LiTOPIA: Satirisch. Phantastisch. Klimatisch

Author Wolfang Schorlau presents his new novel "The Unstoppable Rise of Minister Karsten Richter" and actor Benno Fürmann reads from Stephen King's fantastic short novel "Chuck's Life". Two texts between individual biography and global crisis

Wolfgang Schorlau delivers the crime comedy at the right time: about a political milieu that, in the face of the climate catastrophe, only craves power and short-term advantage - both terribly funny and eerily close to reality. Berlin in 2025, the gas lobby is rejoicing: one of them is to be appointed minister - the universally popular Karsten Richter. Now they could succeed in averting the threat of climate neutrality. But suddenly an announcement makes the rounds: "Press conference: my son Karsten - the eco-sau!"

Karsten's mother, a first-generation climate activist, doesn't have a good feeling about her son's career. It's not because of her upbringing, but the future of our planet is not at all close to his heart. Instead, personal success and the recognition of his friends between business and politics. High time to set an example! The chancellor is alarmed, Richter tries to save the situation, then he receives a phone call: his mother has been kidnapped! The best news in days. He decides to play for time ...

For crime writer Wolfgang Schorlau, Stephen King was and is an important author. Stephen King's short novel "Chuck's Life" is one of his most unusual and quietest texts, beyond "The King of Horror". Although Stephen King also uses elements of the uncanny and the end of the world in "Chuck's Life", the text does not aim to frighten or shock. Instead, it unfolds an almost tender, philosophical dimension. It describes an end-time scenario that resembles a climate dystopia and is also seen by some of the characters as the result of man-made climate change. It could be the description of our world of tomorrow if the gas lobby continues to rejoice.

At the center is the life of a seemingly ordinary man, Charles "Chuck" Krantz. The story is told backwards: It begins with the end - in a world that is slowly unraveling - and gradually works its way back to the formative moments of his childhood. What initially seems like an apocalyptic tale increasingly turns out to be a deeply human reflection on memory, transience and the beauty of the everyday.