| Edition |
Paperback edition. |
| Description |
xv, 69 pages ; 21 cm. |
| Series |
FSG classics |
|
FSG classics.
|
| Note |
Translation of: Wunschloses Unglück. Originally published in German in 1972. |
|
English translation published in hardcover in 1974. Published with this introduction, 2002. |
| Summary |
Peter Handke's mother was an invisible woman. Throughout her life--which spanned the Nazi era, the war, and the postwar consumer economy--she struggled to maintain appearances, only to arrive at a terrible recognition: "I'm not human any more." Not long after, she killed herself with an overdose of sleeping pills. In A Sorrow Beyond Dreams her son sits down to record what he knows, or thinks he knows, about his mother's life and death before, in his words, "the dull speechlessness--the extreme speechlessness" of grief takes hold forever. And yet the experience of speechlessness, as it marks both suffering and love, lies at the heart of Handke's brief but unforgettable elegy. This austere, scrupulous, and deeply moving book is one of the finest achievements of a great contemporary writer. |
| Subject |
Handke, Peter.
|
|
Mothers -- Suicidal behavior.
|
|
Mothers -- Death.
|
|
Mothers and sons.
|
|
Women -- Austria -- 20th century -- Biography.
|
|
Grief.
|
|
Handke, Peter. (OCoLC)fst00005662
|
|
Grief. (OCoLC)fst00947883
|
|
Mothers and sons. (OCoLC)fst01027007
|
|
Mothers -- Death.
(OCoLC)fst01026948
|
|
Women. (OCoLC)fst01176568
|
|
Austria. (OCoLC)fst01204901
|
| Chronological Term |
1900-1999
|
| Genre/Form |
Autobiographies. (OCoLC)fst01919894
|
|
Biographies. (OCoLC)fst01919896
|
|
Biographies.
|
|
Autobiographies.
|
| Added Author |
Manheim, Ralph, 1907-1992, translator.
|
|
Eugenides, Jeffrey, writer of added commentary.
|
| Added Title |
Wunschloses Unglück. English
|
| ISBN |
9780374533649 (paperback) |
|
0374533644 (paperback) |
|
