Blood Brothers - Couverture souple

Haffner, Ernst

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0099597373 ISBN 13 : 9780099597377

Editeur : Vintage, 2016

A propos du livre

Extrait

Jonny needs to dig up his eight fellows from various nooks and crannies to tell them he’s scoped out a cheap billet for the night. Two marks for the whole lot of them. It’s in a warehouse on Brunnenstrasse. For two marks the night-watchman will let them in at ten. But at six o’clock tomorrow morning they’ll have to be on their way again. Straw and large crates you can curl up inside are provided. At half past nine the gang set off.

At the stroke of ten, they’re all close to their billet. Three of them are at the gate. The others are waiting nearby in the passage, to nip in as soon as the watchman opens the door. Before they even hear the night-watchman, there’s a furious growling and yapping behind the door: the guard-dog. Then the door is unlocked, and one by one they sneak inside. The watchman locks the door after them. The bitch howls with rage and disappointment. She doesn’t understand her master. Normally she is under orders to go for anyone’s legs, and just now, with this collection of deeply suspicious individuals, she is kept on a short leash. The night-watchman slopes on ahead with the angrily glinting dog. The Blood Brothers bring up the rear after a respectful interval. The door of the low storehouse is unbolted, and Jonny has to put down his two marks. Then the old man goes through all their pockets. He’s looking for matches or lighters. In case one of the scapegraces should get it into his head to smoke in there... With all that straw and dry wood around. That would be a right old firework. The guard dog tried a parting snap at the boys. But the nailed collar reminds her that only non-paying guests were to be shredded. The boys are just finding their way around the dark windowless space when the old man locks them in. The freed dog sniffs crossly at the crack between the floor and the bottom of the door. Just let them try and get out.

Revue de presse

"An enthralling and significant novel, authentic in its gritty documentary detail... This raw honesty, along with Michael Hofmann’s masterly translation... makes the book so contemporary and vital" (Rory MacLean Financial Times)

"An astonishing novel, every bit as astonishing in a different way as Fallada's Alone in Berlin, and deserves to have the same success" (Scotsman)

"The characters are engaging, and multidimensional. You care what happens to them" (Wall Street Journal)

"Like a karate chop: hard and direct, but true" (Der Spiegel)

"A real discovery" (Literarische Welt)

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Vintage
• Date d'édition: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0099597373
• ISBN 13: 9780099597377
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 224