My Favorite Quotes: (This book is SO quotable!)

 

Der Roman ist eine viel zu gemächliche Story, deren Rasanz zwar zum morbiden weinerlichen Schneckentempo des Wasserkopfs Wien passt, mich aber nur mittelmäßig begeistert hat.

Die junge Sängerin Magnolia Brown besucht die Stadt ihrer Vorfahren, um sich bei  Gesangsunterricht auf ihre Rolle der Anna Freud vorzubereiten bzw. ihre Lebensumstände kennenzulernen. Durch ein hundert Jahre altes in einer alten Truhe gefundenes Schriftstück, die Lebensbeichte der Rosa Hawelka, wird ihr und dem Leser das triste Schicksal der Dienstboten in der Kaiserzeit und die Lebensgeschichte ihrer eigenen Großmutter nähergebracht.

Lilian Faschinger kann und will sich einfach nicht entscheiden, welche Story sie wirklich erzählen will und das ist der Qualität des Romans meiner Meinung nach sehr abträglich, da sich der Inhalt des Romans in seinem Ziel und Zweck komplett in den beiden gleichberechtigen Erzählsträngen verliert - regelrecht verzettelt. Welches Wien soll denn nun gezeigt näher thematisiert und analysiert werden? Jenes der Jahrundertwende, das die grauenhafte von Armut geprägte Lebensrealität der Dienstboten schildert oder jenes der xenophoben und misanthropen pseudofeinen eingesessenen Wiener Gesellschaft der Innenstadtbezirksbewohner (Nummern 01-09), die angesichts ihrer  diversen ausländischen Wurzeln aus der KUK-Zeit ganz dezent ihre Papalatur halten sollten?

Es ist unbenommen, dass Faschinger beide Gesellschaften sehr genau und pointiert beschreibt, wer glaubt, die Autorin entwirft klischeehaft irgendwelche Achetypen, dem sei gesagt, die sind wirklich so, sowohl um die Jahrhundertwende als auch jene in der Jetztzeit skizzierten Figuren. Wenn der Roman nach 2010 geschrieben worden wäre, käme auch noch die neuerdings grassierende BOBO-Attitüde der Innenstadtbezirke dazu. Diese Gesellschaftsbeschreibungen sind auch die eigentliche Stärke des Romans, aber die beiden Erzählstränge nehmen wahnsinnig viel Tempo aus der gesamten Geschichte und schaffen eine Distanz des Lesers zu den Figuren, die die Empathie und das Involvement mitunter komplett eindösen lässt.

Die Lebensbeichte der Rosa Haweka aus der Jahrhundertwende ist insofern informativ, da in der KuK Zeit unter den Dienstboten gar nix Heppi Beppi war, so wie man es in den Sissi-und anderen Filmen immer darstellte. Das wusste man zwar ohnehin,  aber dass die Dienstboten derart rechtelos waren, war mir bisher unbekannt. Ich dachte immer, die Bettgeher- Obdachlosen- und anderen Probleme trafen nur die ungelernten Arbeiter aber nicht das Dienstpersonal. Es existierte ein Dienstbotenkodex der jeglichem Missbrauch der "feinen" Herrschaft Tür und Tor öffnete: Hungern lassen, Gewalt, sexueller Mißbrauch, Ausgangsverbot bzw. eigentlich Freiheitsentzug, 20 stündige Arbeitszeiten, ... im Prizip war alles erlaubt. Die Einbindung von historischen Ereignissen in die Geschichte der Rosa Hawelka ist zwar ob der Zufälle etwas an den Haaren herbeigezogen, aber durchaus nicht ungelungen.

