Book Review of Eurotrash by Christian Kracht (trans Daniel Bowles)

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Type of book: 2018, history, past, Germany, Swtizerland, travel, mountains, wealth, faux wealth, drugs,  alcohol, mother/son relationship, absurd situations 

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Summary:

Characters:

Main characters are Christian and his mother as well as his dead father. Christian is (perhaps) a fifty something man who believes his mother will die and he goes back to spend some time with her for her 80th birthday and decides to take a trip to Switzerland. While he and his mother are traveling, he is feeling guilt for his past, his family history and of unknown past. His mother is a drug addict alcohol drinking 80 year old woman. She is daughter of a Nazi and often makes Christian feel guilty and diminishes his value. She loves stories though, is strong headed and determined to get rid of the ill gotten money. His dead father is a socialist/communist who was polar opposite of his wife but who also plays a silent part in Christian's upbringing. (He is referenced a lot in the book) 

Theme:

I read it from cover to cover and am not certain. Maybe about how much past shapes past and present and one needs to take baby steps to let go of it?

Plot:

The story is in first person narrative from what seems like the author's point of view, or the fictional part of him, also known as Christian Kracht as he begins to introduce his family and background in bits and pieces throughout the novel as well as focusing on the next few days as he and his mother travel through Switzerland and Christian gives commentary and thoughts about the Swiss and the foreigners that live there. If there is a plot, its not very clear and I definitely believe its up to the reader to decide and understand what is the plot or moral of the story. 

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Opinion:

Apparently this is a sequel to Faserland (something I hadn't known when I requested it) and from my reading experience, I would imagine that one had to read Faserland before reading this one. I had difficulty understanding the deeper part of the story, or what was behind the writing, although one can imagine many possible threads: the tale of family trauma through ww2 as well as sexual abuse; the fragile connection between mother and son, and the unexpected look at Switzerland as a man tries to heal himself from the history. It could be all, it could be none, that is left up to the reader to determine. To me it felt very autobiographical although apparently its autofiction and some things are not what they seem. 

This was given for review

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)