English review: Alarm bells should ring when the description of a novel says: ‘The main character in this novel is the city ... (in this case Vienna). Behind this cliché hides the sad fact that the novel lacks dramaturgy and focus. However, this lack can be compensated for by good and lively language. Daniel Kehlmann compares von Doderer's prose with Nabokov, Pynchon and Mann. This is grotesque misinformation. There is absolutely nothing reminiscent of the first two and only a pale echo of Mann's elaborate ironic style. These 800 pages do not contain a single original sentence or memorable linguistic figure. The prose is as flat as the fields of Friesland. If you feel tempted to read the novel because of the praise from Mr Kehlmann or others, I suspect you will be cruelly disappointed. Read Hans Fallada or Alfred Döblin instead, or even Christopher Isherwood, if you are interested in urban depictions of the German-speaking world in the interwar period. Or for God's sake, read Gregor von Rezzori. He is a refined, playful heavyweight.
Alarm bells should ring when the description of a novel says: ‘The main character in this novel is the city ... (in this case Vienna). Behind this cliché hides the sad fact that the novel lacks dramaturgy and focus. However, this lack can be compensated for by good and lively language. Daniel Kehlmann compares von Doderer's prose with Nabokov, Pynchon and Mann. This is grotesque misinformation. There is absolutely nothing reminiscent of the first two and only a pale echo of Mann's elaborate ironic style. These 800 pages do not contain a single original sentence or memorable linguistic figure. The prose is as flat as the fields of Friesland. If you feel tempted to read the novel because of the praise from Mr Kehlmann or others, I suspect you will be cruelly disappointed. Read Hans Fallada or Alfred Döblin instead, or even Christopher Isherwood, if you are interested in urban depictions of the German-speaking world in the interwar period. Or for God's sake, read Gregor von Rezzori. He is a refined, playful heavyweight.