I was happy I was able to read this novel as it's sweet, nostalgic, and the portrait of people and a city in a specific historical moments.
Great storytelling and style of writing. I want to read other story by this author
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Whilst set in 1966 Vienna this feels a very post-war novel, it could have been set in the 40s or 50s rather than the 60s. I felt that from a very narrow perspective, the small cast of characters told a universal story whilst also enhancing my understanding of the Austrian experience and period of change in Europe.

Whilst this is a character driven narrative, I found the characters drew a greater social historical backdrop by adding together the sum of their quotidien. Whilst knowing the history (as did the people we witness) I found it anomolous that the past, aside from its economic effects, was not featured more. But why would it? We are twenty years post-war, a newer generation mixing with veterans and the reality of looking forward rather than backwards is a societal norm. I liked the book for reminding me of that.

I enjoy a book about lives lived and this reminded me to a degree of Marzahn Mon Amour (Katja Oskamp) where we see slices of everyday living, albeit set against German reunification.

Liked but didn't love however I am sure this will distil for some time in my head,
With thanks to #NetGalley and #CanongateBooks for the opportunity to read and review

This novel has attracted mixed reviews since it was originally published in German, so I was intrigued to build my own opinion of it. Its title alludes to the famous Viennese coffee-house culture, but it soon becomes clear that the setting is not the coffee-house of the glittering literati and well-spoken politicians, but instead the coffee-house of the unprepossessing ordinary citizens trying to make a living in one of the poorer parts of the Austrian capital city. As the summer of 1966 gives over to autumn, casual worker Robert Simon is brave enough to take on this coffee house that offers those who frequent it a chance to relax, recharge and redesign their most intimate, individual dreams. Reading their quietly-drawn, nuanced, sensitively-written depictions, I occasionally felt reminded of Stefan Zweig’s Viennese masterpieces, and also of Thomas Bernhard’s semi-autobiographical renderings of ‘The Cellar. A Withdrawal’, in which a young Salzburger undergoes a similar apprenticeship to Seethaler’s character Robert Simon. Warmly recommended, this is a novel for those who want to immerse themselves in the ‘why’, rather than the ‘what’ of modern storytelling. Thank you to NetGalley and to the publishers for the free ARC, generously gifted, that allowed me to do just that.

A low key book which I feel was a little oversold by the rapturous reviews. It was one of those novels where I felt I was missing something as I found it a bit dull. The characters never quite came alive for me and the sketch like quality of the writing meant that I was only skimming the surface of the world. It was set in the 1960s and 70s but felt to me as if it was from a much earlier period; it never captured the era. Every now and then an incident or description of clothing would place it firmly in the intended time period which jarringly reminded me when it was supposed to be.. It was touching in parts and had a gentle atmosphere that will definitely appeal to some readers%

An unusual read which depicts the lives of a multi cultural Vienna. The focus is on Simon Robert who fulfilled his dream of opening a café in the city.

The author has selected a number of individuals who frequent the Café with no Name and elaborated on their experiences. Reading this novel was akin to peeling back the layers of a painting, bit by bit they were separate but somehow all united together by the Café. A rather depressing book with some snatches of humour. Overall, not one for me.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a real hidden gem. A short volume packed with life. It’s the story of Simon who takes over a run down café in Vienna in the mid 1960s. It’s situated on the corner of a market square and is the vehicle for an introspective look at the lives of some of the people who frequent the place. They all have a story and I was taken to a bustling but different world in a foreign city, one still recovering from the aftermath of the war. Sweethater is perceptive and although there’s no real plot, he presents a truly fascinating slice of life at that time. It’s a calming reflective tale and I absolutely loved it and woukd happily read more by this author.

Tender and melancholy : small lives in post war Vienna. Unfussy, spare writing.

The central character in this book, Robert Simon, works as a general handyman and stall holder’s assistant in a working class area, where there is a street market. He is a single man, liked by everyone, but somewhat of a quiet, introspective man, one of much kindness, but no ostentation. He lives in the house of an elderly, similar self-contained widow, renting a room from her.

Vienna is really settling in to a post-war reconstruction boom, beginning to change as working class housing and the damage sustained in the war, is moved in on by property developers.

Simon has an unexpected dream. He would like to create a community of his fellow working class men and women, the market stall community and also the workers rebuilding the area.

A derelict, rather unappealing, war damaged building which housed a previous café is available for lease. Robert does not intend anything gentrified, merely a place for coffee, beer, and other local drinks, and quite basic snacks, gherkins, bread and dripping. This is nothing fancy

The novel, which doesn’t really have a plot as such, is just the vignettes of the small lives of those who come to use the café, the locals who work in the area, and Robert Simon himself.

Some of these lives – well, most of them, to be honest – are ordinary, ‘little people’. These are not the individual movers and shakers of history, but they are in many ways, like far more of us, most of us, if our lives were viewed from the outside – individuals both noble and petty, those with dreams which might be considered small – very very far from what seems like today’s celebrity culture.

