The Laws

I read "The Laws" and Connie Palmen's other two books, "The Friendship" and "I.M.". They have all appeared with the German Publisher "Diogenes". Although I read them in German, I think I can comment on their beautiful prose. She walks a tight rope: intellectually she is so incredibly sharp that nothing escapes her objective analysis, while her intense sensibilities give every story a subjective, deeply emotional edge. Although her work is heavy-hearted, it is very satisfying and her message is positive.

This books has a different style that is very intimate like a diary, but universal in what it portraits . A very intriguing and exquisite combination that explicits the talent of the author , who makes her readers eager to flavour more of her work.

Connie Palmen reaches an important condition that's in my opinion is writing with authenticity and suffering, love and hate, culture (without false erudition) and respect with the commom people, especially with the reader: she writes in a simple and difficult way, touching the brain and the hearth, consolating, like a testimony of things i would like to write and that i also feel and think, and, eventually write. I think that a good book is the book that read us, a book that reads ourselves and Palmen is an example of a kind of writer very rare nowadays. Together with Alessandro Barico (Oceanomar, trad. portuguese) these two young authors are paradigms for me and for my formation of an honest reader and, perhaps, a future writer in this post modern era. Walter Doege, M.D.