Selected Writings, Vol. 2: Fictions

by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Theodore Ziolkowski (Editor), Joel Agee (Translator)

The Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–90) was one of the most important literary figures of the second half of the twentieth century. During the years of the cold war, arguably only Beckett, Camus, Sartre, and Brecht rivaled him as a presence in European letters. Yet outside Europe, this prolific author is primarily known for only one work, The Visit. With these long-awaited translations of his plays, fictions, and essays, Dürrenmatt becomes available again in all his brilliance to the English-speaking world.

This second volume of Selected Writings reveals a writer who may stand as Kafka’s greatest heir. Dürrenmatt’s novellas and short stories are searing, tragicomic explorations of the ironies of justice and the corruptibility of institutions. Apart from The Pledge, a requiem to the detective story that was made into a film starring Jack Nicholson, none of the works in this volume are available elsewhere in English. Among the most evocative fictions included here are two novellas: The Assignment and Traps. The Assignment tells the story of a woman filmmaker investigating a mysterious murder in an unnamed Arab country and has been hailed by Sven Birkerts as “a parable of hell for an age consumed by images.” Traps, meanwhile, is a chilling comic novella about a traveling salesman who agrees to play the role of the defendant in a mock trial among dinner companions—and then pays the ultimate penalty.

Dürrenmatt has long been considered a great writer—but one unfairly neglected in the modern world of letters. With these elegantly conceived and expertly translated volumes, a new generation of readers will rediscover his greatest works.

Genres: Fiction

408 pages, Hardcover

First published October 13, 2006

About the author

Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921 – 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist.

Dürrenmatt was born in the Emmental (canton of Bern), the son of a Protestant pastor. His grandfather Ulrich Dürrenmatt was a conservative politician. The family moved to Bern in 1935. Dürrenmatt began to study philosophy and German language and literature at the University of Zurich in 1941, but moved to the University of Bern after one semester. In 1943 he decided to become an author and dramatist and dropped his academic career. In 1945-46, he wrote his first play, "It is written". On October 11 1946 he married actress Lotti Geissler. She died in 1983 and Dürrenmatt was married again to another actress, Charlotte Kerr, the following year.

He was a proponent of epic theater whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author gained fame largely due to his avant-garde dramas, philosophically deep crime novels, and often macabre satire. One of his leading sentences was: "A story is not finished, until it has taken the worst turn". Dürrenmatt was a member of the Gruppe Olten.

Reviews

[Cecily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review of The Sausage ("Die Wurst") from this collection.

A short story, told in very short sentences. It opens:
“A man murdered his wife and made her into a sausage. Gossip denounced him. The man was arrested. ”

A courtroom drama follows. The sexual symbolism of a soft, steaming sausage becoming firm and squirting is comically absurd. It’s also unsubtle and puerile.

The story ends:
“The world becomes a monstrous question mark.”
That reflects debate in the group about what actually happened to said sausage.


Image: Ground meat, rolled into a sausage and twisted into a question mark, on a plate, with a knife and fork beside (Source)

See also

This reminded me of Nikolai Gogol’s The Nose, which I reviewed HERE.

Short story club

I read this in Black Water 2: More Tales of the Fantastic, by Alberto Manguel, from which I’m reading one story a week with The Short Story Club, starting 24 March 2025.

You can join the group here.

[Debi Cates]

Another author I'd now like to read after reading a selection with The Short Story Club*, Dürrenmatt's "The Sausage."

FIVE STARS because OMG I'm in love with it, although it's dark. Very dark. Totally absurd and funny in a wicked off kilter way.

The story is the last day of the trial of a man who killed his wife and made her into sausage. It's told in staccato, very short sentences, "chop chop chop" as reader Fionnuala perfectly described it. The many evocative metaphors (I almost wrote "meataphors," ha!) are bloody, ominous, and delicious.

The evidence? The last, quivering, aromatic sausage link sitting on a small plate in front of the judge.

I'm learning that I like dark (see the graphic novel Beautiful Darkness) and absurd (see the play, The Caretaker). I never knew this side of myself before—Hello, where did you come from?

UPDATE 07/29/2025
Learning that literary scholar and Dürrenmatt biographer Peter Rüedi wrote that The Sausage was “a shrill prelude to Dürrenmatt’s later general theme of legality, law, and justice" elevated its absurdity and unique style for me into a more interesting piece, after I had already enjoyed it quite a lot because of said absurdity and style...and its dark humor. Thank you again to Fionnuala for that important contextual tidbit.


*You can join The Short Story Club at https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/... where we are reading one short story a week (for July and August one story every two weeks) from Black Water 2: More Tales of the Fantastic. Our excellent moderator (Cecily at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1...) makes sure there is a digital copy to read, even if it means scanning and uploading it herself.

[George Ilsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

As part of the Short Story club here on Goodreads, I read one story from this author: "The Sausage."

Thanks to the organizer, Cecily, two translations were provided, side by side. One from Alberto Manguel, and the other from google. Generally, I preferred Manguel's phrasings; however, since I am unable to read the original German I have no idea what the author intended. These two translations did offer a glimpse into the difficulties, and nuances, of translating works of literature.

The story itself is surreal, and evocative. What does it evoke? Confusion, the arbitrary exercise of power, and an overwrought imagination.

[Javier Fernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of eerie psychological tales reminiscent of Twilight Zone episodes.

[Petergiaquinta · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only read "The Sausage" for GR short story group
+++++++++++++++++++++

It may not be the wurst thing I've ever read, but this strange bit of absurdity about a wife-killing cannibal and his tasty sausage at their day in court did very little for me. Oh well...

[Red · Rating 2 out of 5]

picasso said, you have two types of woman i.e. goddesses and doormats