Tyll

A Novel

By: Daniel Kehlmann, Ross Benjamin - translator

Narrated by: Firdous Bamji

Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

From the internationally best-selling author of You Should Have Left, Measuring the World, and F, a transfixing retelling of the German myth of Tyll Ulenspiegel: a story about the devastation of war and a beguiling artist’s decision never to die

Daniel Kehlmann masterfully weaves the fates of many historical figures into this enchanting work of magical realism and adventure. This account of the 17th-century vagabond performer and trickster Tyll Ulenspiegel begins when he’s a scrawny boy growing up in a quiet village. When his father, a miller with a secret interest in alchemy and magic, is found out by the church, Tyll is forced to flee with the baker’s daughter, Nele. They find safety and companionship with a traveling performer, who teaches Tyll his trade. And so begins a journey of discovery and performance for Tyll, as he travels through a continent devastated by the Thirty Years’ War and encounters along the way a hangman, a fraudulent Jesuit scholar, and the exiled King Frederick and Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia.

Tyll displays Kehlmann’s remarkable narrative gifts and confirms the power of art in the face of the senseless brutality of history.

Translated from the German by Ross Benjamin

©2020 Daniel Kehlmann, Ross Benjamin (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"This is a brilliant and unputdownable novel. Kehlmann is the true inheritor of the German fabulist tradition that stretches back to the Brothers Grimm and even further, and in the legendary prankster figure of Tyll Ulenspiegel he has found his perfect avatar." (Salman Rushdie)

"A rollicking historical picaresque ... Located somewhere between German romanticism and modernism, superstition and science, history and high fantasy, this is a rapturous and adventuresome novel of ideas that, like Tyll’s roaming sideshow, must be experienced to be believed.” (Publishers Weekly)

“Injecting gleeful dark humor into a setting that manages to feel both fantastically dystopian and historically grounded . . . [an] irresistible story.” (Booklist, starred review)

A gem

A vivid portrait of a little known slice of history, and one that not only survived translation to English and audio, but does credit to both.

Brilliant.

A truly extraordinary blend of history and legend of one of the events of European politics — the 30 Years War through the German tales of the fabled trickster Tyll Eulenspiegle. An authentic glimpse into the lives ofrulers, peasants and clergy a revolutionary time in European history when the Catholic/Protestant rivalries 1613 to 1648

Gratitude Excercise

I listened to this book several years ago and have thought of it often since. If you ever need a reminder of the amazing times we live in, give it a listen, I did a second time. Gruesome, sad, hilarious.

This has Pulitzer Prize written all over it

This story about a all-present, all-knowing “court jester” caught in the ravages of the Thirty Years War is a brilliant tour de force. Based loosely on historical facts, its powerful images and imaginative story make it impossible to put down. The characters —some of whom are real—come to life (and just as often killed off) in unexpected and unfamiliar circumstances. Indeed, the narrator makes sure that you cannot predict what will happen next, by a writer’s trick of changing the narrator’s voice, much as Tyll throws his voice to trick his audience into believe that the donkey is speaking.
Told in prose not seen in American novels about a subject not known to American readers, this unsentimental story of a time before the Enlightenment is a must-read.
And the audible reader is masterful in capturing the author’s —and characters’ —voices.

A Weird and Wonderful Book

At times this book with its non-linear style could be hard to follow. But most of the time I felt it helped elevate the strangeness of the story. The unique blend of historical fiction with a sort of fantasy magical realism was very interesting and attention grabbing. The translation seemed very natural and smooth. I also enjoyed much of the humor. I would not recommend this to everyone due to its strangeness but it has become one of my favorite fiction stories.

Delightful

A lovely book that blends fairy tales and history into an incredible tapestry. Loved the wandering timeline.

Very hard to follow, like walking on a tightrope

I wanted to like this book so much. Unfortunately, despite being very well written, I struggled to finish it. Maybe it is too dreamy for me, maybe I would need to have a little background in German mythology and the thirty years war, maybe it was something else like the back and forth in time. I really don't know. Whatever the case, it was not the book for me.

One last thing. I am reading 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez simultaneously (pure coincidence, I guess) and Tyll somewhat reminds me of it.

Spellbinding

A Magical story based in a seldom revisited period of history. Narrator is very good.

Good story with unique characters

Very well written story with unique characterizations and an interesting confluence of themes between separate but overlapping stories.

This story appears to meander between vignettes for the first few chapters, but eventually, it becomes clear that it's following the range set of characters across time. Certain sections seem to be arranged non-chronologically, but it's not difficult to follow.

I feel like I will need to reread this to see all of the connections in full, but I quite enjoyed it.

Superb

A sophisticated folk tale that is perhaps the finest Audible book ever recorded. You hang on every word. There’s a reason Daniel Kelhmann and Tom Stoppard are friends. Witty, moving, disturbing, exhilarating, and exquisitely theatrical.