Fiction
January 2023
Was ihr nicht seht (What You Don't See)
by Magdalena Saiger
This poetic and philosophical debut is the story about an estrangement and about two unequal men.»What you don‘t see« accompanies an anonymous narrator who is leaving out of the blue, into the open.The existence of the text itself is a paradox, addressing an audience that was never supposed to exist. Writtenin Nowhere, an untraceable old coal mining area close to the highway. This is where the narrator finds anabandoned storage hall. It seems perfect for his plan to build a paper labyrinth that nobody should ever layeyes on. He is driven by anger and fed up with the art industry, he aims for something bigger: a work ofenormous dimensions, so big that it seems doomed to fail. But he is taking up the challenge with a fierceenthusiasm and the knowledge that perfection can only grow and exist in complete futility. Eventually hemeets his counter figure who he calls Giacometti. Giacometti is a rugged old man from the village that hadto give way for the coal mining. He shows resistance against the course of things, keeping the village awakeby telling its story while staring into the emptiness of the mine. The two men keep a close watch, searchingfor each other, but some distance always remains. Both dwell in and around the mine, becoming allies inthe protection of the place against its discovery by outsiders. But the uncertainty if the presence of one willbecome too much for the other stays. This book is the literary exploration of the question how far one goes.
