Der Inselmann

A forgotten island, its silent king, and the longing for a life away from the world. "The Island Man" is both a touching and powerful portrait of an outsider and a hymn to individuality.

In the early sixties, in a remote part of Germany, the Roleder couple moves to an uninhabited island in the middle of a large lake. It is an inward escape from the city and reality. Their son Hans is with them, finding a new home on the island. And so much more. Over time, the shy boy seems to merge with the island, the trees, the leaves, the moss, and the rocks. Hans becomes the king of the island. Until, with the notice from the school authorities, reality breaks into his little big dream world, separating him from the island and his parents. It marks the beginning of a difficult odyssey, initially guided by the relentless institutions of the state and ultimately driven by one great, throbbing desire: to return to his island, to the longed-for solitude in the shadow of the world. But how will the island, how will the parents receive him?

Dirk Gieselmann's debut is a fascinating literary study of island life and tells of the yearning for solitude in a society that never leaves the individual alone, for better or worse. "The Island Man" is a novel that resonates, full of captivating images, luminous sentences, and magical settings.

Voices on the book

"Dirk Gieselmann has written a wonderful, melancholic novel. He constructs an entire world with words, simple, strong, and true. The curiosity and tenderness with which he depicts the inner struggles of his growing protagonist is the opposite of cynicism. I loved The Island Man." Matthias Brandt

"Dirk Gieselmann tells the story of an extraordinary person who lived in his own unique time, always connected to his.".