The Young Goedeschal: A novel of adolescence

"By observing my solitary wanderings, during which there was nothing but the rustling of leaves, the wind, somewhere up in the trees, occasionally a distant look, or the sound of one of those hunting horns that Eichendorff so adored, he realized how strongly I rejected what he taught, which was weak, diluted, and watered down. Here was revolution, uncharted land, and my own." The emotive, vivid, and polemical diction of Fallada's 1920 debut forms the framework for his subsequent creative production. "Der junge Goedeschal" takes place in the family of a high-ranking judicial official in the "good old days" preceding World War I. The chief clerk, Kai Goedeschal, endures all the concerns and tribulations of youth without any relief. Fallada addresses himself to the difficulties of young people, particularly those who must deal with intergenerational conflict, revolt against a pharisaical upbringing, and combat the doublespeak of the citizen species. In Berlin between 1917 and 1919, Fallada wrote his first novel. Fallada recounts the adolescent struggles of Kai Goedeschal, the son of a Wilhelmine era government servant, in a language that is emotive and combustible. Kai's sentiments and desires are not understood by his environment. Biography Rudolf Ditzen, pseudonym Hans Fallada, was born in Greifswald in 1893, the son of a high-ranking judicial officer. He attended a humanistic high school but did not graduate and served an agricultural apprenticeship. Between 1915 and 1925, he worked as a farm laborer, court inspector, and bookkeeper; between 1928 and 1930, he worked as an address clerk, advertisement collector, and publishing house employee. Since 1920, when he published his debut novel 'The Young Goedeschal,' he has worked as an independent writer. Fallada achieved worldwide fame with the frequently translated story 'Little Men - What now? (1932). He lived in seclusion as a 'undesirable author' on his six-acre estate in Mecklenburg during the fascist era. He relocated to Berlin in 1945 and died there in 1947.