Erika Pluhar - Better Late Than Never

„Trotzdem“ ist nicht nur der Titel eines Liedes von Erika Pluhar, es ist vor allem das Lebensmotto der vielseitig begabten Autorin, Sängerin und Schauspielerin. Sie hat sich von Verlust und Leid niemals besiegen lassen, hat sich stets wieder aufgerichtet und ist ihren Weg weitergegangen. Dieses Buch erzählt in Bild und Wort von den wichtigsten Stationen ihres Lebens. Es versammelt Texte von Erika Pluhar, unbekannte Fotografien aus ihrem Privatarchiv und die schönsten Bilder ihrer Glanzrollen in Theater und Film wie die Regine in der legendären Inszenierung von Musils „Die Schwärmer“, die Elena Nikolaevna in Gorkis „Kinder der Sonne“ am Wiener Burgtheater oder die Madeleine Forestier in der berühmten Verfilmung von „Bel Ami“ (1967).

In writing that is frank and unvarnished, Erika Pluhar describes her sister’s traumatic experiences as a child during wartime and a post-war teen, experiences that forced her to take on responsibilities much too early, to adapt and make herself fit in. Gitti’s childhood and youth is shaped by tremendous upheaval: after living in Brazil for the first years of her life, she moves to Munich, where her father embarks on a career in the Nazi party, ultimately taking the family to occupied Poland. The war increasingly comes to dominate everyday life, and Gitti must face up to the challenges of adulthood … ‘better to hide the sadness within and make a secret of it. Yes, in a secret room that belongs only to me and remains invisible to everybody else, she thought.’

Fifty-one-year-old Hedwig Pflüger returns to the Vienna apartment hat she has inherited from her grandmother. She has kept away from the city and the old woman she grew up with for several decades. Now she faces a turning point in her life. The Viennese apartment is full of memories and in the stillness of the old building Hedwig starts to write about the past. The resulting account tells of a woman who struggled to meet the standardised requirements of her time; a woman who despite all her attempts kept sliding back into isolation and loneliness. But now, as she looks back and puts pen to paper, Hedwig learns to accept the present and open herself up to new challenges.

Her voice often attracts attention for its distinctiveness, so she might as well be heard in another sense – as the voice of an author and the 'person of public interest' that Erika Pluhar has become in the course of her life. Pluhar is a prolific writer of speeches, essays and articles, declaring her personal stance on political and socio-political issues, paying tribute to contemporaries or saying farewell to people she cherished. Her opinion is both sought and provided, and she speaks out when she feels it is necessary.

In "Gegenüber" erzählt Erika Pluhar auf eine Weise vom Alter, die mit dem Unausweichlichen versöhnt, nicht zuletzt durch Humor. Mit "Die öffentliche Frau" hat Erika Pluhar eine andere Art der Autobiografie verfasst: zwischen Fiktion und Realität. Persönlich, berührend und fesselnd. In "Spätes Tagebuch" schreibt Erika Pluhar auf ebenso sensible wie schonungslose Weise über das Alter, Sehnsüchte und Ängste. Poetisch, lebensnah und intensiv.

A childhood spent in a state of exception – a touching story, unsparingly told. Anna is the daughter of an actress and a business-minded, power-hungry genius designer. Her parents are prominent figures in the public eye. The family suffers from the father’s excessive lifestyle, while the mother’s acting profession places increasing demands on her. Anna spends a lot of time in the care of frequently changing nannies, happy family occasions are rare. A joint holiday on Mykonos turns out to be a life-changing event for the young family, but puts even greater pressure on Anna’s childhood world. In an open and unsparing, yet sensitive manner, Erika Pluhar describes a childhood spent in a state of exception.

Henriette Lauber can look back at a life full of creativity and hard work. As a film cutter she experienced different worlds while working alongside her beloved husband. But all this was long ago and now she leads a withdrawn and almost isolated life in a small flat in the center of town. Her godson from Western Sahara, a politically active man who works in Algerian refugee camps, is the sole recipient of her love and attention. Then a dizzy spell in the hallway leads her to meet Linda, her young neighbor who begins to take care of Henriette and increasingly seeks her presence… Erika Pluhar tells the story of a friendship between to very different women, describing life patterns, the process of aging, and transience.

A journalist asks a renowned artist to tell him her life story for a series in his newspaper. Hesitant at first, she slowly learns to trust the journalist during his daily visits and begins to talk: about her two marriages, her experiences at the theater, her journey to become a writer and about the people who had the greatest influence on her life. About the ups and downs of life as a woman in the public eye. Erika Pluhar has written a new kind of autobiography, settled somewhere between fact and fiction. A personal, touching and fascinating life story.

“Anna was born in Vienna on December 3, 1909, as the second eldest of the four daughters of glass painting master Franz Goetzer.” This is the laconic beginning of Erika Pluhar’s new novel. It tells the story of a highly talented woman who studies at the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts between the two World Wars and dreams of leading a self-determined life. However, her emigration to Brazil, her marriage and most of all, the early stages of Nazi fascism keep her from fulfilling her lifelong dream for many years. Erika Pluhar paints an empathetic and insightful picture of the hopes, desires and fears that Anna feels as a young woman coming of age in a century full of political extremes. Austria, Brazil, Germany and Poland are stations in a life that takes several unexpected turns.

Paulina Neblo can look back on an eventful life. As a choreographer, she founded a successful dance company, she had numerous affairs and a daughter, who she loves more than anything, and finally, as a mature woman, led a fulfilled marriage. But when she loses her husband in a fatal car accident and is hit by the next blow of fate – her daughter’s death – shortly after, Paulina retreats from an active life. At the age of 70, she decides to become a chronicler of her present, noting daily tidbits and facing the fact that old age holds no future. But her memories of the past cannot be cast aside and those surrounding Paulina do not accept her chosen isolation… Erika Pluhar has written a sensitive, yet brutally honest book about aging, desires and fears. Poetic, true-to-life and intense.

Emil Windhacker is a man in the prime of life. Career oriented, sporty, always in good company, he enjoys his life to the full. But a medical test result and a feeling of weakness and failure that is new to him get him thinking. Is this diagnosis his death sentence? When Emil meets actress Marie Liebner, events follow in rapid succession … Erika Pluhar describes three days in the life of a man. From Emil's subjective perspective, Pluhar draws an accurate picture of the male view on Life’s major themes of love, illness and death. Pluhar’s tale of eventual self-discovery is poetic, humorous, tightly narrated and deeply moving.

Two people make a pair, or a couple, and their relationships can be ruins, arenas, traps, abysses, fulfilment. Coincidence, desire, and life itself create amazing couples: A little girl and her imaginary father make a fantastic pair of liars; a young woman teams up with her unborn child against its father who is interested in his art only; a prisoner and his visitor share intense memories through the glass that separates them. These are some of the encounters Erika Pluhar describes in this book. All of them reveal the magic that arises in any relationship between two people, be they just acquaintances or lovers, a powerful and fascinating energy that inevitably shows its effect on everyone involved. The stories tell how people change whenever they cling to each other, find each other, lose themselves in each other – whenever they meet, touch or find the magic of being twosome.