Jenny Erpenbeck’s “Kairos” is a masterful exploration of love, power, and the inexorable march of history. Set against the backdrop of 1980s East Berlin, this intimate tale of a passionate but doomed affair resonates with the larger societal changes unfolding around the characters. With her characteristic precision and emotional acuity, Erpenbeck has crafted a novel that is both deeply personal and profoundly political.
The Intoxication of New Love
The story begins with a chance encounter on a bus in July 1986. Hans, a married man in his fifties, meets Katharina, a 19-year-old student. Their initial attraction quickly blossoms into an all-consuming passion, fueled by their shared love of art and music. Erpenbeck captures the heady rush of new love with exquisite detail:
“He wants to keep Katharina — and at the same time must let her go, and the quandary tortures and debilitates him. A line from one of Peter Hacks’s plays keeps running through his head: The weight of the willingly borne sacrifice gets heavier and heavier.”
The early days of their relationship are filled with stolen moments of joy and discovery. They attend concerts together, pore over art books, and engage in long philosophical discussions. For Katharina, Hans represents sophistication and worldliness. For Hans, Katharina embodies youth and possibility. Their age difference adds an element of forbidden excitement to their affair.
But even in these blissful early days, there are hints of the trouble to come. Hans sets strict conditions on their relationship from the start, insisting on secrecy and limited time together. Katharina eagerly agrees, too enamored to see the warning signs.
The Cracks Begin to Show
As their affair progresses, the power imbalance between Hans and Katharina becomes increasingly apparent. Hans wields his age and experience as weapons, manipulating Katharina’s emotions and constantly testing her devotion. When she spends a night with another man during a trip to Frankfurt, Hans’s reaction is swift and brutal. He subjects Katharina to cruel psychological punishment, demanding every detail of her transgression and forcing her to relive it over and over.
Erpenbeck is unflinching in her depiction of the toxic dynamics that develop between the lovers. Hans’s need for control manifests in increasingly disturbing ways, including physical violence. Yet Katharina remains devoted, convinced that if she can just prove her love, things will improve. It’s a heartbreaking portrayal of the self-delusion that can take hold in abusive relationships.
A Crumbling World
The deterioration of Hans and Katharina’s relationship mirrors the collapse of East Germany happening around them. As the Berlin Wall comes down and long-held certainties crumble, the characters struggle to find their footing in a rapidly changing world.
Erpenbeck deftly weaves historical events into the fabric of the story. We see how the political upheaval affects not just the main characters, but a whole cast of secondary figures—artists, academics, and factory workers. The author’s own experiences growing up in East Germany lend authenticity and nuance to these portrayals.
The fall of the Wall brings a flood of Western consumer goods and cultural influences. For some characters, this represents freedom and opportunity. For others, it’s a bewildering and destabilizing force. Erpenbeck captures the mix of excitement and anxiety that permeated East German society during this tumultuous period:
“Just a moment ago, she was working at the printshop, now her training is over, she is a qualified worker, she has successfully concluded her course in typography, and she’s writing her resignation letter:
As per our spoken agreement and by mutual consent, I hereby request the termination of my contract with the Staatsverlag, Berlin, effective on July 7, 1987, the July 1 having been granted me for my move, and the days from July 2 to 6 for my regulation holiday. At this time, I love and do continue to love the regular freelance broadcaster and writer, Hans W.“
The Aftermath
In the novel’s final section, set in the early 1990s, we see Katharina grappling with the aftermath of her relationship with Hans and the societal changes around her. She struggles to find her place in the new unified Germany, feeling adrift and disconnected from her past.
Erpenbeck’s portrayal of post-reunification malaise is particularly poignant. Characters who once held positions of respect and authority find themselves suddenly irrelevant. The loss of the GDR isn’t just political – it’s a loss of identity, purpose, and community for many.
Through it all, Katharina is haunted by her memories of Hans and their turbulent affair. Even years later, she finds herself unable to fully break free from his influence. The novel’s epilogue, in which an older Katharina discovers Hans’s secret past as an informant for the Stasi, adds another layer of complexity to their relationship and the era in which it took place.
Erpenbeck’s Masterful Prose
Throughout “Kairos,” Jenny Erpenbeck’s prose is a marvel of precision and evocative power. She has a gift for distilling complex emotions and ideas into crystalline sentences that linger in the mind. Her description of Katharina’s growing disillusionment is particularly striking:
“Everything feels wrong. Over Christmas, he went on working on the tapes, it felt eerie to document their misery without the presence of anything that represented their love. Early in January he felt like giving up the work on the tapes, he couldn’t do it anymore. Said she should leave him, called her “darling” and “my poor darling,” that there was no point anymore, he was lost to himself. Then she insistently asked for the next cassette, as though it were only his accusations that gave her anything to live for.”
The author’s background as a playwright is evident in her deft handling of dialogue and scene-setting. Each interaction between Hans and Katharina crackles with tension and unspoken emotion. The supporting characters are vividly drawn, adding depth and texture to the world of the novel.
Erpenbeck’s previous works, including “The End of Days” and “Go, Went, Gone,” have established her as one of Germany’s most important contemporary writers. With “Kairos,” Jenny Erpenbeck further cements her reputation as a keen observer of human nature and historical forces.
Themes and Symbolism
The novel’s title, “Kairos,” refers to the Greek concept of the opportune moment. This idea of timing and fate runs throughout the book. Hans and Katharina’s initial meeting seems fated, a perfect convergence of time and circumstance. But as their relationship progresses, we see how easily such moments can slip away, leaving only regret in their wake.
The changing seasons and landscape of Berlin serve as powerful metaphors for the characters’ emotional states and the political changes unfolding around them. The city itself becomes a character, its transformation mirroring the internal journeys of Hans and Katharina.
Music plays a significant role in the novel, both as a shared passion between the lovers and as a reflection of their emotional states. Classical pieces by Bach, Mozart, and others punctuate key moments in the story, adding another layer of meaning and emotion.
Conclusion
Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck is a novel of remarkable depth and insight. Erpenbeck has created a work that is at once intensely personal and sweepingly historical. Through the lens of one doomed love affair, she examines the larger forces that shape our lives and societies.
The book’s unflinching portrayal of toxic relationship dynamics may be difficult for some readers. However, Erpenbeck’s compassionate treatment of her characters, even at their worst, prevents the story from feeling exploitative or melodramatic.
Ultimately, “Kairos” is a profound meditation on love, power, and the weight of history. It’s a novel that lingers in the mind long after the final page, inviting reflection on our own relationships and the societal forces that shape them. Erpenbeck has once again proven herself a writer of exceptional talent and insight, worthy of her place among the greats of contemporary literature.
