The story of Robert Enke captured me when it happened more than I expected. I happened to be working in Germany in September of 2009 and was back there a week after Robert killed himself. One of the things that struck me most while I was there was the effect it had on the whole nation. There was a memorial in Berlin set up by everyday people and football fans alike for a person who wasnt a huge star or a native of the city, he had also never played for Herta. With the drama with Tevez, footballers and drugs, footballers cheating on their wives this book could not be more appropriate at the moment.

This book was written a year ago and I desperately wanted to read it, sadly it was written in German, a language I only have a very loose grasp of. Thanks to some coverage in The Times I found out that a translated edition was due to be released last week. I've burned through the book in some speed, wanting to read on but at the same time not wanting to reach the moment where Robert takes his life.

Although the book is a biography it is also a study on depression, lonliness and the pressures of being a professional goalkeeper under constant scrutiny. It also looks at how in the macho world of professional sport being unassuming, vulnerable and suffering from mental illness is often seen as a weakness. The magic of the book is due in no small part to the fact that Ronnie Reng isnt just another journalist but was a friend of Roberts and they had talked about writing Robert's story once he (Robert) had retired. Ronnie Reng had to be persuaded to write the book by family and friends of Robert Enke with the help of diaries left behind. Thankfully Reng has been very selective in what parts of the diaries he left. There could have been the anger directed at people and accusations in the book but these have been left out with the important exception of one.

This is right upn there with the very best books that I have ever had the fortune to read. At no point is it exploitative or overly morose. It is an emotional read however, I enjoyed the good times portrayed yet knew bad times were coming. I felt joy when his first attack of depression was defeated and crashing sadness when it returned. There is also the death of a young daughter which does not bring the depression back as I would have expected. This just goes to show that depression can strike at anytime without any obvious reason. The books isnt only about Robert, we get to see the efforts that his friends and especially wife have to put in to keep things together. His wife comes out as an incredibly strong and dignified person.

Fittingly the book ends with Reng's only real showing of anger towards the game he loved. Huge efforts are made to hide Robert's depression due to the fact that his revealing it would have probably ended his career. For this I don't think that Reng will ever love the game again in the way he once did and it makes the obcene oppulence in the game today more odious.

Everyone should read this book ( )

Für viele Menschen - auch für mich - ist der Moment, an dem man vom Selbstmord Robert Enkes erfahren hat, gegenwärtig.
Diese Biografie ist fantastisch. Sie ist hervorragend geschrieben und inhaltlich interessant, respektvoll, offen und doch dezent. Der Hörbuch-Sprecher Matthias Brandt trägt das Buch ausgezeichnet vor.
Der Autor zeichnet Enkes Stationen nach, Entscheidungen, Zufälle, Freude, Tragödien. Es wird im Buch sehr deutlich, dass niemanden, auch nicht den Fußballbetrieb, Schuld an Enkes Tod trifft. Dieses Gefühl der Ausweglosigkeit haben auch Schüler, die problemlos in eine Klink gehen könnten und sich dennoch das Leben nehmen. Es ist eine Krankheit.
Aber das Buch beschreibt nicht nur die Depression, es beschreibt das Leben und Anforderungen als Profifußballer, ein Leben, in dem junge Menschen, fast noch Kinder, mit Riesen-Gehältern ein Erwachsenenleben leben, ohne Studium, Kneipen und Gleichaltrige, oft in Ländern, in denen man nicht einmal die Sprache spricht. Das ist nicht leicht und doch auch toll. "Es ist doch nur Fußball!", habe ich mir oft gedacht beim Hören, aber für diejenigen, die in diesem Geschäft stehen, ist es das ganze Leben. Das Buch zeigt, dass es schwer ist, nach oben zu kommen und wenn man da mal ist, Anforderungen von außen und der eigene Ehrgeiz Freiheiten nehmen.
Ich mochte das Buch sehr. Trotz des traurigen Ausgangs ist es schön zu lesen. Und dass ich Teresa Enke sehr achte, das möchte ich am Ende doch auch noch anhängen. ( )

Dieses Buch ist ergreifend, emotional, traurig... Eine Mischung aus vielen Emotionen, die teilweise schwer greifbar sind.
Eine bewegende Erzählung über Robert Enke und die Auswirkungen seiner Krankheit, die ihn leider besiegte. ( )

"People wondered why he saw everything in such a negative way, why he couldn't pull himself together. They didn't understand that he was powerless in the face of it. He could no longer control it. His brain function was altered; synapses inside his head seemed to be blocked. He found it hard to concentrate from day to day" This is such a depressing and yet a very important book to read as it deals with depression and the effect it has on the everyday life of the sufferer and his family. I have read this book and yet I still fail to understand why someone with so much to live for, someone who in material terms had a very successful career, could so easily take his own life. The author successfully argues and demonstrates through the sad life of Robert Enke that depression is an illness so misunderstood by the callous money grabbing society we as humans have chosen to create, it can strike at anybody and when it does the results are devastating. I cannot say I enjoyed this book, and I cannot say I fully understand how anyone could end it all by walking in front of a speeding train....but I am glad I read the sad words and images contained within it's pages and hope that in future I may have more understanding of a devastating state of mind. ( )

Auch wenn das Buch einem sehr traurigen Anlass gilt: Ich kann eigentlich, zumindest jedem der sich für Fußball interessiert, nur empfehlen dieses Buch zu lesen. Die von Robert Enke selbst geschriebenen Aufzeichnungen werden von Ronald Reng sehr gut und vor allem sehr authentisch wiedergegeben. Als Leser beginnt man, sein eigenes Fanverhalten im Fußballstadion zu reflektieren und zu überdenken. Durch dieses Buch lernt man die Glamourwelt Fußball auch von einer anderen, sehr traurigen Seite kennen. ( )