Auch in der Gegenwart wird ein gutes Psychogramm der Innen-Stadt und ihrer pseudofeinen Bewohner, die sich oft sogar aus den ehemaligen Dienstboten lukrieren, gezeichnet. Wien ist ..... wo sogar die Ausländer xenophob sind (Martin Mucha, Papierkrieg). Die bösartigen "anständigen" alten "Österreicher", von der arbeitenden Bevölkerung mittlerweile mit Höchstpensionen gesponsort, in den mietpreisgebundenen Kaiserzeitwohnungen in den Innenbezirken hausend und Nachmietern mit ihren knochigen Fingern horrende jurisitisch ungerechtfertigte Ablösen von zigtausenden Euro fordernd und selbstverständlich rechtspopulistisch wählend, weil ihnen die pösen Ausländer gar sooo viel angetan haben, sind meinen besten Freunden, die nach dem Studium in Wien geblieben sind, so oft untergekommen, dass man das nicht als Klischee sondern als Epidemie werten muss. Auch der im Roman beschriebene hypochondrische feine Mammasohn mit Hang zur Homöopathie hat mich derart oft in meinem Leben erfolglos angebraten, dass er nicht als Einzelfall gewertet werden kann.  Weiters gefällt mir auch die Tristesse mit der Wien und die Innenstatdtbezirke beschrieben werden, habe erst gestern wieder in einer Musikdokumentation gehört, dass Wien Anfang der 80er Jahre eine der rückständigsten grausten Städte Europas war, im Gegensatz dazu war Moskau hinter dem Eisernen Vorhang eine pulsierende Metropole. Auch das setzte sich so ca. bis Ende der 90er Jahre  in den Innenstadtbezirken außer dem 2. und dem 6. Bezirk fort, die feine WienStadt war ein greises Museum, das eigentliche Leben fand außerhalb des Gürtels und in Transdanubien statt.   

Fazit: Für mich wäre es am besten gewesen, die Autorin hätte sich auf eine Geschichte konzentriert und die andere nur nebenbei behandelt, so konnte sie beiden nicht ganz gerecht werden. Wenn Ihr einen Faschinger Roman lesen wollt, dann nehmt Magdalena Sünderin der ist um Weltklassen besser!

3.5 Stars

A book that took me by surprise.

Beauty and the Wiener is a book that took me completely by surprise.
And I'm not saying this just about one aspect but about several.
First it's not really what I would seek out to read. But frankly I liked the cover and the summary sounded fun. So on a whim I decided that I would like to give it a try. I made sure that it can be read as a standalone, since I haven't read the previous book in the series.
So it's my first book by Griffin as well. And let's just I am sure it won't be my last.

The plot was captivating. I was totally into the mystery. Though I did guess who the culprit is, I kept wavering and wondering if I was wrong. I more than enjoyed the covert missions of Addison and Felix. All the mishaps and all the sneaking around was beyond entertaining. And there were a couple of things, I didn't solve completely.

The character building is interesting. As I said I haven't read Must Love Wieners (yet) so I didn't know any of the cast. My first impression however was, somewhat of shock. I felt Addison was dizzy and superficial, and possibly a bit delusional... Very quickly however I changed my mind. I grew to like her and understand her. Felix, on the other hand had me at the first go. I loved him right from the beginning, As the story went on and we got to know both MCs better, both gained depths and I felt beyond smug that I was always right about the "bad boy". Griffin did a great job and showing Addison's weakness and her past hurts, without dwelling too much on it. And I love how she subtly changed and how she slowly realised what she really wanted.
I liked the interactions between Addison and her friends. But I would have liked some more of it, I felt like it was too little to understand their relationship. Maybe this is because I haven't read the first book yet?
Basically we get little about Addison's personal life despite the fact that this is written entirely from her POV

The romance left me divided. Because I totally adored their "slow" burn romance- that wasn't that slow burn. But I really couldn't relate to Addison's Cinderella dreams. Then there is the nearly love-triangle. It wasn't that bad mind you. I didn't really mind it. Except for Addison's blatant ignorance. It infuriated me, actually. I found the end, while completely satisfying, lost it's swoon factor by talking about how this was so forever. It was a bit too much for me

On another note; the biggest surprise for me was the show dog world. See, I am not much of a dog person, I never owned a dog nor do I have a great affinity to them. I think I am more of a cat person. I know very little about the dog shows. Mind you not that I would know more about cat show, or any other pet for that matter. So I was a bit overwhelmed by that aspect of it. But Griffin did a great job at conveying the world, it's draw backs and it's great sides. At least from my layman's point of view. Because of this I found myself immersed in it and totally enjoying that aspect of the book.

I am definitely going to read the first book and am looking forward to the next.
An interesting discovery for me. I think lovers of the genre and dog lovers will really enjoy this one.

3.5 Stars

A book that took me by surprise.

Beauty and the Wiener is a book that took me completely by surprise.
And I'm not saying this just about one aspect but about several.
First it's not really what I would seek out to read. But frankly I liked the cover and the summary sounded fun. So on a whim I decided that I would like to give it a try. I made sure that it can be read as a standalone, since I haven't read the previous book in the series.
So it's my first book by Griffin as well. And let's just I am sure it won't be my last.

The plot was captivating. I was totally into the mystery. Though I did guess who the culprit is, I kept wavering and wondering if I was wrong. I more than enjoyed the covert missions of Addison and Felix. All the mishaps and all the sneaking around was beyond entertaining. And there were a couple of things, I didn't solve completely.

