The Have-Nots by Katharina Hacker

The Have-Nots

Katharina Hacker

A book about people who have too much would be a more accurate description - so much they are unable to appreciate any of it. Set against the back drop of 9/11, it tells the story of a group of people whose lives have been affected by the events of that day. It certainly made me think about people who have all the chances and freedom to act but are unable to make the most of it.

Extract
This time yesterday, Isabelle said at last, and then relapsed into silence. Andras shook his head. Someone would pay for what had happened, would pay the price for the fact that here, whether in Germany or the USA, people felt that they had been robbed of the reality that was their right. The world will have that reality bombed into it, he thought, until people here feel secure again, secure with the old injustice that they find familiar and comfortable, - Someone will pay, he said at last and you can be sure it won't be those who are responsible.. Isabelle looked at him with tears in her eyes. - Before they actually died, I mean, they must have been so frightened. She saw Jakob, suddenly saw him walking by her side across the university square in Freiburg, sitting beside her in the lecture theatre. He had escaped death ...
Parallels
  • Dreams of Speaking by Gail Jones
  • Netherland by Jospeh O'Neill