Ben Smith who wrote DOGGERLAND is a literary scholar and specializes in climate issues, so in a way he embodies the popular genre of "Cli-Fi".

English translation from German newspaper


The Englishman Ben Smith is a literary scholar and specializes in climate issues, so in a way he embodies the popular genre of "Cli-Fi".

Hardcover edition  in GERMANY in 2020

https://www.derstandard.de/story/2000113709179/ben-smith-dahinter-das-offene-meer
 (Original: "Doggerland", 2019)


15 February 2020

GERMAN　ＴＩＴＬＥ

Ben Smith: "Dahinter das offene Meer" (behind the open sea)


translated by Dr A.I.
  
He thought of the days, the years he had spent spreading his string. Not a single fish had been caught. Not even seen one. Yet every day he had climbed to the supports of the platform and looked for his line. Why? He must have thought that he would catch something one day. What was that feeling called again? He did not remember.
 
But it is not only the name of hope that young Jem has forgotten. He also doesn't know (anymore) what strawberries or potatoes are, not to mention the geographical and political circumstances. It is as if the leaden grey monotony of his surroundings has gradually erased his memories of everything outside his little world.

Doggerland
This world is a crumbling offshore wind farm 100 miles off the coast, in the middle of nowhere in the North Sea. (The title of the original edition makes it a little clearer: "Doggerland" is the region between eastern England and the continent that remained above water long after the melting of the great glacial masses of the Ice Age and only sank under a megatsunami a good 8,000 years ago).

The huge park comprises more than 6,000 wind turbines - hundreds of which, however, have already failed. Even though the two main characters in Ben Smith's novel - at least at the beginning - are making every effort to repair damage, the decline continues unabated. And while the plant, which is increasingly seldom visited by supply ships, is rusting away, the ocean currents beneath it are collecting waste from distant regions. Each part of it seems to Jem like a mysterious message from an unknown world.
 

With the basic constellation of "Behind the Open Sea", one feels somewhat reminded at first of Robert Eggers' impressive film "The Lighthouse", which recently ran in the cinemas. Isolated in a nautical environment, two men stew - here: Jem and the elder Greil - in their own juices. One of them is only the youngest in a whole series of the other's helpers and also feels the hierarchical gradient every day. They are dependent on each other, but each keeps his secrets and pursues his private projects. Resentment is inevitable, mind games begin.

Whether the destructive spiral here will turn as far into madness as in "The Lighthouse" is one of the questions that make the novel, which is basically literally rippling along, so gripping. The others are: "Will Jem be able to escape from the wind farm? Can he explain what happened to his father, who was his predecessor as Greil's helper and one day disappeared without a trace? Why is Greil obsessively collecting relics of the Stone Age settlement of Doggerland and exchanging valuable equipment for new maps with clues to sites? And what is the agenda of the skipper who supplies the wind farm with supplies and makes a rather shady impression?

These are all typical plot questions, of course, and Ben Smith doesn't necessarily give the impression in his debut novel that classic plot patterns are his top priority. (Formulated in a less convoluted way: Better not expect an answer to all questions, otherwise you'll be disappointed in the end!) Smith is interested in the exceptional situation his protagonists find themselves in - and above all in what she does with them: The boy bent over to his reflection and opened his eyes wide. Had his skin always been so pale, almost grey? As grey as walls and floor? He raised his hand, touched his cheek, his forehead, to make sure he hadn't turned to metal.

The Englishman Ben Smith is a literary scholar and specializes in climate issues, so in a way he embodies the popular genre of "Cli-Fi".

One will find relatives to John Lanchester's "The Wall" as well as to Jürgen Bauer's "A Good Man". These are titles that are not necessarily perceived as science fiction and undermine the actual SF plot in various ways. Through abstraction, for example: The name Jem has probably been mentioned more often in this review than in the whole book. Normally Smith calls his protagonists "the boy" and "the old man", Cormac McCarthy's "The Street" sends its regards.
 
According to the same system, only "the coast" and "the company" responsible for the wind farm are mentioned. By the way, this company seems to be a universal monopolist, and the fact that Jem had to take over his father's employment contract speaks for the fact that in this uncomfortable future there is a new kind of serfdom - even if it is not pronounced directly. Vague world-building is also an indication of SF-who-doesn't-want-to-be-SF and subliminally conveys the message "Hello, I'm writing real literature here! (I couldn't help myself now ... nevertheless, "Behind it the open sea" is a clear recommendation, just so we don't misunderstand each other).

Casual remarks about lost cities and largely stopped shipping traffic give us the picture of a world in decline. Parallel to this, Smith makes several insertions on the geological history of Doggerland. The impression that emerges from this: The present civilization will remain as fleeting an apparition as the sunken culture from the Stone Age - a sad message, but an impressive novel.
PS: "Dahinter das offenen Meer" and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the publisher for allowing me to exceed the embargo period.