The book is about a young man, joseph marti, who secures a position as live in personal assistant to an inventor and entrepeneur, carl tobler, who lives with his wife and four children in an. He left school at fourteen and led a wandering, precarious existence while writing his poems, novels, and vast numbers of the prose pieces that became his hallmark. Robert walsers the assistant tells of joseph marti, a young rambler who commences employment in the titular position for welltodo inventor carl tobler in the presumed swiss town of barenswil. In this tribute, three writers read, discuss and worship walser, a writer who is like a mouse that roaredsmall and fragile but outofthisworld outrageous. Stendhals the red and the black and robert walsers the assistant. Coetzee dazzling, guy davenport a very special kind of whimsicalseriousdeep writer, and hermann hesse if he had a hundred thousand readers. After abandoning his studies at age 14, walser took accounting lessons and attempted unsuccessfully to become an actor. By now the snapshot of the dead robert walser has become one of german literatures most often. The swiss writer robert walser is one of the quiet geniuses of twentiethcentury literature. Robert walsers the tanners tells the story of a man wandering the countryside and doing menial tasks, all the while looking for meaning in his life.
Robert walser is an overwhelmingly original author with many ardent fans. In 1929 he was diagnosed as \\schizophrenic\\ and lived the last twenty years of his life in hospital. The book is a young mans inquisitive and irreverent. In 1929 he was diagnosed as schizophrenic and lived the last twenty years of his life in hospital.
As a reader of robert walser for almost 30 years, im pleased to host this discussion of the latest addition to the walser corpus in english. The robert walser center, which was officially established in bern, switzerland, in 2009, is dedicated to robert walser and the first patron of walsers work and legacy, carl seelig. Strange to think that this delightful, centuryold book is now finding englishlanguage readers for the very first time. Thirty poems robert walser hardcover books online raru. Since 2002, sam jones has provided chicago readers with news on local literary events and occasional observations on books new and old through his literary blog, golden rule jones. Robert walser 1 robert walser 1 primary author only robert walser disambiguation author division robert walser is composed of at least 2 distinct authors, divided by their works. Apr 11, 2020 robert walser, swiss poet and novelist hailed after his death as a genius. Stendhals the red and the black and robert walser s the assistant. Its purpose is to promulgate walsers life and work as well as to facilitate scholarly research. Walser is one of the twentieth centurys great modern mastersrevered by everyone from walter benjamin to hermann hesse to w. In 1933 he abandoned writing and entered a sanatoriumwhere he remained for the rest of his life. Robert walser was born in switzerland in 1878 and worked as a bank clerk before becoming a writer. A truly wonderful, heartbreaking writer susan sontag.
Walser is understood to be the missing link between kleist and kafka. Shop amongst our popular books, including 92, comedies, the walk and more from robert walser. He is most at home in the mode of short fiction, according to j. Best sellers todays deals new releases books electronics gift ideas customer service home computers sell books best sellers new releases childrens books textbooks australian authors kindle books audiobooks. The book is about a young man, joseph marti, who secures a position as livein personal assistant to an inventor and entrepeneur, carl tobler, who lives with his wife and four children in an. Feb 11, 2008 books blog fiction a brief survey of the short story part 8. Robert walser a tortured life provided the material for a very bleak, sometimes very funny master of the form. The theme seems to be about the inability of conformity to make us happy. The book is a young mans inquisitive and irreverent account of life in what turns out. Four never before published stories by robert walser. Tobler has a number of inventions he is trying to peddle, with limited success, the most noteworthy being the advertising clock, containing popout promotional banners, space. Indeed, writes susan sontag, at the time of walsers writing, it was more likely to be kafka who was understood by posterity through the prism of walser.
Sebaldis now presented in english for the very first time robert walser is an overwhelmingly original author with many ardent fans. So i have recently read two books from two different time periods which were strikingly similar in subject. In the spirit of robert walser 10, a series of artistic responses to walser s work was published, including work by moyra davey, thomas schutte, tacita dean and. In 2006 he launched wandering with robert walser as a tribute on the 50th anniversary of walsers death.
