Detective Selbs

Heidelberg has had its share of literary attention- disproportionate to its size, but then especially in such a context, size is nothing. So it is all that much more interesting that a mystery novel series could be based on a relaxed, university and touristy town like Heidelberg (and Mannheim).

Selb is a private detective and a former judge in Nazi-Germany. His friends and colleagues come from the same lineage. His supposed reason for turning to private detecting- the "old ones" from Nazi days continued their lives as if nothing happened, even took on the same j0bs. This part is somehow the most mysterious and often unexplained part of the charachter. The rest is adventuring and often (on the part of Herr Selb) some bumbling (Selb(st)verstaendlich = Self-evident).

Now after having read two of his books:

• Selbs Betrug
• Selbs Mord

I am beginning to see certain gaps in the charachter of the protagonist. Or maybe the WW2 veteran German, who has turned for the better was not a literary theme I am familiar with, or maybe I find such ambiguity almost uncomfortable.

I will post more reviews on this later.

From the sky

So if you wanted to see what the north korean nuclear weapons facility looks like, or Abu Ghureib site in Iraq, look here, for the eye in the sky sees (almost) all.

Geek and think

What is a geek. Why would a geek not think? What is thinkgeek? Toys for boys (and curls for gurls?)? Pun intended, offence not.

View from my living room. Der Odenwald. The forest reputed to have hidden Siegfried. 

It appears to be still a matter of debate whether the name Odenwald stems from Odins Wald (the forest of Odin) (Ref. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odenwald).

Odin, as many of you mythology freaks are aware is the most powerful of Germanic tribal Gods. Something like Indra for Hindu iconography. A fascinating entry on wikipedia (here) indicates that his identity as king of gods is ambiguous, being sometimes also associated with war, poetry or the liks. But then you dont want to particularly know about Viking poetry!

But coming back to the Odenwald,

The Semperoper Dresden (http://www.semperoper.de) by night. 

Dresden Dollop

Since my travels to the city otherwise referred to the Florence on the Elbe (http://dancingcobra.blogspot.com) I have been scheming more of the German experience. Wagners city - Bayreuth, the Baltic Sea spas and maybe even the valley of the Neanderthals. Yes, it exists. There will be much to say AFTER I have been there, and I can see myself rising in rhetorical excitement at it.