Haarlem, February 1948. Manno Loch lives and works as an art restorer in a modest studio apartment on the Kokstraat. One day he receives an envelope, on which he recognizes the handwriting as that of a former Viennese friend. This letter takes him back to memories of his youth in Haarlem and from 1916 on in Vienna, and the origins of the circle of friends he would be involved with for almost twenty years. Although they come from very different backgrounds in very much divided Vienna, over the years the six friends remain loyal to each other through thick and thin. They help each other with financial difficulties, unwanted pregnancies, persecution for homosexuality, grief and loss, dealing with social pressure and the expectations of parents. Manno – the ‘lubricating oil’ among the friends – functions as a singing bowl for the words they speak, which are often of confidential nature. The more he becomes entangled in the secrets of his friends, the more the reader wonders with him: Can you ever really know another person? Does true friendship require absolute openness? Or is respect for the secrets of others the basic right of every friend?
Viktor has the characteristics of a psychological, historical Bildungsroman. At the start of the book, a family tree has been added, and at the end you can find an explanatory glossary. The novel is set up in five chapters. Viktor reads well, but gains depth and texture through references to the consequently interwoven themes and leitmotifs.
The novel cuts into different themes, like the problems of second and third generation war survivors (who does the Holocaust belong to?), survivors guilt, Right versus Justice and the Jewish renunciation (auto-antisemitism).
- Die Ewige Wiederkunft (Nietzsche, Mahler): the endless cycle of dying and flourishing. This is specifically linked to the second and third generation: Should we view our life as the answer to their deaths?
- Exodus (Pesach, seder)
- Proper names as allotment
- Tapestry, interweaving, threads
- The colour purple
Several themes and motives are, for example:
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