Book tip: Suddenly listing

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

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How does it feel to have a stroke? Medical works (such as) mainly describe the physical symptoms. But what does a person feel when this happens? And how, if you please, can such a terrifying experience conceal such hilarious moments at the same time?

What's the matter?

The answer to this question is as varied as the people who have a blood clot or a cerebral hemorrhage partially cutting off the oxygen supply in the brain. The actor Joachim Meyerhoff has now written it down. In 2018, while he was looking after his younger daughter with schoolwork, a blood clot migrated into his cerebellum and blocked a vessel there. The title of the book: "Hamsters in the rear river area"

In it Meyerhoff told of the tragic comedy of his life - the death of his brother, loss of his father, but also incredibly aptly of his teenage anguish, an exchange year in the USA and the experience of completing an acting training in the heavily alcoholic environment of his grandparents' household in Munich.

Ability to be amazed

A deep sincerity, an incredibly astonished and at the same time value-free gift of observation, linguistic virtuosity paired with a sense of the absurd wit of the situation and all that with at the same time complete absence of cynicism - these components carry this book through the described horrors as light as a feather. And so when reading this book you find yourself laughing out loud again and again in the shadow of tragedy.

Meyerhoff tells how the sudden hemiplegia feels, describes the chaotic journey in the ambulance, the nights in the intensive care unit of the stroke unit with other brain-damaged patients. Tells how he withstands sleepless nights in which he is gripped by the fear of losing his ability to think and articulate. His strategy: He recalls past experiences and tells them to himself. Experienced stories against the loss of the ego.

Absurd situation comedy

He reports on the state of losing skills that were previously taken for granted ("Please put your left hand to the tip of your nose, Mr. Meyerhoff!") In a self-confidence-shattering manner, talks about small victories and the surreal encounter with hamsters on the clinic premises whom he suspects are a result of his damaged brain (that explains the book's weird title: “Hamsters in the rear of the river”).

And then there is also the heightened awareness of the relationship with his daughters, the mother of the two, as well as his loved ones and their little son. Above all, however, the readjustment of one's own ego, which - stripped of the protective cloak of abilities and talents for an indefinite period of time - is up for grabs in the face of the illness, must be realigned and painfully. Am I a good father and, if so, can I continue to be one? What happens if I can no longer act fully as an actor?

Insight into being naked

All of this packaged in words that trace images and thoughts that hit the reader straight to the heart. This book gives us an insight into naked human existence in all mercy, kindness, uniqueness and greatness. Meyerhoff writes: “I would like to keep the diagnosis a secret. Not so much from the others, more from myself. There is something brutal about her and I am afraid to call the incident by name, because the exact description sounds like a drawn sword. "

Who told you?

Joachim Meyerhoff, who grew up (as the director's son) in a mental hospital, is not just a theater star who played with verve at the Burgtheater in Vienna and who has since had an engagement in Berlin. He has previously written four extraordinary biographical books, all of which landed on the bestseller lists.

Who cares?

Although it is a stroke patient's testimony, this book is a gift for everyone and every woman. Anyone and anyone who might think about how to be human without having to despair.