Immortality for an elite

In this volume, the author has compiled 48 short stories, narratives and other short prose pieces. The first ones date back to the early 1990s. He welcomes the third millennium with the sarcastic column: My 2000 Column It reflects critically and sarcastically on the transition to the new millennium. It is an examination of social injustices and questions the complacency and ignorance of modern society towards global and local problems. The text uses a mixture of irony and seriousness to draw attention to the discrepancy between wealth and poverty. The author is firmly convinced that the world does not end at the horizon. That is why he likes to address his own quirks and weaknesses, which he imposes on his protagonists, and makes fun of them. After all, we are no longer the type of people who do such strange things. However, not all the human oddities he writes about come from his own life experience, but are the result of careful observation of the events around him. In some stories, he exaggerates human idiosyncrasies and weaknesses to the point of absurdity. He particularly loves human idiosyncrasies because they are what make us human. Take the story 'The Pedantic Passenger,' for example. This story describes in minute detail the observation of a corpulent passenger who devotes himself with meticulous precision to the ritual of eating during a flight. Sometimes there are also stories that seem ridiculous at first glance, but on closer inspection are not so ridiculous after all. For example, 'Aus dem Leben eines Kaugummis' (From the Life of a Chewing Gum). Here, a completely trivial matter is exaggerated and told dramatically. One could say that there is meaning in the trivial. That, too, is human. The author likes to pick up on psychological or philosophical aspects in his stories, such as in 'The Firebird.' It is a mythical story that tells of creation, renewal and the search for the meaning of existence. It combines nature, spirituality and cosmic cycles and weaves together motifs of transformation, consciousness and rebirth. The protagonist, the firebird, symbolises the original consciousness and the essence of life, which is constantly renewed through the cycle of creation and destruction. He does not shy away from psychologically disturbing stories either. Anyone who reads 'Das Kindergrab' (The Children's Grave), for example, will agree. It always becomes disturbing when human coldness or apathy come into play. The author also gives scientists tremendous possibilities and describes how overwhelmed humans are in dealing with them, for example in the title story, 'Immortality for an Elite,' or in 'End of a Chromosome.' It is impossible to summarise the breadth of the stories in a few words. In motivations, background information and explanations, as well as an extensive appendix, the author provides insights into how the stories came about. Here, readers will also find references to when the stories were written. This appendix is intended to enable readers to understand the meaning of the more difficult or seemingly insignificant stories.