The Frog in the Throat - Paperback
$15.95
Skip to product information
The same can be said of this novel, in which these two voices clash, harmonize, and ultimately offer up all the mutual recognition and incomprehension that is family life. A miniature tragicomic masterpiece, Markus Werner's second novel is as bursting with life as a Dickens novel: not only Franz's high-strung shenanigans and the father's settled life among the cattle, but the lives of his sister and brother and the land all around. As in all of Werner's work, the world looks grim ("I sit around, I drink, I brood, I pat myself down for flaws and find many and each evening I say: Starting tomorrow I'm going to get a grip on myself") but never less than comic--a view captured marvelously in Michael Hofmann's vivid translation.
The Frog in the Throat - Paperback
$15.95
Shipping calculated at checkout.
by Markus Werner (Author), Michael Hofmann (Translator), Michael Hofmann (Introduction by)
A bracing and darkly comic novel about a disgraced priest who finds himself haunted by his dead and disapproving father, this little-known classic of Swiss literature is impossible to forget.
In a small town in Switzerland, Franz--ex-clergyman, ex-husband, current counselor of locals at loose ends--is being haunted by his recently deceased father, Klement. In life, Franz was caught cheating on his wife and defrocked, after which Klement never spoke to him again. In death, Klement visits his son in the form of a frog in the throat, choking him, yes, but also giving voice to an old dairy farmer devoted to the old ways, forever railing against his son and the whole modern mess he represents.The same can be said of this novel, in which these two voices clash, harmonize, and ultimately offer up all the mutual recognition and incomprehension that is family life. A miniature tragicomic masterpiece, Markus Werner's second novel is as bursting with life as a Dickens novel: not only Franz's high-strung shenanigans and the father's settled life among the cattle, but the lives of his sister and brother and the land all around. As in all of Werner's work, the world looks grim ("I sit around, I drink, I brood, I pat myself down for flaws and find many and each evening I say: Starting tomorrow I'm going to get a grip on myself") but never less than comic--a view captured marvelously in Michael Hofmann's vivid translation.
Author Biography
Markus Werner (1944-2016) was born in Eschlikon, Switzerland, and raised in the canton of Schaffhausen. He studied German language and literature at the University of Zurich, where he wrote a doctoral thesis on the work of Max Frisch. For most of the 1970s and '80s, he was a teacher--a profession from which he retired eagerly in 1990 to become a full-time writer. As he put it in a rare self-portrait: "I smoke, write haltingly, and live in the country." He wrote very haltingly, or rather meticulously indeed, publishing seven novels in the course of twenty years--among them Zündel's Exit (1984), Cold Shoulder (1989), and On the Edge (2004).
Michael Hofmann is a German-born, British-educated poet, critic, and translator. His most recent books are One Lark, One Horse (poems) and Messing About in Boats (essays). For New York Review Books he has translated several works, including Alfred Döblin's Berlin Alexanderplatz, and edited an anthology of writing by Malcolm Lowry, The Voyage That Never Ends. In 2024, his translation of Jenny Erpenbeck's novel Kairos won the International Booker Prize.
Number of Pages: 144
Dimensions: 0.5 x 8.1 x 5.1 IN
Publication Date: March 04, 2025
Details
This product is crafted with quality materials to ensure durability and performance. Designed with your convenience in mind, it seamlessly fits into your everyday life.
Shipping & Returns
We strive to process and ship all orders in a timely manner, working diligently to ensure that your items are on their way to you as soon as possible.
We are committed to ensuring a positive shopping experience for all our customers. If for any reason you wish to return an item, we invite you to reach out to our team for assistance, and we will evaluate every return request with care and consideration.
