| |
|
Berlin Alexanderplatz: The Story Of Franz Biberkopf (Continuum Impacts) 12 reviews Alfred Doblin, Eugene Jolas
Continuum, 2005
Best German Novel
+ Redemption + Read the book - then buy the Fassbinder film series
This is the best German novel; mordant, dark, hilarious, packed with the fascinations of Modernism and modern urban life... Joycean literary technique applied by a historical realist to the social life in one of the world's great cities at a critical turning point in its history, it's as close as ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Radetzky March (Works of Joseph Roth) 33 reviews Joseph Roth
Overlook TP, 2002
Polished Boots and Empty Gods
+ Radetzky March + The Radetzky March an honorable mention
Critics seem to have taken Joseph Roth's portrayal of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the brink of its collapse as nostalgic. In his introduction to this translation, Alan Bance speaks of Roth's "undeniable tendency to idealize the past." I beg to differ. My reading of "The Radetsky March" is not an ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The King of Time: Selected Writings of the Russian Futurian 1 review Velimir Khlebnikov
Harvard University Press, 1990
They don't write em like this anymore
The King of Time is the best of that wacked out genre we call the manifesto. Khlebnikov imagines a future that is half socialist utopia, half bladerunner. The most outlandish idea might be the transparent glass spheres stacked up like bee hives in which we would live if old Velimir had his way. ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Pigeons and Moles Gunter Eich
Skoob Seriph, 1991
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Bedbug and Selected Poetry 4 reviews Vladimir Mayakovsky
Indiana University Press, 1975
A Voice That Throttled To Be Heard
+ THE VOICE OF REVOLUTION. + great epics + Good if you dig Russian lit.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Young Torless (A Signet Classic # CT266) Robert Musil
Signet / The New American Library, 1964
Vintage Paperback; 7" Tall x 4.2" Wide,
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Shadow Lands: Selected Poems (New Directions Paperbook, Ndp788) 1 review Johannes Bobrowski, Ruth Mead, ...
New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1994
Too good to be consigned to obscurity
Bobrowski is a poet sadly in need of rehabilitation. Like many post World War II German poets, he wrote about the guilt and sense of loss that came with the war and the Holocaust. His perspective is unique though. As an East Prussian he witnessed the destruction that region's rich multi-ethnic ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Last Days of Mankind 2 reviews Karl Kraus
Ungar Pub. Co., 2000
Brilliant satire from a modern Cassandra
+ The absurdity of wars by the example of WW I
Karl Kraus is still well known in Germany, and deserves to be better known here. THE LAST DAYS OF MANKIND, 'a play to be performed on Mars' is one of the most trenchant satires written this century. Kraus compiled the play from newspaper articles, official bulletins, and overheard conversations ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Gamailis,: And other tales from Stalin's Russia Vladimir Andreyev
Regnery, 1963
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Doctor Faustus : The Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkuhn As Told by a Friend 19 reviews Thomas Mann
Vintage, 1999
Essential Reading for German Literary History
+ The best book i've read in my life!! + Magnificent + Useful information....or not. + A demanding and crucially important read
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Spring Awakening: A Play 4 reviews Frank Wedekind
Faber & Faber, 2007
Just as relevant today as a century ago!
+ great play -- feels very contemporary! + Brilliant Play by a brilliant Writer + A Startling & Rare Translation of the German Classic!
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Woodcutters 7 reviews Thomas Bernhard
Knopf, 1988
One of Bernhard's best books
+ Searing + Life of the Mind + Oh, to be a lumberjack! + impossible to forget
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Bachelors: Novellas and Stories 2 reviews Arthur Schnitzler
Ivan R. Dee, Publisher, 2006
An excellent collection of short works, Bachelors narrows the focus with skill and outlines bachelor concerns with precision.
+ Surprises on Every Page: A Terrific Collection!!!!!
Margret Schaefer here translates and gathers new novellas and stories from Arthur Schnitzler, whose works offer penetrating insights into the male psyche. No ordinary collection of fiction, each piece is as clear as a bell, as sparkling as a jewel in its penetrating analysis of male ambiguities, ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Man Without Qualities Vol. 1: A Sort of Introduction and Pseudo Reality Prevails 25 reviews Robert Musil
Vintage, 1996
Expansive Literature
+ Pseudoreality 2008 + Book with qualities + Empricist Musil
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Petersburg 15 reviews Andrei Bely
Indiana University Press, 1979
Worth the less than ideal translation
+ A book to be read twice--at least + Other Translations? + You've gotta respect it
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
The Magic Mountain 84 reviews Thomas Mann
Vintage, 1996
Death and Amusement in the Mountains
+ Unique in reading experiences + A great book but not for flatlanders
The Magic Mountain is a renowned classic of twentieth century literature, especially German and European literature. As a book, it is moderate to easy to read, and I highly recommend the novel. It is easier to read than some of Mann's other works. I recently purchased and read this exact novel as ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Joseph and His Brothers: The Stories of Jacob, Young Joseph, Joseph in Egypt, Joseph the Provider 19 reviews Thomas Mann
Everyman's Library, 2005
Challenging and Sublime
+ Cosmic Delight, Comic Gesture + AN OUTSTANDING BOOK + Beautiful! + Unsurpassed fiction, in any century!
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
I'm Not Stiller 3 reviews Max Frisch
Dalkey Archive Pr, 2006
My all time favorite book!
+ Im not me either. Are you? + I'm Not Miller
For half of my life (i.e. for 18 years up to now), Max Frisch's "Stiller" - which I've read in German - has been my favorite book, closely followed by "Gantenbein" by the same author, and I'm sure it will keep so for the rest of my life. Why? Well, the "Stiller" is a very rich book with several ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Cassandra: A Novel and Four Essays 17 reviews Christa Wolf
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1988
Unique
+ Myth Retelling
Cassandra by Christa Wolf is a quite difficult (sometimes challenging) work, but a proper understanding allowed me to remain absorbed in the plot. The style is a classic stream of conscience, quite possibly the reason why this book is so demanding. There have been allegations that Wolf is an ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Night Games: And Other Stories and Novellas 3 reviews Arthur Schnitzler
Ivan R. Dee, Publisher, 2002
Illicit Love and Death in Imperial Vienna
+ Mind games + Reviewed
Written in the late19th century, these stories show their age. They abound with high-class officers and lowly maidens. But in their careful search for thoughts and meanings, they presage Freudian analysis. In ?Night Games?, Lieutenant Willi Kasda has to come up with 1?000 gulden within 24 hours. ...
|
|
|
|
|
|