The character building is interesting. As I said I haven't read Must Love Wieners (yet) so I didn't know any of the cast. My first impression however was, somewhat of shock. I felt Addison was dizzy and superficial, and possibly a bit delusional... Very quickly however I changed my mind. I grew to like her and understand her. Felix, on the other hand had me at the first go. I loved him right from the beginning, As the story went on and we got to know both MCs better, both gained depths and I felt beyond smug that I was always right about the "bad boy". Griffin did a great job and showing Addison's weakness and her past hurts, without dwelling too much on it. And I love how she subtly changed and how she slowly realised what she really wanted.
I liked the interactions between Addison and her friends. But I would have liked some more of it, I felt like it was too little to understand their relationship. Maybe this is because I haven't read the first book yet?
Basically we get little about Addison's personal life despite the fact that this is written entirely from her POV

The romance left me divided. Because I totally adored their "slow" burn romance- that wasn't that slow burn. But I really couldn't relate to Addison's Cinderella dreams. Then there is the nearly love-triangle. It wasn't that bad mind you. I didn't really mind it. Except for Addison's blatant ignorance. It infuriated me, actually. I found the end, while completely satisfying, lost it's swoon factor by talking about how this was so forever. It was a bit too much for me

On another note; the biggest surprise for me was the show dog world. See, I am not much of a dog person, I never owned a dog nor do I have a great affinity to them. I think I am more of a cat person. I know very little about the dog shows. Mind you not that I would know more about cat show, or any other pet for that matter. So I was a bit overwhelmed by that aspect of it. But Griffin did a great job at conveying the world, it's draw backs and it's great sides. At least from my layman's point of view. Because of this I found myself immersed in it and totally enjoying that aspect of the book.

I am definitely going to read the first book and am looking forward to the next.
An interesting discovery for me. I think lovers of the genre and dog lovers will really enjoy this one.

3.5 Stars

A book that took me by surprise.

Beauty and the Wiener is a book that took me completely by surprise.
And I'm not saying this just about one aspect but about several.
First it's not really what I would seek out to read. But frankly I liked the cover and the summary sounded fun. So on a whim I decided that I would like to give it a try. I made sure that it can be read as a standalone, since I haven't read the previous book in the series.
So it's my first book by Griffin as well. And let's just I am sure it won't be my last.

The plot was captivating. I was totally into the mystery. Though I did guess who the culprit is, I kept wavering and wondering if I was wrong. I more than enjoyed the covert missions of Addison and Felix. All the mishaps and all the sneaking around was beyond entertaining. And there were a couple of things, I didn't solve completely.

The character building is interesting. As I said I haven't read Must Love Wieners (yet) so I didn't know any of the cast. My first impression however was, somewhat of shock. I felt Addison was dizzy and superficial, and possibly a bit delusional... Very quickly however I changed my mind. I grew to like her and understand her. Felix, on the other hand had me at the first go. I loved him right from the beginning, As the story went on and we got to know both MCs better, both gained depths and I felt beyond smug that I was always right about the "bad boy". Griffin did a great job and showing Addison's weakness and her past hurts, without dwelling too much on it. And I love how she subtly changed and how she slowly realised what she really wanted.
I liked the interactions between Addison and her friends. But I would have liked some more of it, I felt like it was too little to understand their relationship. Maybe this is because I haven't read the first book yet?
Basically we get little about Addison's personal life despite the fact that this is written entirely from her POV

The romance left me divided. Because I totally adored their "slow" burn romance- that wasn't that slow burn. But I really couldn't relate to Addison's Cinderella dreams. Then there is the nearly love-triangle. It wasn't that bad mind you. I didn't really mind it. Except for Addison's blatant ignorance. It infuriated me, actually. I found the end, while completely satisfying, lost it's swoon factor by talking about how this was so forever. It was a bit too much for me

On another note; the biggest surprise for me was the show dog world. See, I am not much of a dog person, I never owned a dog nor do I have a great affinity to them. I think I am more of a cat person. I know very little about the dog shows. Mind you not that I would know more about cat show, or any other pet for that matter. So I was a bit overwhelmed by that aspect of it. But Griffin did a great job at conveying the world, it's draw backs and it's great sides. At least from my layman's point of view. Because of this I found myself immersed in it and totally enjoying that aspect of the book.

I am definitely going to read the first book and am looking forward to the next.
An interesting discovery for me. I think lovers of the genre and dog lovers will really enjoy this one.