01/28/2019
Würger’s chilling if obvious debut opens as Hans Stichler, an orphaned German 19-year-old, is contacted by his English aunt, Alexandra Birk. She teaches art history at Cambridge and says that she can get him accepted into St. John’s College, but there’s a catch: she wants him to infiltrate a Cambridge institution known as the Pitt Club, which is 200 years old and whose members past and present are generations of the English establishment. To help him, Aunt Alex introduces Hans to one of her PhD students, Charlotte, whose father, financier Sir Angus Farewell, is a former member of the club. Charlotte arranges a dinner with Hans and her father, so the latter can nominate the former to the club. Despite Charlotte’s initial reservations about Hans, they are soon an item. A boxer for the school’s highly competitive varsity team, Hans is asked to join the Butterflies, a secret subset of the Pitt Club. Delving into the real purpose of this club-within-a-club, Hans finds sinister links to Charlotte, Aunt Alex, and Angus on the way to a dramatic and inevitable ending. Though it moves at a good pace, the novel is contrived in its depiction of upper-class snobbism, hypocrisy, and corruption, resulting in a diverting if thin story. (Mar.)
Praise for The Club:
“The gritty subject matter is juxtaposed against a prose style we tend to associate with a different kind of novel—it reads more like a coming-of-age story than a thriller. Würger’s writing is mannered; it often has an otherworldly, fable-like quality.”—Adelle Waldman, New York Times Book Review
“Würger’s debut was a bestseller in his native Germany. Its universal themes, brilliantly depicted world and taut storytelling constitute a recipe for further success . . . The Club starts out as a poignant coming-of-age tale and then morphs into an intelligent, fast-paced thriller that scrutinizes class divides and gender imbalance . . . Würger serves up visceral thrills with boxing bouts. But he delivers real knockout blows as Hans goes deeper undercover and learns ‘what humans are at heart: predators.’”—Malcolm Forbes, Minneapolis Star Tribune
“A timely, beautifully paced novel about class and prestige in the #MeToo era . . . In a campus novel that echoes the detective structure of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, Würger cycles between each character’s voice to brilliantly evoke the medieval unreality of Cambridge and the almost comical wealth of the students. There is much to dissect in this concise and dramatic tale.”—Booklist
“A young man infiltrates a secret university club and discovers a dangerous secret . . . The club is full of rich, privileged young men well-versed in secrets, debauchery, and something far more sinister . . . The novel’s complicated ending touches on the problem of justice and redemption: who gets it, who deserves it, and its human cost. A sparse, cutting debut in which violence begets violence begets healing.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Distinguished German journalist Würger, who broke some bones boxing for a year at Cambridge, offers a powerful and provoking story.”—Library Journal
“A cunning, sinuous tale, Takis Würger’s The Club is so wildly entertaining that, at first, it’s easy to miss its deeper mysteries. But, as it unfolds, brutal truths about class and gender and violence emerge, take hold and shudder through the novel’s final pages.”—Megan Abbott, best-selling author of Give Me Your Hand and You Will Know Me
“The Club, Takis Würger’s exquisite debut, is a novel as rare as a phoenix, a story both beautifully told and white-knuckle thrilling. A tale of pain, privilege and revenge, The Club reads like something both mythical and modern, a fable whose pages demand to be turned.”—Christopher J. Yates, author of Black Chalk and Grist Mill Road
“Filled with love, sorrow, and beauty—from the cover to the final sentence.”—Elle (Germany)
“The Club describes the fine distinctions of class society as shrewdly and entertainingly as it talks about violent rituals at an English university . . . A truly great book.”—Denis Scheck, ARD
“A wonderful book. The tone is almost fable-like, but the themes are painfully contemporary.”—Brigitte
“Real writers are few and far between. I believe that Takis Würger is one of them.”—Thomas Glavinic, author of Night Work
“Würger artfully circles the dark secret of the university campus . . . His language is so transparent that the story is never weighed down with a sense of its significance . . . Skillfully choreographed.”—Die Zeit
“An enthralling book.”—Welt am Sonntag
“Würger writes about sex and crime in the noble Cambridge Pitt Club—without sentimentality but with both gentleness and an understanding of the zeitgeist.”—Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
“The fast-moving plot leaves the reader holding their breath.”—Hamburger Morgenpost
“Refined, gripping, and elegant all at once. Würger’s language is precise and impressive in its clarity and concision.”—Weser-Kurier
12/01/2018
Debut Losing his mother and father in quick succession, Hans also loses his idyllic childhood in leafy Lower Saxony as he comes under the guardianship of his aunt Alex, his mother's half-sister and a crisp Cambridge scholar. She quickly dispatches him to a Jesuit boarding school, where he perfects his boxing skills, and later compels him to attend St. John's College, Cambridge, with a plan of her own. Though she won't say why, she wants Hans to gain entrance to the elite Pitt Club and ingratiate himself with its boxers. To that end, she introduces him to another student, Charlotte, who in turn introduces him to her wealthy, drenched-in-class father, a Pitt boxer of old. As unassuming Hans pursues his task, he falls for Charlotte and learns a terrible secret that won't surprise even as it shatters. VERDICT Distinguished German journalist Würger, who broke some bones boxing for a year at Cambridge, offers a powerful and provoking story.
2018-12-11
A young man infiltrates a secret university club and discovers a dangerous secret.
German journalist Würger's debut novel begins with his protagonist, Hans, describing his idyllic childhood: "When I think back to the earliest years of my life it is always late summer." A soft and curious boy, Hans lives with his parents in their home in a forest—a happy arrangement that ends quite suddenly. Years later, Hans—who is starved for friendship and family—receives an invitation from his aunt to attend St. John's College, Cambridge. The offer comes with strings attached: Hans will have to investigate the Pitt Club, one of the oldest institutions on campus. The club is full of rich, privileged young men well-versed in secrets, debauchery, and something far more sinister. Aided by Charlotte, a fellow student, Hans is introduced into the world of the elite. Comprised of many different voices, the novel feels Greek chorus-esque. Some points of view only appear once (i.e., a shopkeeper's) but others run through the entirety of the novel (i.e, that of Josh, an angry, toxic Pitt Club member who adores Hans). Made up of mostly short, uncomplicated sentences, the writing is also overwhelmingly evocative at times: "I told them how oranges tasted of adventure, and how the soft hair at the nape of girls' necks sometimes looked like candyfloss." While the crime at the novel's center is not surprising, it serves as a catalyst for Würger's interesting ruminations on class, violence, power, wealth, and masculinity. Many of these themes are also explored through boxing as Hans tries out for the university's team. Boxing runs through the novel like a heartbeat—revealing the dangers of violent masculine camaraderie with every scene. The novel's complicated ending touches on the problems of justice and redemption: who gets it, who deserves it, and its human cost.
A sparse, cutting debut in which violence begets violence begets healing.
