Bastian's Wanderings
StarBast II
Publisher:
StarBast Publishers
StarBast Publishers
Bastian's Wanderings
Holger Schmidt
Published: 2024
Originally published in German and translated to Russian
by N. Dulesov and N. Markov
Translated into English by Y. Grigoryeva
Illustrated by Andrew Lukyanov and Dmitry Chursin
Cover & book design by Dmitry Chursin
Printed and bound in Russian Federation
by StarBast Publishers (Ekaterinburg)
by N. Dulesov and N. Markov
Translated into English by Y. Grigoryeva
Illustrated by Andrew Lukyanov and Dmitry Chursin
Cover & book design by Dmitry Chursin
Printed and bound in Russian Federation
by StarBast Publishers (Ekaterinburg)
Copyright © 2024 by StarBast Publishers
Idea, text, lyrics & music copyright © N. Dulesov 2017
Text copyright © “Holger Schmidt” 2022
Illustrations copyright © Andrew Lukyanov 2017
Illustrations copyright © Dmitry Chursin 2022
Cover and book design copyright © Dmitry Chursin 2022
Text copyright © “Holger Schmidt” 2022
Illustrations copyright © Andrew Lukyanov 2017
Illustrations copyright © Dmitry Chursin 2022
Cover and book design copyright © Dmitry Chursin 2022
After the disappearance of the legendary band "StarBast," its leader, Bastian Steppenwolf, embarks on a journey across Europe. What begins as a desperate attempt to find his missing son soon transforms into a series of encounters with the past, where personal and historical tragedies intertwine at the boundaries of reality and myth. Vienna, Munich, Prague, Berlin, Paris, London, and other cities become not just points on a map for Bastian, but symbols of human struggle, love, and loss.
His mission is to deliver letters filled with ghosts of the past, entrusted to him by a dying illusionist. These letters reveal the stories of people whose lives were shattered by wars, revolutions, and personal tragedies. Each letter is a step toward the truth, but each truth brings new pain and loss.
As he delves deeper into the mysteries of history and his own soul, Bastian begins to realize that his wanderings are not merely a search for his son. They are an odyssey of inner salvation, where each city raises questions: Can he let go of the past and find forgiveness? What is the price of uncovering the secrets he seeks? Will he find freedom or become trapped in an even more tangled labyrinth of memory and guilt?
In this layered journey, where real people become symbols and reality turns into metaphor, Bastian searches not only for answers but for himself. Only time will tell if he can escape this labyrinth or remain lost in it forever.
His mission is to deliver letters filled with ghosts of the past, entrusted to him by a dying illusionist. These letters reveal the stories of people whose lives were shattered by wars, revolutions, and personal tragedies. Each letter is a step toward the truth, but each truth brings new pain and loss.
As he delves deeper into the mysteries of history and his own soul, Bastian begins to realize that his wanderings are not merely a search for his son. They are an odyssey of inner salvation, where each city raises questions: Can he let go of the past and find forgiveness? What is the price of uncovering the secrets he seeks? Will he find freedom or become trapped in an even more tangled labyrinth of memory and guilt?
In this layered journey, where real people become symbols and reality turns into metaphor, Bastian searches not only for answers but for himself. Only time will tell if he can escape this labyrinth or remain lost in it forever.
A heretic and an inquisitor to himself, he seemed to have written this in order to catch fire and burn for good. And at the end, "if the water has risen above your head, it doesn’t matter how high it is…"
"God save me, because the waters have reached my soul," Bastian muttered, folding the last letter and putting it next to him on the bench. He knocked a cigarette out of the pack and lit it. "Take me out of the mire, so that I don’t get bogged down. May I be delivered from those who hate me and from the deep waters…"
"Let me light up too." A lady came up from behind and sat down on the bench, on the very edge of it, trying not to touch the letters that lay between her and Bastian. He held out a lighter. She started to set fire to each letter, holding it in her hands until it burned completely, until the fire touched her fingers, and then switching to the next one.
The Prague wind played with ashes, throwing them forward to the monument to St. Wenceslaus, who did not save our children, or us, then back to the monument to those who did not save themselves.
"God save me, because the waters have reached my soul," Bastian muttered, folding the last letter and putting it next to him on the bench. He knocked a cigarette out of the pack and lit it. "Take me out of the mire, so that I don’t get bogged down. May I be delivered from those who hate me and from the deep waters…"
"Let me light up too." A lady came up from behind and sat down on the bench, on the very edge of it, trying not to touch the letters that lay between her and Bastian. He held out a lighter. She started to set fire to each letter, holding it in her hands until it burned completely, until the fire touched her fingers, and then switching to the next one.
The Prague wind played with ashes, throwing them forward to the monument to St. Wenceslaus, who did not save our children, or us, then back to the monument to those who did not save themselves.
p. 74-75
“He left her in the morning, and wandered away from the Ripperbahn through the dirty narrow alleys and suddenly came straight to the Elbe. The souvenir kiosk, which stood on the embankment, was open, despite the early hour. He gently pulled the door open and entered. There was no one in. He stopped in front of a glass case and began to study the model of a ship – an exact copy of the one berthed at the roadstead.
“Choosing your ship, Captain?” he heard a voice behind him.
“Choosing your ship, Captain?” he heard a voice behind him.
p. 117-119
“There have been no letters from you for six months. Forgive me, but I am crying all the time. It seems to me that you do not love me anymore, and I cannot live without you. I decided that I would go to see you today. To the Wall, where I have seen you so many times from afar. I will come, and you will shoot me in the heart again, just don't miss, please!..”
p. 100-101
