The Invention of Curried Sausage

This book was chosen by a member of our book club and I delayed reading it until the last minute as I didn't think I'd like it- but enjoyed it hugely. I wasn't really interested in curried sausage but the book is really about Hamburg at the closing stages of the second world war and the main character's life and experiences. On a higher level, it can perhaps be an allegory for Germany, survival and adaptation to circumstances.mainly though, it's a good read.

Nice to read a story from a different crude about s period we know well from our point of view

A brilliant novella that conjures up life in Hamburg towards end of WWII and under British occupation. The love story and travails of the female lead character is very touching. Fiction here reads as a true life story.

This is a most remarkable story about life when the rules change or disappear. An almost-destroyed Hamburg 3 days before Hitler commits suicide, life under Nazi rule, the slow hidden change to rule by the 'Tommies'. What is left of life when almost everything has been taken away; how people can be so inventive, almost liberated, by the situation. A woman who step-by-step takes charge of her life. Especially good for anyone seeking to understand post-war Germany.

"The Invention of Curried Sausage" by Uwe Timm is a melancholy read of friendship and coincidence. Its object is the discoverer of sausage with curried ketchup - still one of the most popular burger van menu items in Germany.The circumstances of the discovery, and the narrator's recollections in connection with it, form the frame for a tale of wartime inventiveness, romance and futility. The backdrop is a beautiful study of live at the conclusion of, and immediately after the second world war.