A brilliantly evocative, atmospheric novel about the delusion and indecision of a wealthy family in the last days of the Third Reich as the Russians advance from the east
WALTER KEMPOWSKI (1929 - 2007) was one of Germany's most important post-war writers. He is known for his acclaimed series of novels German Chronicles (Deutsche Chronik) and his immense, eight-volume collection of first-hand accounts of World War II, Echo Soundings (Das Echolot), the final volume of which, Swansong 1945, was published by Granta in English in 2014. His last novel All for Nothing (Alles Umsonst), a bestseller in Germany in 2006 and critically applauded, sealed his reputation. It is available here in translation for the first time.
It is brilliant, vivid, unsentimental, fast moving, cinematic and,
for all its apparent ease of telling, scrupulously well-structured.
The distinguished translator Anthea Bell has conveyed Kempowski's
wry tone... Kempowski's late masterwork is a universal tract which
suggests that history can only present the facts; it is crafted
stories such as this which enable us to grasp a sense of the
vicious reality of war
*Irish Times*
A beautiful, forgiving and compassionate book... It reaches its
last devastating line with poetic sensibility and the grace of a
classical tragedy, confirming Kempowski as a truly great writer...
Completely gripping
*Guardian*
Seethes with human drama, contradiction and complexity... An
astonishing literary achievement
*Daily Telegraph*
With restraint and subtlety, Kempowski explores the ordinariness of
complicity with evil... heartbreaking and illuminating
*The Times*
One of the best books I've ever read
*The End of Days*
I love this book. It is Kempowski's crowning achievement: his last,
and lasting work of fiction
*Rachel Seiffert*
A novel of profound depth and originality
*Sunday Times*
Turns a clear-eyed, compassionate gaze on an aristocratic family in
East Prussia
*Sunday Times*
This is a brilliant, deceptively simple exploration of everyday
complicity with evil
*The Times*
An epic of exodus, timely for our days
*Jewish Chronicle*
[A] stunning final novel by German author Walter Kempowski...
Beneath its apparently serene façade, the book seethes with human
drama and complexity. The tone is wryly reductive; a fable that
becomes a nightmare.
*Sunday Telegraph*
[A] narrative of profound depth and originality... Kempowski tells
his story of individuals caught up in history's sweep with a
dispassionate simplicity that adds to its power.
*Sunday Times*
Gripping and dark... I read [it] with huge admiration and yes, a
bit of envy for the author's skill, imagination and daring
*New Statesman*
Kempowski tells his story of individuals caught up in history's
wider sweep with a dispassionate simplicity
*Sunday Times*
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
