Francesca Carington
Death by Digression
Goethe Dies
By Thomas Bernhard
Seagull Books 87pp £14.50
‘Have you ever read any Thomas Bernhard?’ I once asked an Austrian acquaintance as a student in Vienna, eager to read as much ‘native’ literature as possible. ‘Certainly not!’ she replied, shocked by the very suggestion. Needless to say, her outraged reaction piqued my interest and I immediately resolved to read the first Bernhard book I could get my hands on, expecting an Austrian Philip Roth, Henry Miller or even E L James. But, reading Old Masters, I encountered nothing scandalous or controversial, just a long, vitriolic, paragraphless and hilarious rant about modern Austrian society. Bernhard, who died in 1989, was an author who had a lot of nasty things to say about a lot of people, but he reserved his nastiest statements for his country.
The relationship between the author and his country is the focus of ‘Going Up in Flames’, the final tale in this collection of four short stories by Bernhard, translated by James Reidel into English for the first time. The narrator, ‘on the run’ from Austria, writes: ‘Wherever I looked, I
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Knowledge of Sufism increased markedly with the publication in 1964 of The Sufis, by Idries Shah. Nowadays his writings, much like his father’s, are dismissed for their Orientalism and inaccuracy.
@fitzmorrissey investigates who the Shahs really were.
Fitzroy Morrissey - Sufism Goes West
Fitzroy Morrissey: Sufism Goes West - Empire’s Son, Empire’s Orphan: The Fantastical Lives of Ikbal and Idries Shah by Nile Green
literaryreview.co.uk
Rats have plagued cities for centuries. But in Baltimore, researchers alighted on one surprising solution to the problem of rat infestation: more rats.
@WillWiles looks at what lessons can be learned from rat ecosystems – for both rats and humans.
Will Wiles - Puss Gets the Boot
Will Wiles: Puss Gets the Boot - Rat City: Overcrowding and Urban Derangement in the Rodent Universes of John B ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Twisters features destructive tempests and blockbuster action sequences.
@JonathanRomney asks what the real danger is in Lee Isaac Chung's disaster movie.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/eyes-of-the-storm