Punishment
by Ferdinand von Schirach
(translated from the German by Katharina Hall)
Ferdinand von Schirach’s Strafe, now being published in an English translation (“Punishment”) by Katharina Hall, brings to a close a trilogy of short story collections based on the author’s experiences as a criminal defence lawyer. The series started with Verbrechen (Crime), Von Schirach’s first published work of fiction, soon followed by Schuld (Guilt). Punishment is the logical conclusion, reflecting the normal course of criminal proceedings.
The short stories in Punishment are short indeed. Most run only for a few pages. The style is terse and to the point, concentrating on the key facts, not unlike the contents of a legal brief. The subject is generally some horrific crime and involves references to the trial (and punishment) which follows. Wives kill their husbands. A retired businessman goes on a shooting spree. Young boys get embroiled in youth gangs. Some are found guilty. Others not. Some sort of punishment always follows, not necessarily meted out by a judge.
The stories contain little to no philosophical digressions, and only rare displays of emotion, except possibly in the very final story – The Friend – where the detached third-person narration suddenly switches to the first person, bringing us face to face with the criminal lawyer who is, likely, the hidden protagonist who has accompanied us throughout the book.
What is striking about this collection is the fact that,
without explicitly entering into philosophical debates, the stories explore the
dilemmas behind the criminal justice system.
They continuously nudge the reader into thinking hard about the distinctions
between law and justice; statute and morality; private conscience and public
order. There is much to digest here, and
yet the stories can also be enjoyed simply for their narration – which is thrilling,
edgy and often carries a twist in the tail/tale.
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