Telemachos

Book excerpt: Kohlmeier's novel weaves together in highly original fashion two different literary traditions: Homeric epic and the German Bildungsroman or developmental novel. Its action rests on a framework suggested by Books One to Four of the Odyssey, the section called the Telemachy. This is the basis for a novel of universal proportions, spanning Western history from its origins as described in Greek creation myth to the present day.Modern Telemachos, son of Odysseus, is here a normal, intelligent, sensitive youth with a girlfriend, an uneasy relationship with his mother Penelope, and the uncomfortable burden of responsibility to the inheritance of a heroic father. The goddess Athene has little success in her efforts to transform him into a warrior hero. They founder on his modern, very human sensibility.We are dealing with a stable, luxuriant fabric composed of stories and history, with a matted flying carpet over time and space.