Alina Bronsky; trans. Tim Mohr
Barbara Isn’t Dying Yet by Alina Bronsky, translated from the German by Tim Mohr, charts the gradual awakening of Walter Schmidt, a curmudgeon grandfather and retiree in his seventies.
Walter wakes up one morning and is surprised that the familiar smell of coffee hasn’t wafted all the way up to his bedroom. The initial irritation that his wife Barbara is late in making his coffee becomes more pronounced when he finds her lying on the bathroom floor. He helps her get back into bed, fully anticipating she will be up and about in no time to make him his coffee. When Barbara is unable to get out of bed, Walter reluctantly embarks on a journey where he has to learn to fend for himself.
The opening chapters of the novel are funny. Walter struggles to navigate his way around what is very much Barbara’s kitchen. He searches cabinets for coffee, wrestles with the coffee machine, and then abandons the enterprise to purchase coffee and pastries from a local bakery. He convinces himself Barbara will be fine after she has had something to eat. But, alas, for poor Walter, Barbara’s condition deteriorates. When their son insists on taking her to the doctor and then to the hospital to run tests, Walter doesn’t want to know the diagnosis. Barbara’s refusal to go the hospital reinforces his conviction that she’s fine and simply needs nourishment.
Walter’s pride initially prevents him for listening to his children’s advice to hire a cleaning lady and cook. He assumes the unfamiliar role of caregiver and provider. He goes grocery shopping and becomes adept at cooking by watching a chef on the internet. He takes the dog for walks and is constantly bombarded by apparent strangers who ask him about Barbara’s health. He discovers Barbara has friends on the internet, is popular in the neighborhood, and does volunteer work at a local center.
It gradually dawns on poor Walter he has been so selfishly focused on himself during their 50 years of marriage that he was thoroughly oblivious to all aspects of Barbara’s life, including how she had organized everything—from her pristine kitchen to her daily routine—to cater to his every need. He takes faltering steps in recognizing his total dependence on her and on his selfishness and emotional distance from his wife and children. He appreciates all that Barbara has done for him and tries to demonstrate this appreciation by cooking elaborate meals for her. But Barbara has lost her appetite and won’t eat. When Barbara’s friends parade in the house to visit her with food and flowers, when their children break down in tears, when she weakens physically on a daily basis, it becomes apparent to all—all except Walter—that Barbara is dying.
In the skilled hands of Alina Bronsky, what begins as humorous, almost slapstick comedy morphs into a moving, bittersweet tale of an elderly man’s awakening. Kicking and screaming all the way, Walter transforms himself from a self-absorbed, rude, grumpy old man to a compassionate human being who finally appreciates his wife, who recognizes the importance of human connection, and who goes out of his way to help strangers. Using diction that draws you in, Bronsky succeeds in making us like and sympathize with this elderly curmudgeon. She concludes the novel with a poignant image that tugs at the heartstrings.