From Publishers Weekly
"Handke's eminence, displayed in a substantial oeuvre of plays, novels and poems, is reaffirmed brilliantly by his latest work," praised PW . In 1960, an alienated, 20-year-old, nascent Austrian writer of Slovenian descent, embarks on a quest to the land of his forebears.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
$18.95. f Growing through time and passing through space engross young Austrian Filip Kobal. Setting out from Austria in summer 1960, Filip crosses into Yugoslavia, following the path of his dead brother, Gregor. As companions he takes two books: his brother's old notebook and a Slovenian-German dictionary. Through the notebook he regains contact with Gregor by recapturing events from his truncated life. The dictionary explodes language into a palpable present and points Filip toward his true calling as a writer. This novel is not among Handke's best. Composed of "word sequences," it is intended "to be both consistent and imaginative," but while the latter is true, the former, woefully, is not. Amidst the swirling phrases one is apt to ask, "Just what is the point?" The answer, like this novel, is not satisfying. Paul E. Hutchison, Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
