An Excerpt from Herta Mueller's new Novel

While a debate is now raging on about how Herta Mueller could be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature, signandsight.com publishes an excerpt from Herta Mueller's new novel "Everthing I Own I Carry With Me"

"Everything I have I carry with me.
Or: everything that's mine I carry on me.

I carried everything I had. It wasn't actually mine. It was either intended for a different purpose or somebody else's. The pigskin suitcase was a gramophone box. The dust coat was from my father. The town coat with the velvet neckband from my grandfather. The breeches from my Uncle Edwin. The leather puttees from our neighbour, Herr Carp. The green gloves from my Auntie Fini. Only the claret silk scarf and the toilet bag were mine, gifts from recent Christmases.
Read on ..