The Hunger Angel by Herta Müller

The Hunger Angel by Herta Müller is a fantastic novel. I see why it received the Nobel Prize in Literature. The story is just under 300 pages and it is wonderful to read. I highly recommend this book.

This is the story of Leo, a teenager who was taken from his home in mid-January 1945, from Romania, and transferred to a soviet camp in russia. As an ethic German, he was supposed to atone for the sins of the Nazis, by working in a forced labour camp. The horrors of the soviet camps is shown through a persistent hunger who gets more meanings, not only in relation to food.

Müller showed Leo’s struggle from both a physical and mental perspective. I enjoyed the book a lot, it offers such a vivid experience, without being too dramatic or exaggerated. The descriptions are just wonderful too.

Leo spent 5 years in the labour camp, from January 1945 to January 1950. His story is inspired from real life. Müller interviewed a local man many times, before his death a few years prior to the book being published. Romanians of German descent in their prime, 17 to 45, were gathered and sent to russia to do force labour for years after WWII ended. They were starved and the situation seemed very similar to the ones Jews would face in a concentration camp (not death camp, as they were not exterminated).
The book tells about what they were doing in the camp, which I’m sure it is accurate, from other material I read about these camps. The stupidity of the camps and poor management was to be expected. In fairness, that was what was happening in the whole of the communist countries, not just in these particular camps.

Do read the book if you have the chance, it is worth spending the time with it.

The Hunger Angel by Herta Müller

Details about the picture: –
My rating: 5/5 Stars
Would I recommend it: YES!!
Published by: Portobello Books Ltd
Year it was published: 2013 (first published in 2009)
Format: Paperback
Genre(s): Fiction
Pages: 304

About the author: Herta Müller was born in Niţchidorf, Timiş County, Romania, the daughter of Swabian farmers. Her family was part of Romania’s German minority and her mother was deported to a labour camp in the Soviet Union after World War II.
She read German studies and Romanian literature at Timişoara University. In 1976, Müller began working as a translator for an engineering company, but in 1979 was dismissed for her refusal to cooperate with the Securitate, the Communist regime’s secret police. Initially, she made a living by teaching kindergarten and giving private German lessons.
Her first book was published in Romania (in German) in 1982, and appeared only in a censored version, as with most publications of the time.
In 1987, Müller left for Germany with her husband, novelist Richard Wagner. Over the following years she received many lectureships at universities in Germany and abroad.
In 1995 Müller was awarded membership to the German Academy for Writing and Poetry, and other positions followed. In 1997 she withdrew from the PEN centre of Germany in protest of its merge with the former German Democratic Republic branch.
The Swedish Academy awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature to Müller, “who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed”.
Website & Social Media Links: –