Joseph Roth is one of the least-known, yet easily the most accessible of the great twentieth-century writers. His deceptively light, massively concentrated fables of modern history evoke a world of catastrophic change, of disastrous belief and extreme loss. As the century ends, his stature is increasingly appreciated. And British readers, in particular, will find in his stories of a great empire's fall deep echoes of their own experience.
Granta Books' major programme of republication of Roth's work continues with his last untranslated novel, Rebellion - the story of a Great War veteran, Andreas Pum, who loses a leg and gains a medal. He marries, plays a barrel-organ, and is happy. But when he is imprisoned after a fight life seems unbearably altered. Then a chance encounter with an old comrade who has made his fortune brings Pum to a world where he has a transfiguring experience of justice . . .
Joseph Roth is one of the least-known, yet easily the most accessible of the great twentieth-century writers. His deceptively light, massively concentrated fables of modern history evoke a world of catastrophic change, of disastrous belief and extreme loss. As the century ends, his stature is increasingly appreciated. And British readers, in particular, will find in his stories of a great empire's fall deep echoes of their own experience.
Granta Books' major programme of republication of Roth's work continues with his last untranslated novel, Rebellion - the story of a Great War veteran, Andreas Pum, who loses a leg and gains a medal. He marries, plays a barrel-organ, and is happy. But when he is imprisoned after a fight life seems unbearably altered. Then a chance encounter with an old comrade who has made his fortune brings Pum to a world where he has a transfiguring experience of justice . . .
The story of Great War veteran Andreas Pum. When he is imprisoned after a fight, life seems unbearable. A chance encounter with an old comrade who has made his fortune introduces Pum to a world where he has a transfiguring experience of justice.
Joseph Roth (1894-1939) was the great elegist of the cosmopolitan, tolerant and doomed Central European culture that flourished in the dying days of the Austrian Empire. He wrote thirteen novels, including The Radetzky March and The String of Pearls.
Roth, author of Hotel Savoy and The Radetzky March, is perhaps the least known of the important Jewish writers of this century. This is the third of his 11 novels; its publication, according to the translator, brings all of Roth's oeuvre into print in English. Rebellion is the story of war casualty Andreas Pum, whose loss of a leg is rewarded only with a medal and a permit to play the hurdy-gurdy in the street. At first, all goes well, but one day he crosses a prominent burgher and is arrested. His permit is revoked, his new wife rejects him, and after a stint in jail his life deteriorates, ending in death. First published in 1924, Roth's book is full of pathos, charm, and stock but still ridiculous characters; it is essential for those who enjoy Jewish, German, and Eastern European literature of the early part of the century. Highly recommended.ÄHarold Augenbraum, Mercantile Lib. of New York Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
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