Schöne Tage

The cruel and oppressive days on an Austrian mountain farm after WWII. Our protagonist is a boy who's deposited at his father's and stepmother's farm in young age, and because of his bastard status, is cruelly exploited and kept like a servant. His childhood is full of hard work and accompanied by constant humiliation and fear, lacking any kindness.

The writing is an interesting stream of consciousness that's wild and hard to get into, as it doesn't stop to introduce us to new characters. It just keeps going, long sentences stringing together experiencing and emotions, dark thoughts, laced with moments of brutal honesty about the human conditions. It's a portrait of a culture where nobody seems to escape the repetition of cruelty and violence. Where one has to beg for and then say thank you, after receiving a whipping. When we and the protagonist finally encounter a kind soul - Helga, who's giving voice to the treatment he and the other bondsmen receive - it's such a relief. I couldn't have taken this book to end on a sad note. The recognition he received from Helga starts a transformation that finally leads to his rebellion and escape from that horrid place.