Writers susan bernofsky, deborah eisenberg and wayne koestenbaum read, discuss and worship walser, a writer who is like a mouse that roaredsmall and fragile but outofthisworld outrageous. Jovanovic published a book of prose named story for robert walser inspired by the life and work of robert walser. Tobler has a number of inventions he is trying to peddle, with limited success, the most noteworthy being the advertising clock, containing. Between 1899 and his forced hospitalization in 1933 with a now muchdisputed diagnosis of schizophrenia, walser produced as many as seven novels and more than a. This collection gathers fortytwo of walser s stories. Sebaldis now presented in english for the very first time. Both books revolve around the experiences of young vassals who take on positions in aristocratic houses and focus on their respective integration into the paternal arms. The current chair of the pen translation committee, she teaches in the mfa program in creative writing and literary translation at queens college cuny and is at work on a biography of. Encompassing everything from journal entries, notes on literature, and biographical sketches to anecdotes, fables, and visions, it is an ideal introduction to this fascinating writer of whom hermann hesse famously declared, if he had a hundred thousand readers, the world would be a better. He took up various humble occupationsbutler, clerk, assistant librarian, and bookseller. Robert walser, swiss poet and novelist hailed after his death as a genius. Robert walser wrote the assistant in 1908,soon after attending a course in becoming a servant, and while occasionally working as a secretary in berlin.
Oct 19, 2009 robert walser s the tanners tells the story of a man wandering the countryside and doing menial tasks, all the while looking for meaning in his life. The novel moves quickly along delighting the reader. A tribute to the great and virtually unknown swiss writer robert walser, who influenced kafka and inspired hermann hesse. This must be a particular problem for those who are reissuing old titles. Buy microscripts book online at low prices in india. The assistant by robert walser translated by susan bernofsky new directions, 301 pp. Mar 06, 2008 robert walser wrote the assistant in 1908,soon after attending a course in becoming a servant, and while occasionally working as a secretary in berlin. July 27, 2007 the mixed pleasures of introspection and tensions between solitude and society are wryly considered in the great, eccentric swiss authors previously untranslated 1908 novel. Selected stories ebook by robert walser rakuten kobo. I came to this teutonic scribner by way of a jackass professor i had in graduate school. Robert walser has 159 books on goodreads with 40357 ratings.
Robert walser books list of books by author robert walser. How to place the mysterious swiss writer robert walser, a humble genius who possessed one of the most elusive and surprising sensibilities in modern literature. With susan bernofsky, translator of the assistant new directions, deborah eisenberg and wayne koestenbaum the great and virtually unknown swiss writer robert walser influenced kafka and inspired hermann hesse. Discover book depositorys huge selection of robert walser books online. The assistant ebook by robert walser 9780811222693. See more ideas about writer, beach reading and august sander. Coetzee dazzling, guy davenport a very special kind of whimsicalseriousdeep writer, and hermann hesse if he had a. Susan bernofsky who has translated numerous works of walsers including the tanners, the assistant, and the famous. Born in switzerland in 1878, robert walser worked as a bank clerk, a butler in a castle and an inventors assistant while beginning what was to become a prodigious literary career. Free shipping and pickup in store on eligible orders. The assistant by robert walserwho was admired greatly by kafka, musil, walter benjamin, and w. Coetzee dazzling, guy davenport a very special kind of whimsicalseriousdeep writer, and hermann hesse if he.
Apparently robert musil referred to kafkas work as a peculiar case of the walser type walser was admired early on by kafka and writers such as. Explore books by robert walser with our selection at. Books by walser, robert sorted by popularity project. Sep 16, 2016 robert walser robert walser 18781956 was born into a germanspeaking family in biel, switzerland. A celebration of the work of swiss writer robert walser.
Click and collect from your local waterstones or get free uk delivery on orders over. Robert walser robert walser 18781956 was born into a germanspeaking family in biel, switzerland. The assistant, which was written in berlin a hundred years ago, in a sixweek sprint, and appeared in 1908, is only walsers second published novel, and here his innocence seems more truly. An introduction to robert walser words without borders. The tanners has a wonderful lightness of tone that is vivid and delivers rich insights. Sebaldand selected stories gives the fullest display of his talent. Go to the disambiguation page to edit author name combination and separation. He left school at fourteen and led a wandering and precarious existence working as a bank clerk, a butler in a castle, and an inventors assistant while producing essays, stories, and novels. See all books authored by robert walser, including the haunted looking glass. Books blog fiction a brief survey of the short story part 8. The assistant i was wondering recently about the difficulty publishers have in getting their books noticed.