Righteous Murderers

Ingo Schulze (born 1962) — a writer from the former GDR, president of the Academy of Language and Literature — often addresses the melancholy of the German ‘post-communist condition’ in his works. The novel ‘Righteous Murderers’ becomes a field for reflection on the epochal changes in the country through the lens of the life of Dresden antiquarian book dealer Norbert Paulini. The book begins as a legend about a famous bookseller — an apolitical educated representative of the middle class, who attracts all the intellectual elite of East Germany. The idyll is shattered by the fall of the Berlin Wall: gradually Paulini loses customers, his shop, and his wife; his former detachment from the world beyond the bookstore door transforms into radical political views. Schulze masterfully combines elements of philosophical parable and thriller, allegory and social satire, capturing the metamorphoses of emotional experiences of his compatriots. In his puzzle-like text, the author invites readers to ponder whether a person who has been at the epicenter of heavy historical events can remain true to their principles.