Review of Christian Kracht's Eurotrash, longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025
Some of the funniest and most poignant moments in Christian Kracht's Eurotrash (translated from the German by Daniel Bowles) involve bodily fluids. A bored cab driver distracted by his own snotty nose. A mother recalling a romantic rendezvous from her youth in graphic detail, much to her son's discomfiture.
But my personal favourite is when after a fierce argument between the protagonist (an authorial stand-in called Christian, a German novelist) and his mother, the former still has to empty out her colostomy bag because of course he does. This scene is the perfect example of the tonality Kracht uses wonderfully throughout the novel — acerbic wit mixed with bitterness and self-loathing but also an undertone of undeniable tenderness.
Much of the novel, longlisted for this year's International Booker Prize, takes place on a road trip across the characters' native of Switzerland. Christian and his mother belong to a family that has made their fortune via a supremely shady armaments business. His grandfather, even more damningly, was a Nazi officer in the infamous secret police known as SS.
The formidable, eccentric Mama Kracht, meanwhile, is very old, unfathomably rich, and likes to mix alcohol with prescription pills. When this propensity lands her in a psych ward, Christian feels like his proposed trip is a way to exorcise the family ghosts. The duo starts to give away the family's ill-gotten wealth during their road trip, just handing out cash from a plastic bag in the car.
Behind the radicalisation
As one might surmise from a plot like this, both German nationalism as well as German denial-of-history are very much on trial here. In the very first chapter, Kracht condemns the 'complete failure of the denazification process' when it came to his SS grandfather. The novel is devastating — and devastatingly funny — when it's absolutely tearing down legacies and reputations, bursting the balloon-egos of the Kracht family.
For example, Christian tells the reader that upon his grandfather's death, a great deal of BDSM paraphernalia was discovered among his things. Bitterly, he daydreams about his late grandfather introducing racialised Nazi pseudo-science even into these 'clandestine cellar trysts' with very young Icelandic women.
'For only they, this old man, my grandfather, had thought, could adequately represent the Nordic ideal. The Norwegians, the Germans, the Danes were too weak — no, it had to be Icelanders, girls whom he would invite to his home as au pairs, to Sylt, girls in whose blood the sacred Edda sang eternally.'
Black humour
The translation by Daniel Bowles is first rate, and often comes up with an unsettling metaphor or simile that absolutely nails the tragicomic tonality of the book. Besides, Kracht is obsessed with the workings of language which is a through line Bowles picks up on pretty quickly. This harmony between writer and translator manifests itself in an incendiary passage about the German language.
'It was always language itself, the liberation and simultaneous domination of the spastic glottis, that singular enigma which lay in the proper sequence of syllables. And it was always, then, the German. It had always been the German language. It had always been the scorched earth, the sufferings of ill-treated earth itself, war and the burning old city and the vegetable fields made infertile outside it. It had always been the ghetto purged with the flamethrower. It had always been the tailored, pale gray uniforms, the attractive blond officers with their ice-cube-filled gullets, whispering, smiling.'
With amusing nods to Shakespeare and Flaubert classics, not to mention the sociological theories of Guy Debord, Eurotrash is an immensely entertaining, erudite disavowal of nationalistic chest-thumping and ahistorical amnesia. It missed the International Booker shortlist — narrowly, I am sure — but is nevertheless highly recommended for those who enjoy their humour pitch-black.
The reviewer is a writer and journalist working on his first book of non-fiction.