This is actually a beautifully written book, and the translation from the German, by Katy Derbyshire, felt seamless, in that I was not aware of reading something which seemed somehow a little awkward, which can happen if a translator does a kind of literal, word for word translation

I loved the quiet combination of something which felt very grounded, properly inhabiting material world, how things are made, done and used, in a mundane and everyday way, coupled with spare, unshowy simple seeming thoughts and feelings of Seethaler’s characters. Somehow, Seethaler makes the reader see the depths and the heroism of such small lives, each as important to themselves, within themselves, as the lives of those thought to be the colossuses of recorded history.

I have read all of Robert Seethaler's books and enjoyed each and every one.
Bookended by the setting up of the cafe by Robert Simon and its closure, the novel contains multiple portraits of characters that visit the cafe from the nearby market and neighbourhood. We don't really get huge insight into all these visitors as most only get a chapter, but it does build up a picture of the Austria in the sixties and the outlook of those struggling to make a living, with financial and relationship stresses.

A gentle book, about people picking up their lives and carrying on after the war. I like that it deals with the day to day rather than the big issues of the time and this makes the people all the more real. Simon comes across as a very caring, gentle character and I couldn't help wondering why he never found a partner. Beautifully written/translated and well observed.

In Vienna in the 1960s Robert Simon, who does odd jobs in the market, decides to set up a small cafe. He offers very basic drinks and food for the market workers and although he has no experience, common sense and a practical approach see him through and his little enterprise is popular and successful, becoming a meeting place for the local community.. Life is not easy for any of the customers so vividly depicted but they find strength and support from each other. This simple story of Robert and the relationships he builds is touching but not sentimental. Highly recommended..

thanks to Netgalley and Canongate for the ARC

such an interesting premise. i really enjoyed this book. thank you so much to the publisher for sending me the e-arc!!

A soothing read, presenting vignettes in the life of a Viennese market café over a number of years. We meet a number of characters, including the owner and various customers and neighbours. The author does not dig fully into any one person's life, but we get a sense of their hopes, dreams and doubts and of the changes taking place in post war Vienna.

Everyday life and its characters captured perfectly. A very subtle story focusing more on the tiny moments that happen around us and the people involved than on a story itself. Very enjoyable and different to most books I’ve read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC

I love these types of books: quiet and introspective and all about the human condition. This was great and I found it to be warming.

Set in post-war Austria, this is the story of an honest, hard-working man (Robert Simon) who takes on lodgings with an old widow and a lease for a run-down café, gradually transforming it into something of a hub for the community, all the while remaining rather solitary himself. Other people’s narratives, somewhat randomly, weave in and out of the main story and we are left with Robert Simon solemnly closing down his café at the end of the lease as the town loses its original identity, giving way to new builds and capitalist ventures. This rather languid, nostalgic novel, was lacking in my mind of a strong narrative though-line to hold interest my interest; but there were nevertheless some evocative scenes, insightful ruminations and, overall, it was an interesting glimpse at characters of old, living in harsher but perhaps more accepting times.

This novel is rather like French cinema, nothing appears to be happening, but everything is happening. It is subtle and deceptively simple on the surface but with profound and thought-provoking currents that linger long after you finish reading: “The dead get more flowers than the living”. Congratulations also to the translator for a job well done. Highly recommended for those who appreciate that much of the beauty of life is in the mundane interactions of people as they go about their everyday lives. Special thank you to Canongate Books and NetGalley for a no obligation advance digital review copy.

This was an easy to read book with some well developed characters. I personally felt the book was rather sad and left me with a dejected feeling.

Vienna, 1966. Robert Simon decides to follow his dream and restore an old run-down cafe as a gathering place for the community. He pours everything into it, and it becomes a much-loved gathering place for the locals. We get glimpses of their lives- work, relationships, friendships and family- and begin to understand their foibles and failings as well as their strengths, hopes and ambitions. But as time passes, the world is changing, and nothing can last forever.. This is a delightful book, full of insight, compassion and understanding. All human life is here, told through a series of cameos with the cafe at the centre. To use an old-fashioned term, it is utterly charming, and although these are ordinary people with simple stories, the cumulative effect is something unique and memorable.

A very unusual story of life in Vienna postwar, a city like most in Europe, caught between nostalgia and regret. It is peopled with humanity in all its variety, those who struggle to survive, and those who the daily drudgery affects with melancholy and hopelessness. The cafe is the scene where these dramas play out, comraderie and belligerence live where the alcohol flows, people from different walks of life, and those destined to sink or swim come here. A picture of life in all its many forms is painted, and is told with feeling, the language is wistful and if not totally uplifting, is full of humanity.

I really enjoy Seethaler's work and this book was a delight too.
We hear so much about the miraculous recovery of West Berlin/West Germany after WW2 but Austria is often overlooked, which is a shame as it too was partitioned among the victors until the mid 1950s.
This story focuses on a small cast of figures who are linked via a shabby market place and the café on the corner, it is far more of a character study than a plot driven book but it was very atmospheric and I believed I was sitting on a chair in the corner watching the small dramas play out.