On the shelf: Planet Germany by Cathy Dobson

"Planet Germany" is a year’s worth of vignettes about daily expatriate life in Germany—a whimsical handbook of cultural quirks that it would take years of experience and embarrassing mistakes to discover on your own. British-born author, consultant, and cat-lover Cathy Dobson has been in Germany for over fifteen years, and her debut novel is excellent reading material for anyone considering moving to Germany (think of it as a survival manual) and anyone who’s moved to Germany already (think of it as a night of commiserating at the pub with the friendly new ex-pat in town).

Photo (cc) flickr user HamburgerJung

Cathy and her husband moved to Germany from London with their newborn daughter and prospects of a six-month post.  Before they knew it six months had turned into six years, then twelve, and now, almost two decades.  “At first Germany baffled us totally, with its strange ways, its impenetrable bureaucracy and overly grammatical language,” says Cathy in the book’s introduction.

But, committed to finding a balance between their British heritage and their new home, the couple learned German, went to local festivals, and ate their fair share of BratwurstBratwurst
die Bratwurst, -würste: Wurst, die gebraten oder gegrillt ist.  As they adjusted to life in Germany, they found themselves facing questions that many ex-pats find themselves addressing when a short stay starts turning into a life abroad: “How German should we become?  How much of our British identity give up?  Shouldn’t we perhaps also be teaching the Germans a thing or two about being British?  What really constitutes the best that each nation has to offer?”

When Planet Germany first hit the shelves, I asked Cathy what inspired her to turn her experience into a novel.  “The whole experience of living in another culture is a bit like finding yourself cast in the lead role in a slapstick comedy. Hilarious, baffling, and downright stupid things happen to you when you least expect it. You’re an odd sock tossed around in the tumble dryer of life,” she told me.

“Writing, for me, is a way of processing all these bizarre experiences and capturing the sheer idiocy of situations. I’ve always written accounts of the strange goings on around me—whether in the form of letters home, emails to friends, or posts on forums. I have a compulsive urge to tell all these stories, and I love to make people laugh. Writing a book was a way of moving from telling just one person about the latest lunatic episode of my life, to reaching a wider audience.”

With no previous publishing experience, Cathy decided to jump right into the fire, taking on the challenge of writing her first novel with three children, an old farm house in need of renovation, and at the same time that she launched her own consulting business with a German partner.  I wanted to know how she found the time.  “In the end I took to getting up early in the morning (usually around 5 am) and writing for a couple of hours before getting the kids ready for school,” she admitted.  “I also did a lot at weekends. The reason for any shortages of coffee on the global commodities market over the last three years are entirely my fault. I drank vats of it while writing.”

The book has been well received, and rumor has it that Cathy is currently working on a sequel.  I asked Cathy to give YG readers a sneak preview of what her next book would be about.

"The next book focuses more on the day-to-day office-Krieg between myself and Birgit [Cathy's German business partner] as we argue about a thousand different things. Disputes between Birgit and myself—about say, paperclips—quickly take on the dynamics of a major international incident."

Win your own copy of Planet Germany

Young Germany is raffling off a copy of Cathy Dobson’s novel Planet Germany on facebook.  To enter, visit the Young Germany facebook page and leave a comment reading “Send me to Planet Germany.”  Winners will be announced Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011.

Links

Cathy Dobson’s blog: Planet Germany
Buy Planet Germany
Interview originally published on Click Clack Gorilla: Click here to read the full-length 2008 interview