From Publishers Weekly
In Handke's metafictional title piece--a parable on self-evasion and writer's block--a traveler in Spain makes elaborate preparations to begin a long-planned essay about the jukebox, symbol of American pop culture. The transparent luminosity of the Austrian novelist/poet/memoirist's earlier books ( A Sorrow Beyond Dreams ) has given way, in the three essays gathered here, to a freewheeling, innovative, sometimes tedious experimentalism that pushes back the limits of narrative form. "Essay on Tiredness," a question-and-answer dialgoue, relates various types of fatigue and ennui to student rebellion, lovers' disenchantment, political apathy and so forth. In the concluding piece, a self-portrait by William Hogarth leads Handke to contemplate the idea of a "successful day," which springboards into a meditation on the art of living in the present moment. Handke seamlessly mingles memories, associations, precise observation, digressions and social commentary.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Once the enfant terrible of German literature, the Austrian-born Handke has now become one of its acknowledged masters, widely praised for his attempts to create serious literature (as opposed to entertainment), his ability to convey his finely nuanced perceptions, and his efforts to overcome the limitations of traditional genre by experimenting with their forms. All these qualities are evinced in the three essays gathered here ("The Jukebox," "Tiredness," and "The Successful Day"). The title essay is more accurately about the writer's creative processes as he approaches the writing of an essay on the jukebox. "Tiredness" is a dialog between the writer and an unidentified interlocutor that uses the concept of tiredness to investigate community and alienation, among other things, and "The Successful Day," similar in form to the preceding essay, seeks meaning, beauty, and grace in the individual life. A necessary addition to any collection of Handke's work.
Michael T. O'Pecko, Towson State Univ., Md.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Michael T. O'Pecko, Towson State Univ., Md.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