Eurotrash Christian Kracht, trs Daniel Bowles Hachette India ₹499
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
4 hours ago
- Mint
Music streaming service Deezer adds AI song tags in fight against fraud
LONDON (AP) — Music streaming service Deezer said Friday that it will start flagging albums with AI-generated songs, part of its fight against streaming fraudsters. Deezer, based in Paris, is grappling with a surge in music on its platform created using artificial intelligence tools it says are being wielded to earn royalties fraudulently. The app will display an on-screen label warning about 'AI-generated content" and notify listeners that some tracks on an album were created with song generators. Deezer is a small player in music streaming, which is dominated by Spotify, Amazon and Apple, but the company said AI-generated music is an 'industry-wide issue.' It's committed to 'safeguarding the rights of artists and songwriters at a time where copyright law is being put into question in favor of training AI models," CEO Alexis Lanternier said in a press release. Deezer's move underscores the disruption caused by generative AI systems, which are trained on the contents of the internet including text, images and audio available online. AI companies are facing a slew of lawsuits challenging their practice of scraping the web for such training data without paying for it. According to an AI song detection tool that Deezer rolled out this year, 18% of songs uploaded to its platform each day, or about 20,000 tracks, are now completely AI generated. Just three months earlier, that number was 10%, Lanternier said in a recent interview. AI has many benefits but it also "creates a lot of questions" for the music industry, Lanternier told The Associated Press. Using AI to make music is fine as long as there's an artist behind it but the problem arises when anyone, or even a bot, can use it to make music, he said. Music fraudsters 'create tons of songs. They upload, they try to get on playlists or recommendations, and as a result they gather royalties,' he said. Musicians can't upload music directly to Deezer or rival platforms like Spotify or Apple Music. Music labels or digital distribution platforms can do it for artists they have contracts with, while anyone else can use a 'self service' distribution company. Fully AI-generated music still accounts for only about 0.5% of total streams on Deezer. But the company said it's 'evident" that fraud is 'the primary purpose" for these songs because it suspects that as many as seven in 10 listens of an AI song are done by streaming "farms" or bots, instead of humans. Any AI songs used for 'stream manipulation' will be cut off from royalty payments, Deezer said. AI has been a hot topic in the music industry, with debates swirling around its creative possibilities as well as concerns about its legality. Two of the most popular AI song generators, Suno and Udio, are being sued by record companies for copyright infringement, and face allegations they exploited recorded works of artists from Chuck Berry to Mariah Carey. Gema, a German royalty-collection group, is suing Suno in a similar case filed in Munich, accusing the service of generating songs that are 'confusingly similar' to original versions by artists it represents, including 'Forever Young' by Alphaville, 'Daddy Cool' by Boney M and Lou Bega's 'Mambo No. 5.' Major record labels are reportedly negotiating with Suno and Udio for compensation, according to news reports earlier this month. To detect songs for tagging, Lanternier says Deezer uses the same generators used to create songs to analyze their output. 'We identify patterns because the song creates such a complex signal. There is lots of information in the song,' Lanternier said. The AI music generators seem to be unable to produce songs without subtle but recognizable patterns, which change constantly. 'So you have to update your tool every day," Lanternier said. "So we keep generating songs to learn, to teach our algorithm. So we're fighting AI with AI.' Fraudsters can earn big money through streaming. Lanternier pointed to a criminal case last year in the U.S., which authorities said was the first ever involving artificially inflated music streaming. Prosecutors charged a man with wire fraud conspiracy, accusing him of generating hundreds of thousands of AI songs and using bots to automatically stream them billions of times, earning at least $10 million.
Business Standard
5 hours ago
- Business Standard
Schwarzkopf Professional Debuts 'Hair by Schwarzkopf Pro' with the Unveiling of this Year's Defining Hair Colour Trend: Lived-in
PRNewswire Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 20: Schwarzkopf Professional debuted the first edition of Hair by Schwarzkopf Pro on June 16 at St. Regis, Mumbai -- a landmark hair show celebrating global artistry, trend innovation, and creative exchange at the highest level. Backed by over a century of German hair colour expertise and salon innovation, the event marked a significant moment as Schwarzkopf Professional celebrated over 125 years of hair artistry globally and 25 years of inspiring hairdressing excellence in India. The show exemplified the brand's commitment to precision, performance, and pushing the boundaries of professional hairdressing worldwide. Hair by Schwarzkopf Pro marked a milestone collaboration between two international hair powerhouses -- Schwarzkopf Professional and Sassoon Academy came together for the first time in India to launch the 'Lived-in' Colour Trend. Hair legends Richard Ashforth, International Creative Director, and Matthew Carroll, Colour Director, at Sassoon Academy, led a precision-led segment that brought the brand's iconic artistry to the Indian stage for the very first