Family secrets: Paul Murray and Philipp Oehmke
In 2024 we were introduced to two deliciously dysfunctional families in The Bee Sting and Schönwald. For Annelies Beck, these were two of her favourite books of 2024. She is delighted to introduce the spiritual fathers of these families to each other – and to you.
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tolstoy
‘All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’ The famous opening line of Anna Karenina was brilliantly illustrated by Irish writer Paul Murray and German newcomer Philipp Oehmke in 2024. In their novels about the Barnes and Schönwald families, they added some new forms of family drama to world literature.
the irish countryside
In Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting, the Barnes family struggles with financial, emotional, relationship and climate-related problems. in the course of the story, these problems only escalate, leading to chaos. The word ‘dysfunctional’ seems made for the father Dickie, the mother Imelda, the daughter Cassie and the son PJ, who manage to get themselves, and each other, into more and more trouble.
‘Murray’s writing is pure joy – propulsive, insightful and seeded with hilarious observations.’
the german metropolis
The eldest son is a cancelled literature professor who sees a saviour in Trump; the daughter has opened a queer bookshop in Berlin; the youngest son will do anything to avoid being associated with his rich Elon Musk-like father-in-law; the mother, an expert on the work of Thomas Mann, is stuck in a stalled academic career; and the father would rather not talk about the past. Meet Philipp Oehmke’s Schönwald family, the protagonists of his ambitious debut novel.
‘This unequalled family epic is a twenty-first-century Buddenbrooks, one whose characters don’t succumb to weakness of character, but rather to their inability to be open-hearted.’
about the authors
Philipp Oehmke (b. 1974) grew up in Bonn and studied journalism at Columbia University. After four years working for the magazine of the renowned Süddeutsche Zeitung, he switched to Der Spiegel. In 2015 he moved to New York, returning to Berlin in 2020. Oehmke is widely regarded as one of the best journalists of his generation. His biography of the German punk band Die Toten Hosen spent several weeks on the bestseller list, as did his debut novel Schönwald. Oehmke is currently working on a sequel to Schönwald.
Paul Murray worked as a bookseller for many years. He is the author of An Evening of Long Goodbyes (2003), Skippy Dies (2010) and The Mark and the Void (2015). All of his novels have received rave reviews and numerous awards. He lives with his family in Dublin.
about the interviewer
Annelies Beck (b. 1973) is a writer and journalist who anchors the current affairs programme Terzake. She has also written two novels: Over het kanaal (2011), a historical novel set during World War I, and Toekomstkoorts (2019), about a Belgian attempt to colonize Brazil.
Organisation: Passa Porta
pictures: Paul Murray © Chris Maddaloni, Philipp Oehmke © Karina Rozwadowska, Annelies Beck © Eveline Renaud
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