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Title Details
184 Pages
57.9 x 38.6 cm
Series: Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture
Imprint: Camden House
The Birds in Langfoot's Belfry
- Description
- Reviews
First English translation of an exotic novel by Paul Zech.
Paul Zech is best known as a representative of German literary movements such as Worker's Poetry and Expressionism. However, his novel Die Vögel des Herrn Langfoot, detailing the adventures of a foot-loose German adventurerin Argentina, shows him equally at home in the medium of prose. Contemporary critics hailed Zech as the first author to capture the exotic flavour of South America; during his exile, he continually explored the country of his asylum in his writings, describing the colourful aspects of South American life and retelling Indian folk tales for a European audience. Nevertheless, this novel failed to make much impact in Germany; first published posthumously inthe 1950s, its author's reputation, established during the first quarter of the century, had been forgotten, and it was not until the 1970s that a resurgence of interest in the work occurred. Elena Odio's translation now makes this important work available in English for the first time.
"The novel offers social criticism, adventure, satire and an oblique humour: Langfoot's 'Vögel' are his whims, caprices, fancies -- and they are much in evidence as he wanders through an exotic landscape, part Ahasverus, part Eulenspiegel, part Schlemihl. The translation is successful in capturing the metaphoric language of the novel and its use of idioms." FORUM FOR MODERN LANGUAGE STUDIES
Hardcover
9781571130075
June 1994
£60.00 / $75.00
Title Details
184 Pages
5.79 x 3.86 cm
Series: Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture
Imprint: Camden House