2 Novels by Wolfgang Koeppen
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Overview: Wolfgang Arthur Reinhold Koeppen (June 23, 1906 – March 15, 1996) was a German novelist and one of the best known German authors of the post-war period.
He started as a journalist. In 1934 his first novel appeared while he was in the Netherlands. In 1947, Koeppen received a book contract to rewrite the memoirs of the philatelist and Holocaust survivor Jakob Littner (born 1883 in Budapest, died 1950 in New York City). The resulting novel caused some controversy based on whether Koeppen was given a written manuscript to guide his work on Littner, and the novel never sold well. In 1992, a new edition was published, which led to the discovery of Littner’s original text. In 2000, Littner’s original manuscript was published in English and in 2002, in German.
In 1951, Koeppen had published his novel Tauben im Gras (Pigeons on the Grass), which utilized a stream of consciousness literary technique and is considered a significant work of German-language literature by Germany’s foremost literary critic Marcel Reich-Ranicki. "Das Treibhaus" (1953) was translated into English as "The Hothouse" (2001) and was named a Notable Book by the "New York Times" and one of the Best Books of the Year by the "Los Angeles Times." Koeppen’s last major novel Der Tod in Rom (Death in Rome) was published in 1954. In the ensuing years, Koeppen found it difficult to complete longer works.
Between 1962 and 1987, Koeppen received numerous literary prizes in the Federal Republic of Germany. In 1962 he was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize.
Genre: German Contemporary Fiction
Death In Rome (Trilogy of Failure):
First published in 1954, Koeppen’s novel is a genuine lost classic, a penetrating examination of the angst, anguish and anger that infected Germany after WWII. The novel’s vehicle for exploration is a clan living in postwar exile in Rome that pushes the definition of an extended family to its limits. The group consists of elder statesman Gottlieb Judejahn, a former high-ranking SS officer; his brother-in-law Friedrich Pfaffrath, who also held Nazi office; and their respective sons, Adolf Judejahn, a Catholic priest, and Siegfried Pfaffrath, a composer of serial music. According to Hofmann’s excellent introduction, "these four represent the four principal areas of German achievement, or the four quarters of the riven German soul: murder, bureaucracy, theology and music." As both archetypes and individuals, they provide Koeppen with fertile ground for his extended meditations on war, art, religion and the transformations that affected both German society and the world immediately before and during WWII. The family members rarely interact with one another, but there are several significant scenes when their paths cross, most notably during a concert featuring Siegfried’s work and when both Gottlieb and Adolph Judejahn pursue a Jewish barmaid named Laura who works in a gay Roman bar. The rich reservoir of Roman history (in which Germans have had a presence since Alaric the Goth) serves as a perfect backdrop for Koeppen’s observations, and the fate of Gottlieb Judejahn as he pursues the barmaid is perhaps the ultimate metaphor for the postwar fate of the Nazis. This startling title shows Koeppen to be every inch Gunter Grass’s equal in analyzing the intellectual side of Germany’s rise and fall, and richly deserves a new level of visibility. (June)Forecast: Advance buzz is proclaiming this a dark horse stunner. NYRB readers are the core audience, but look for broader popularity and strong sales and a long backlist life if reviewers anoint it a classic of modern German literature.
The Hothouse (Trilogy of Failure):
Set in Bonn, the capital city of postwar Germany, follows sophisticated idealist Keetenheuve after he returns to Germany following his self-imposed exile, as his entrance into politics leads to his downfall.
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