The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

This thread is for anyone who wants to discuss The Pharmacist by Ingrid Noll. Start anytime.

OK, I have an advantage because I can read this book in German. I also have the advantage of having been a teenager during the time in which this book is set and, wow it is sooooo Kohl's Germany. Whilst a nice girl from a nice family needs to achieve good grades and have a good job (chemist is just about acceptable), what is her foremost duty is to present her parents and her society with is a nice husband with enough money to keep her and his children in respectable house and enough cash for a respectable car and anything else they might need. He needs to have a respectable job of course. A nice girl has no problems at school and having killed someone accidentally, is no reason for special treatment or care, but an embarrassment.

Whilst our Hella clearly struggles to comply with the above, she clearly nevertheless feel she should be able to achieve it as well. She is not really a rebel.

Nearly read this book in one sitting and have only about 30 pages to go, but can't really see yet (although I can imagine various scenarios) why she is in hospital and why she thinks she can tell a total strangers things which put her in prison over the best part of the rest of her life! And what about this elderly, maiden lady lying next to her - I feel there is much to know yet about her. I wished I could have just finished it, really love this book. Alas, had to be sensible and remember work, husband and children myself! That's what we are German girls from this area - sensible :)

Hello Gisela, I am a pharmacist and author and here is my 4 star review of The Pharmacist. Thank you for nominating it, otherwise I would have never known about it!

I discovered this book through a thread on The Mystery, Crime and Thriller Group on Goodreads. I am a pharmacist and found the title catchy (we pharmacists are easily amused). It turned out the book has been out of print for quite a while and even used copies can be expensive, but with the help of the Goodreads’ moderator I found a copy within my meager budget.

The Pharmacist is by Ingrid Noll, a German author (I like the German name of the book a great deal more: “Die Apothekerin”.) She has been labeled the German Queen of Crime and her novels fine examples of Eurocrime. I had no idea what to expect when I started reading.

Written in first person, Hella is a pharmacist, but very few scenes take place in the “chemist’s shop” where she works. Her grandfather was a pharmacist and she inherited several of his pharmaceutical tools and trinkets, including vials of poison which she keeps in her wardrobe (my father was a pharmacist, but I assure you I do not keep poison in my house – unless you count the bottle of rotgut tequila). The poison, obviously, comes into play later in the book, although it is only responsible for one of the bodies that pile up. The fact that the book begins with the accidental death of a classmate, for which twelve year old Hella is blamed, sets the tone early (anonymous notes of “Murderess” begin appearing on her desk afterwards).

Throughout the book, Hella tells the story of her life to her roommate in a gynecological hospital. The roommate, while sleeping through some of the story, gets a little bit too much into the story (as evidenced by her zeal at the end). The story weaves through one bad choice after another in Hella’s life, as she is attracted to outcasts (“queer fish and lame ducks” as she calls them). Levin, an immature young man at least ten years her junior, is the first. His friend Dieter, quiet and courteous – until he gets enraged – is the second. She marries Levin but later sleeps with Dieter. What? She is now with child. But who is the father? At the end, a third man, married to a wife who is in an asylum, enters the picture. Ménage a square? Rectangle?

I found The Pharmacist to be a slow, brooding tale. It was hard to root for Hella when she made so many bad choices in her life; in fact, she seemed to bring them on herself eagerly. I did find the tale quite interesting, learning a few things along the way (like Valerian pills, made from the roots of an herb native to Europe, used for sleep). In the end, The Pharmacist did fill my prescription for something a little different, a tad unusual, and I am glad I read it.

Lance wrote: "Hello Gisela, I am a pharmacist and author and here is my 4 star review of The Pharmacist. Thank you for nominating it, otherwise I would have never known about it!

I discovered this book through ..."

I don't know if you speak German, but ca. around the 90s there was a film made from this book, which is both hilarious and totally chilling.

The author is also behind a lot of German crime TV series and has even written some episodes of "Derrick", which is the German crime TV series (started in the 60s and is still going strong), beloved by all of us Germans. Brilliant.

Glad you enjoyed it.

I do not speak German, but I did see the DVD of the film on Amazon and I am considering it. I love to watch film or TV adaptations after I read a book. I am sure the film would have English subtitles. I am going to delve more into the author (I wasn't even sure if she was still alive) plus check out "Derrick". Thank you Gisela!

Lance wrote: "I do not speak German, but I did see the DVD of the film on Amazon and I am considering it. I love to watch film or TV adaptations after I read a book. I am sure the film would have English subtitl..."
Unfortunately, I think she died recently.