Der Fall d'Arthez

by Hans Erich Nossack

English, German (translation)

Nook

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Hans Erich Nossack war ein deutscher Schriftsteller, der zunächst als Lyriker und Dramatiker, später jedoch vor allem als Prosaautor in Erscheinung trat.

Reviews

[Beniamin Iordache · Rating 2 out of 5]

Is very boringI have no idea what is happening.

[Alexei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nossack, one of the classics of XX century german language literature and the laureat of Georg Buchner Prize (1961), seems to be undeservedly forgotten these days. But in "The D'Arthez case" his highly inventive writing style, perfectly combining the depiction of cruel social realities and the depressive, full of despair atmosphere of post-war Western Germany with philosophical ideas of very impressive depth, obviously isn't outdated even nowadays. Some parallels with french existentialism are unavoidable (not for nothing Nossack became popular after being published in Sartre's "Les Temps Modernes"), but I think that his prose even more succeeds to Wolfgang Borhert whose writings seem to be very influential in formation of both leading german post-WWII literary schools - the distinguished "Gruppe 47" and the one of "magical realism" (Nossack, Kasack). In my eyes, "The D'Arthez case" is one of the best Nossack's novels (alongside "Spirale" and "The Testament of Lucius Evrinus") and is a simply must-read for people craving for more intellectual literature with brilliant writing style and deep philosophical meaning.