I’m reading a lot lately, so I’m bringing back my little “Book Notes” section. “Vollkasko” by Rolf Bläsing left me puzzled. Not because it’s particularly good or bad, but because I’m surprised I finished it at all.
The book is like a bag of chips you tear open and devour quickly, wondering the whole time why you’re still eating. Then the bag’s suddenly empty. That went fast. Just like reading this book.
The protagonist, Arno Eggental, is a frustrated man in his forties stuck in an emerging midlife crisis. He’s portrayed as someone who wanted to stand out with witty remarks in his youth but never played the lead role. He lives an undemanding middle-class life as a librarian.
The story takes place in the present, but the author weaves in background from earlier times throughout. Maybe a linguistic liquification of memories from his own childhood? Eggental has a wife and son. The wife was once a wild, rebellious woman who now channels herself into her well-organised banking career. The son is a typical teenager who hangs in his room all day, plays video games, and expresses himself only through brief words and eyebrow movements. I’ve got one of those at home too.
Like many stuck in midlife crisis, Eggental wants to make a difference, stand for something. So one day he decides to do his bit for the climate crisis, wants to lead by example. He’s a passionate cyclist, so he resolves not to get in a car for an entire year—to do everything by bicycle instead.
But it’s not simple. He lives with his family in a small village and works in a larger city. Every morning he has to cycle to the train station in the next town, catch the train, then walk to work. He does the big shopping trips by bike too. He’s out in all weather.
From this plot, an engaging story could unfold. As a reader, I’d hope things happen to him that force him to rethink, drive him into conflicts, bring him to valuable insights, and ultimately catapult him out of his crisis. Instead, not much earth-shattering happens on the following pages: he cycles through wind and weather, collects commuter experiences on the train, once falls in snow, another time nearly gets bitten by a dog.
But he always gets through. He’s always “the kid that got away.” I don’t know if this is intentional, but as the book progresses, Eggental becomes increasingly unsympathetic to me. Because he’s so idiotically consistent while noticeably pushing his marriage off-kilter. He seems unable to understand emotional signals—just wants to push through with his thing.
His wife doesn’t like the idea at all, but for a long time she lets him have his way. Any other woman would have shot him to the moon ages ago. Where’s this leading? Probably to divorce. My kids would say Eggental is “cringe.” He’s embarrassing—you can barely stand how he behaves. And it gets worse, more second-hand embarrassing. Maybe that’s the book’s fascination. Like the bag of chips.
To make the story more exciting, another woman is introduced quite early—Annette Felber. She’s his childhood sweetheart, and he constantly wonders what it would have been like if he’d ended up with her instead of his current wife. Finally he meets her in real life. It sparks. He even spends the night with her in a tent. She understands him and he feels flattered.
What now? Does he ride off into a new life with Annette? Is there actually a plot twist on the final pages?
When he comes home in the morning, it explodes. His wife storms off, leaving him a note. It says: If our marriage means anything to you, come to a specific pier at a lake about 500 kilometres away. Does Eggental get in a car because time’s short?
No. He stays stubborn. So he sets off by bike and train. Of course he just makes it. She’s sitting on the pier and everything’s fine. Somehow I would have liked him to arrive too late.
Then the book ends, the bag’s empty. Hmm.
My take-home message: I can identify with Eggental well, at least initially. But from my own experience, I know that selfish midlife-crisis projects without compromise never achieve anything. Anyone who tries it anyway must pay. Only Eggental gets through unscathed.
Actually unfair.
I write these book notes just for myself. That’s why they might read a bit cryptically. Just read it yourself. More book notes here.
This post first appeared in German on reinergaertner.de, where I’ve been writing since 1997 — back when the internet still had that new-car smell. An AI assistant helped with the translation under my supervision. If something reads a bit odd, blame the Denglish in my head.