Summary
The Fast Show comedian Simon Day tells Matthew Parris why he's fascinated by the life and work of German author Hans Fallada. Matthew is also joined by Fallada's biographer Jenny Williams.
Hans Fallada (real name Rudolf Ditzen) was an alcoholic, a thief, a morphine addict and, prone to depression, attempted suicide twice. He lived and worked in the Germany of the 1930's and, although declared an "undesirable author," stayed in his beloved country for the duration of the Second World War. In and out of prison, sanatoriums and relationships, his volatile personal life often informed his writing (The Drinker, 1950.)
Simon Day achieved fame as "Competitive Dad" and "Dave Angel, Eco-Warrior" in The Fast Show of the 1990's. More recently he has written of his battles with various addictions, and finds parallels between his own experience of addiction, and that of Hans Fallada.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
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| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.0 | Thank you for downloading this great lives podcast from BBC Radio 4. |
| 0:40.0 | For more information and details of other podcasts just visit BBC.co. UK slash radio for. |
| 0:47.0 | Hello and welcome to great lives. My guest this week is comedian Simon Day. He was Time Out's new Act of the Year in |
| 0:55.6 | 1991 with his creation of Tommy Cockles and he added the monstrous competitive dad and |
| 1:01.5 | the magnificent Dave Angel eco-warier to his repertoire for the |
| 1:05.6 | fast show in the mid 1990s Simon whom have you chosen as your great life and why? |
| 1:11.0 | I have chosen the German writer Hans Falada because I was given one of his books called |
| 1:17.3 | the drinker or the drinker in Germany and I was just completely blown away by it. I've never heard of him. I'd heard of |
| 1:25.2 | little man what now, through a song by Morrissey but I'd never read it and I probably |
| 1:29.2 | went out and bought all his books that have been translated and I just think he's an incredible writer. |
| 1:35.0 | So you started with his work that's what drew you to him. |
| 1:38.0 | He knew nothing about his extraordinary life. |
| 1:41.0 | No and I went and bought his biography, which is absolutely unbelievable. An incredible story of someone who battled morphine addiction, cocaine addiction, the Nazis, poverty, you know, terrible physical accidents. |
| 1:56.0 | He tries to commit suicide twice. |
| 1:59.0 | I mean, it's just an extraordinary life, and he's just a brilliant writer. |
| 2:02.0 | But can you call it a great life? |
... |
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