time. Their presence marked a new moment for the Indian salon landscape -- one that merges international standards with local vision. At the heart of the show was the unveiling of Lived-in -- Schwarzkopf Professional's biggest colour trend of the year. Effortless, dimensional, and rooted in salon practicality, Lived-in is a colour trend designed for today's clients: those seeking modern tones with low-maintenance regrowth, seamless blending, and colour that evolves beautifully over time. The trend was brought to life by Schwarzkopf Professional's Hair Artist Kollektiv -- India's creative ambassadors -- through a series of striking looks themed in Lived-in Toffee, Lived-in Mocha and Lived-in Biskoff -- that redefine modern browns for every skin tone and hair texture. "The Lived-in trend is all about colour that feels personal and effortless," says Vaishakhi Haria - Meister, Hair Artist Kollektiv at Schwarzkopf Professional. "Think golden and chocolate browns that flatter Indian skin, created with easy yet impactful salon-friendly techniques for looks that grow out beautifully and suit every age." "To me, the Lived-in trend is colour that grows with you, natural, low maintenance, yet full of style," says Ryan D'Rozario - Hair Artist Kollektiv at Schwarzkopf Professional. "Soft gold highlights over a mocha base create a rich, warm dimension that flatters Indian skin and stays beautiful from day one to grow-out." "The Lived-in trend is about effortless dimension that grows out beautifully," says Deepak Jalhan - Meister, Hair Artist Kollektiv at Schwarzkopf Professional. "Inspired by the sunlit warmth of Indian landscapes. Using honeyed caramels and mochas with freehand highlights and root melts creates a seamless, low-maintenance blend that flatters deeper skin tones." At the heart of the trend is a modern brown palette, Mocha, Toffee, and Biskoff -- shades that bring softness, richness, and natural light play to Indian hair. These tones are versatile, flattering across complexions, and beautifully suited to all hair textures -- from fine to coarse, straight to wavy and curly -- making them the new go-to for colourists and clients alike. Schwarzkopf Professional's Hair Muse, Mira Kapoor, sported the trend and walked as the showstopper -- her signature Lived-in colour created by Vaishakhi Haria. Built on the trusted performance of the IGORA portfolio by Schwarzkopf Professional, the Lived-in technique draws from soft-root work, dimension-enhancing tones, and intuitive blending -- ideal for clients looking to extend their time between salon visits without compromising on style, coverage, or impact. The event was attended by renowned salons and leading salon chains, with artists, hairdressers, and salon owners coming together to witness and celebrate the grand unveiling. About Schwarzkopf Professional Since its inception as a family business by Hans Schwarzkopf in 1898, Schwarzkopf Professional holds a worldwide leading position in Beauty Care. With the customer at the center of its business model, Schwarzkopf Professional innovates, inspires, educates, connects, and supports the hairdresser, adding real value to their salon business. From cutting-edge products, such as Bonacure, IGORA, Fibre Clinix, OSiS+ and breakthrough integrated Bonding Technology, tailored salon support programs, and progressive hairdresser training from ASK Education, Schwarzkopf Professional is continuously reinventing hair in partnership with the community.
India Gazette
10 hours ago
- India Gazette
Lauren Gottlieb marries Tobias Jones in Italy, check pics here
New Delhi [India], June 20 (ANI): Actor-choreographer Lauren Gottlieb married her longtime boyfriend and content creator Tobias Jones in an intimate ceremony on June 11. The couple's close friends and families attended the wedding. In a post on her Instagram handle, actress Lauren Gottlieb shared beautiful photos from her traditional Christian wedding ceremony in Italy. The actress donned a beautiful white gown for the wedding while Jones was dressed in a black and white tuxedo. The couple looked adorable as they posed for the cameras. The couple shared a series of photos from their wedding. In one of the pictures, Lauren is seen walking down the aisle with her father as she makes her way towards Tobias Jones, who waits for her at the centre stage to say 'I Do' The couple also posed with their family members after the wedding. Lauren-Jones also shared a picture of themselves with a cake as they celebrated their happy day. While sharing the pictures, the couple penned a heartwarming note for the people who made their wedding beautiful and memorable. 'Mr. & Mrs. Jones 11.06.2025. On a Tuscan hilltop, with our hearts wide open, we promised each other forever. We've always felt this love was out there. A once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. And when we found it, and it felt like coming home. Marrying each other was the most beautiful day of our lives. It was joy. It was peace. It was everything we've ever dreamt of!', wrote Lauren. She continued, 'Our story found its stage at @casaledepasquinelli. It really felt like we stepped into a dream! @gabriele_pasquinelli_, @ and @francescanieri76, you didn't just host a wedding, you held space for something sacred. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! These were the most gorgeous and jaw dropping floral arrangements we have ever seen, thank you @ for making this dream a reality! To @nikagunchak, who saw us exactly as we are and made it timeless. Thank you for capturing these beautiful moments! More thanks to come! xx' Lauren is known for her roles in dance-based Bollywood movies, including ABCD, ABCD 2 and others. She also gained popularity for her performance in the Baadshah's song 'Mercy'. (ANI)
