Luck - Couverture rigide

Hofmann, Gert

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0811215024 ISBN 13 : 9780811215022

Editeur : New Directions, 2002

Synopsis

A beautiful, bittersweet, and very funny novel about growing up, Luck is perhaps Gert Hofmann's finest book, and is translated into English by the author's son, the wonderful translator Michael Hofmann. Luck is the story of a nuclear family: father, mother, daughter and son. But all is not as it seems, for Mother is in love with Herr Herkenrath, and now father and son will have to leave home. Or will they? The mother sits in her room, squirting herself with perfume, waiting for her new man to arrive and her old one to go. Everyone makes their own luck in this life! she tells her children. The father sits in his room, planning another novel. Why doesn't his writing sell? Is it just bad luck? Thomas Mann's first book was rejected five times, after all. When he takes his son for a walk, the townspeople wish them all the luck in the world. We'll see about that! he says. The little sister is the lucky one: she gets to stay at home. Then again, the son won't have to put up with Herr Herkenrath's annoying habits and his smelly feet. So maybe he's lucky to be going. But will they really leave for Russdorf? Or is it Berlin? Or Africa? Or will Father manage to win Mother round at the very last minute? Only time will tell, but time is running out. The moving van is on its way. Soon Herr Herkenrath will arrive and the whole family will sit down for the last time to coffee and crumb cake. But maybe, with any luck, Herr Herkenrath will choke on the crumbs. A child's-eye view of a family in decline, Gert Hofmann's Luck mixes humor and suspense with a heartbreaking pathos.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

A child's-eye view of a family in decline, Gert Hofmann's Luck mixes humour and suspense with a heartbreaking pathos. This is the story of a nuclear family: father, mother, daughter and son. But all is not as it seems, for the mother is in love with Herr Herkenrath, and now father and son will have to leave home. Or will they? Mother sits in her room, waiting for her new man to arrive and her old one to go. Father sits in his room, planning another novel. The little sister is the lucky one: she gets to stay at home. But the son won't have to put up with Herr Herkenrath's annoying habits and his smelly feet. So maybe he's lucky to be going. Only time will tell, but time is running out. The removal van is on its way.

Revue de presse

"Hofmann is one of the finest 20th century German writers, extraordinarily versatile, a writer of surprises-He is one of those novelists of which it must be said - read this book, no, wait, read everything he wrote" (The Irish Times)

"The most singular writer to come out of Germany since Heinrich Boll" (The Times)

"An extraordinarily striking novel, tense, horror with a breeze of humour, almost embarrassingly honest and frank" (New Statesman)

"'The ironic naivete of the child heroes makes Hofmann's description of a wrecked provincial town humid with unarticulated doom-the effect is mesmerising'" (Independent)

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: New Directions
• Date d'édition: 2002
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0811215024
• ISBN 13: 9780811215022
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 266
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible