Speed

by Klaus Mann

En France, un écrivain voit son épouse le quitter pour une autre, à New York un exilé autrichien se laisse entraîner par le charme ambivalent d’un jeune revendeur de drogue (Speed, nouvelle éponyme), au Maroc, deux jeunes européens frôlent l’overdose de haschisch, plus loin un aveugle récidiviste explique le meurtre de sa femme tandis qu’ailleurs un jeune allemand souffre de voir sa femme épouser un nazi après avoir refusé de le suivre en exil… Écrites entre 1926 et 1943, ces histoires sont habitées par les rêves, la nostalgie, la drogue, et une ivresse « du bord du gouffre » toujours décrite de manière limpide, forte et raffinée : un univers d’engagement et de délicatesse à nul autre pareil.

Genres: German Literature, Classics

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1939

About the author

Born in Munich, Klaus Mann was the son of German writer Thomas Mann and his wife, Katia Pringsheim. His father was baptized as a Lutheran, while his mother was from a family of secular Jews.

Mann's most famous novel, Mephisto, was written in 1936 and first published in Amsterdam. The novel is a thinly-disguised portrait of his former brother-in-law, the actor Gustaf Gründgens. The literary scandal surrounding it made Mann posthumously famous in West Germany, as Gründgens' adopted son brought a legal case to have the novel banned after its first publication in West Germany in the early 1960s. After seven years of legal hearings, the West German Supreme Court upheld the ban, although it continued to be available in East Germany and abroad. The ban was lifted and the novel published in West Germany in 1981.

Mann died in Cannes from an overdose of sleeping pills on 21 May 1949, following further drug treatment. He likely committed suicide because of financial problems and social isolation. He was buried in Cannes at the Cimetière du Grand Jas.

Reviews

[Luka · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2 in total. i wish there were original german versions of his english language short stories because while they were good and the translators probably did a wonderful job, they unfortunately couldn't hold up to the other stories in here. they were still great, obviously, but y'know,,,

Vergittertes Fenster (should be available in english as Barred Window) is still one of my favourite things he's ever written. i wish someone would adapt it as a play or a movie but then again, i don't think i'd trust the german entertainment (using the word lightly) industry of today with it. anyways,, moving on

Une Belle Journée is my second fav in this collection. i wish i could say why but that'd spoil the fun so like,,, read it

[Peter Jakobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Klaus Mann left Germany right after Hitler came into power. In his exile years, first in Amsterdam, then in the US (becoming a US army member fighting the Germans in Italy), a number of novels and stories were written. Many of them on the "exile" theme, covering despair, loneliness, politics and morale.

[Timo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,3