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
八
九
十
十一
十二
十三
十四
十五
十六
十七
十八
十九

FAQ

Is this book suitable for secondary school students?

In subject matter it involves a friendship broken under the shadow of the Third Reich, the rise of anti-Semitism, and family tragedy; the narration is restrained but the themes are heavy. Secondary school students who have a basic understanding of Second World War history and can accept a quiet, restrained literary approach may read it; those expecting strong plot and fast pacing may not find it suitable.

Why does Hans never open Hölderlin's poetry collection again?

Sources indicate that after learning of his parents' forced suicide, Hans never opened a page of Hölderlin's poetry again and tried to forget the war and his past as a German. Hölderlin was the starting point of his friendship with Konradin, so the collection carries too many memories tied to the friend and the trauma.

What does the title "Reunion" refer to?

From the introduction, Hans receives a letter from the Alexander School and a list of alumni who died in the Second World War, and the story leads from there to the question of whether "Hans and Konradin can meet again on the other side of the world." The title can refer both to meeting an old friend and to encountering an unavoidable past again; its specific meaning is best felt at the end of the reading.

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About the author

弗雷德·乌尔曼 Author

Fred Uhlman is a foreign-literature author included in this Chinese book database, yet the publicly available information about him is very limited: his nationality, dates of birth and death, and full writing career are not clearly recorded. The database holds one work by him, Reunion, classified under foreign literature. Judging from the title and the usual category, the book is likely a narrative literary work whose subject may involve encounters and emotional bonds between people, though no reliable information is available about its specific plot or background. Because biographical and bibliographical evidence is lacking, this note makes no guesses about the author's education, profession, awards, or writing career. On the present evidence, Uhlman's work reaches Chinese readers through a single translation, and its significance lies mainly in offering a readable sample of foreign literature in translation; readers may use Reunion for an initial acquaintance with his narrative style and concerns, while further understanding must await additional materials.

吴永熹 Author

Wu Yongxi is an author about whom limited public information is available. To date, only one work by this author is known, the representative title Reunion, which is classified under foreign literature. With just a single work, it is difficult to form a complete picture of the author's life and creative output. Based on the existing classification, however, the writing may involve introducing, commenting on, or reworking foreign literary material, suggesting a tendency to engage in dialogue with literary traditions from elsewhere. The title Reunion implies that the work may revolve around encounters, separation, and emotional memory; the title itself carries narrative and emotional tension and readily brings to mind the coming together and parting of characters. Judging from the work's categorization, Wu Yongxi's writing appears closer to literary expression aimed at general readers than to academic scholarship. Because more verifiable information is lacking, the author's nationality, dates of birth and death, educational background, and creative career cannot be confirmed, and further inference would be premature. Readers seeking to understand the style and influence of this author should still rely on the actual text of Reunion.