Janke oder Die Reise zum Nil

A novel to laugh about, to think about and which makes it clear at the end: the best way to counter the madness of the world is with humour.

Tim Feldtmann is in a crisis of purpose: he feels mediocre and used up, his relationship with his girlfriend is falling apart, the project he is supposed to be promoting in Wermsdorf, Saxony, is failing. By chance, Tim comes across letters from the already deceased Karl Janke and falls under the spell of the ingenious but schizophrenic inventor. Tim is increasingly fascinated by Janke's unbroken will, his ideas for the good of mankind &ndash, and by Janke's unrequited love for Evelyn. Is Evelyn still alive?

Together with the nurse Sivi, the half-awake Sunny and the old hippie Pierre, Tim sets out to find her. He actually finds the now old woman with the enigmatic charm, and learns of her abstruse plan to travel to the Nile in Africa to keep a promise. Tim embarks on an adventurous trip &ndash, by car, on foot, by boat through the East German provinces and Berlin. Janke always seems to be in control. Tim, Evelyn and their friends experience a lot of crazy things, get closer to each other, lose each other, find each other again, and above all encounter themselves. In the end, Tim reaches the Nile in the middle of the Spreewald and, thanks to Janke and Evelyn, gains a new perspective on his life.

A literary road trip with tragicomic elements as a special kind of search for meaning ...