Editing Hans Fallada (section)

==Early life==
Fallada was born in [[Greifswald]], Germany, the child of a magistrate on his way to becoming a supreme court judge and a mother from a middle-class background, both of whom shared an enthusiasm for music, and to a lesser extent, literature. Jenny Williams notes in her biography ''More Lives than One'' (1998), that Fallada's father would often read aloud to his children works by authors such as [[Shakespeare]] and [[Friedrich Schiller|Schiller]].<ref>Williams, 5.</ref>

In 1899, when Fallada was 6, his father relocated the family to [[Berlin]] following the first of several promotions he would receive. Fallada had a very difficult time upon first entering school in 1901. As a result, he immersed himself in books, eschewing literature more in line with his age for authors such as [[Flaubert]], [[Dostoevsky]], and [[Dickens]]. In 1909 the family again relocated, to [[Leipzig]], following his father's appointment to the [[Reichsgericht|Imperial Supreme Court]].

In 1909 (age 16), he was run over by a horse-drawn cart, then kicked in the face by the horse. This mishap plus the contraction of [[typhoid]] in 1910 (age 17) seem to mark a turning point in Fallada's life. His lifelong drug problems were born of the pain-killing medications he was taking as the result of his injuries. These issues manifested themselves in multiple suicide attempts.

In 1911 he made a pact with a friend, Hanns Dietrich von Necker, to stage a [[duel]] to mask their suicides, feeling that the duel would be seen as more honorable. However, because of both boys' inexperience with weapons, it was a bungled affair. Dietrich missed Fallada, but Fallada did not miss Dietrich, killing him. Fallada was so distraught that he picked up Dietrich's gun and shot himself in the chest, but somehow survived.<ref>A different version of events is given in a ''London Review of Books'' review by Philip Oltermann (March 8, 2012, p. 27), apparently based on ''More Lives Than One: A Biography of Hans Fallada'' by Jenny Williams (Penguin): "With their first shots, they missed completely. With their second, Necker's bullet missed, but Necker himself was hit in the heart, though he remained conscious enough to beg his friend to shoot him again. Fallada, who was short-sighted, fired three more bullets: one for Necker, two for himself. The first entered his lung, the other narrowly missed his heart. Stumbling back down the path to Rudolstadt, he was found by a forester who took him to hospital. His mother's first reaction to her son attempting suicide and killing his friend in the process was: 'Thank God, at least nothing sexual.'"</ref> Nonetheless, the death of his friend ensured his status as an outcast from society.

Although he was found innocent of murder by reason of insanity, from this point on he would undergo multiple stints in mental institutions. At one of these institutions, he was assigned to work in a farmyard, thus beginning his lifelong affinity for farm culture.