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Der Kurze Brief Zum Langen Abschied (2000)

by Peter Handke(Favorite Author)

3.68 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

review 1: A distant cousin of Nabokov's infamous novel Lolita that can also find itself in the tradition of Kerouac, Short Letter Long Farewell is Austrian writer Peter Handke's version of the American road trip. It involves a runaway wife who threatens the husband/narrator with death, and an acceptance of the small irritating things that tire and disturb the narrator. Handke's character travels through an America that is more of a wondrous place than for Humbert Humbert, but is still nevertheless a little irritating. I enjoyed some of the pop culture references, which Handke's character gives more meaning than some might figure they deserve. Handke's strengths are his character development which, like the progeny of Steinbeck, are diverse and meaningful in their unique ways. I give... more it four stars, however, since the one thing it lacked is the motivation that keeps the most disgusted reader continue to follow in Humbert Humbert and Lolita's tracks. It's not completely absent, but one must struggle through a few moments to get to each bit. A good read for anybody interested in Austrian literature. That, plus it is filled with good quotes the whole way through, which makes Short Letter, Long Farewell a treasure trove as well as a roadtrip.
review 2: Fun, odd little book. It's a delirious spaceman version of Democracy in America, an inverted noir mystery, a solipsistic road trip story not unlike Ross McElwee's Sherman's March.At times hysterically funny, at other times nearly off-putting in its narrative feints. Ultimately, the ideas and the actions aren't nearly as enjoyable as the narrator's descriptions of things and people and what all this says about him. There are moments when everything comes together into a page or two of some of the most alive writing I've read in a while. But I also fell asleep a few times reading this one. less

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