The second sword : a tale from the merry month of May. My day in the other land : a tale of demons
Call Number
- FICTION HAND (CEN)
Edition
First American edition.
Languages
In English; translated from the German.
Publication Information
New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024.
Physical Description
181 pages ; 20 cm
Summary
"Two novellas by Nobel laureate Peter Handke"--
Second sword: Picks up the story where Handke's last work of fiction, The Fruit Thief, left off. Here a man has returned to his home in the suburbs of Paris, only to soon set out again. Why? We learn, over the course of a story that he is seeking to avenge his mother, who has been unjustly denounced in the pages of a newspaper. A suspenseful work of self-examination: Will the narrator's journey end in him throwing down the gauntlet?
My day in the other land: Evoking imagery from the Bible and classical mythology, the work portrays a man who has been possessed by demons, causing him to rage endlessly against the inhabitants of his rural village. Aided by his sister, he embarks on a journey to a lake on whose opposite shore lies the "other land." What ensues is an exorcism of sorts--and one of Handke's most evocative and original endings.
Notes
The Second Sword was originally published in German in 2020 by Suhrkamp Verlag, Germany, as Das zweite Schwert. My Day in the Other Land was originally published in German in 2021 by Suhrkamp Verlag, Germany, as Mein Tag im anderen Land.
Contents
- The Second sword
- My day in the other land.