Thomas Bernhard, one of the most distinct, celebrated, and perverse of
20th century writers, took his own life in 1989. Perhaps the greatest
Austrian writer of the 20th century, Bernhard's vision in novels like
_Cutting Timber_ was relentlessly bleak and comically nihilistic. His
prose is torrential and his stlye unmistakable. Bernhard is the
missing link between Kafka, Beckett, Michel Houellebecq and Lars von
Trier; without Bernhard the literature of alienation and self-contempt
would be bereft of its great practitioner.
_Cutting Timber:_ _An Irritation_ is widely recognised as his
masterpiece. Over the course of a few hours, following a performance
of Ibsen's _The Wild Duck_, we are in the company of the Auersbergers,
and our narrator, who never once leaves the relative comfort of his
'wing-backed chair' where he sips at a glass of champagne. As they
anticpate the arrival of the star actor, and the commencement of
dinner, the narrator of _Cutting Timber_ dismantles the hollow
pretentiousness at the heart of the Austrian bourgeoisie. The effect
is devastating; the horror only redeemed by the humour.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780571276103
Publisert
2015
Utgiver
Vendor
Faber & Faber
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter