Doktor Erich Kästners Lyrische Hausapotheke

the title is surely misleading, part of the irony that is pervading the whole book: since i doubt that the poems which are collected here really do help against the states of mind they are supposed to cure. they surely give you a laugh or at least a smile every once in a while, but definitely not of happiness, for they are too embittered, too ironic, too pessimistic – a feel that completely contradicts the light-hearted, sometimes bothersome rhythm and rhyme. for that reason, someone who seeks for a cure, might, after reading the book, even feel worse. however, and that’s how i like the book, it gives a deep insight into the human soul and the fights it has to fight in its everyday life; an insight into the soul of both the author’s and your own.