I'm a classical writer. I'm a conservative classical writer.So says Peter Handke of himself in this brief but profound NYT interview. What does that mean? asks Deborah Solomon.
With a lot of air in it. With a lot of snow flurries and summer breezes in the books.Wonderful!
I like the accompanying picture too - Handke barefoot, just in from the writing shed; his feet not just on the ground but caressing it. The photo reminds me of the imagined significance of Bill Callahan's barefeet during his awesome live acoustic set a couple of years ago. His ex- Cat Power was also barefoot on the David Letterman Show the other week too. What is going on?
Also worth noting about the interview is Handke on a forthcoming novel in translation:
It's very difficult to translate. It's called The Loss of the Image. It's a medieval novel about modern times. The hero is a woman banker who is starting to forget herself in the Spanish mountains.Anyone with any news on the identity of the publisher, please write to me or add a comment. Farrar Straus Giroux published the airy My Year in the No-man's Bay in 1998 but seem to have air-brushed it from the archives.
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I have just bought a translated novella by Peter Handke (inspired by your recommendations) entitled 'A Sorrow Beyond Dreams'. The publisher in this instance is the Pushkin Press. I have no idea whether they will take the book you mention, but I guess it's worth checking their new list.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have that edition. It's years since I read "A Sorrow Beyond Dreams" though. It's a reissue, which I think is what Pushkin must do - the Stifter for example. I very much doubt they'd publish the new novel.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame "Repetition" and "Across" aren't more easily available though I did see the latter in the LRB Bookshop in London.
I almost never see any Handke books, even used, though I did manage to snag both Repetition and Across this weekend in Philadelphia. I look forward to finally reading him.
ReplyDeletesteve, you will find no end of handke material at
ReplyDeletehtttp://www.handke.scriptmania.com
incuding a 15 k piece on the milosevics controversy...
and you can if you have the time and liking explore the dozen subsites.
here are some things of mine in german on handke...
http://www.kultur.at/lesen/index.htm
http://begleitschreiben.twoday.net/stories/2504464/
http://roloff.freeservers.com/about.html
http://www.handke.scriptmania.com
http://www.handkelectures.freeservers.com
--
MICHAEL ROLOFF
Member Seattle Psychoanalytic Institute and Society
http://roloff.freeservers.com/about.html
http://handke-discussion.blogspot.com/
http://www.artscritic.blogspot.com
SCRIPTMANIA PROJECT MAIN SITE: http://www.handke.scriptmania.com
http://www.handkelectures.freeservers.com
http://summapolitico.blogspot.com
"MAY THE FOGGY DEW BEDIAMONDIZE YOUR HOOSPRINGS!" {J. Joyce}
"Sryde Lyde Myde Vorworde Vorhorde Vorborde" [von Alvensleben]