| A House in Istria: Novel Contributor(s): Paterson, Anna (Author), Swartz, Richard (Author) |
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ISBN: 0811215016 ISBN-13: 9780811215015 Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation OUR PRICE: $21.56 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: October 2002 Annotation: In formerly communist Eastern Europe, there are many empty houses. Inhabited in turn by very different families -- Jews, fascists, communists -- the houses now stand empty, decaying, the objects of countless lawsuits. Richard Swartz's quirky and marvelous first novel revolves around one such house and the Western European man obsessed with it. Narrated by his wife, the action takes place over just seven blazing hot days in Istria, formerly Yugoslavia. His obsession drags his poor wife, a native of Istria, into long burlesque conversations with lawyers and owners; her out-of-control husband (who doesn't speak the language) involves them in surreal scenes with nearly insane characters. Since everything the husband knows (and everything the reader knows) must be channeled through the wife, we enter a world in which nothing is directly intelligible and everything is skewed. The unusual, antic, hilarious style calls Capek, Gogol, and Kafka all to mind. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Literary |
| Dewey: FIC |
| LCCN: 2002001928 |
| Physical Information: 0.88" H x 6.02" W x 8.48" (0.94 lbs) 215 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Never before translated into English, the wonderfully comic novel A House in Istria concerns marriage, a man's desperate desire to acquire the house next door, and what can happen when West meets East. In formerly communist Eastern Europe, there are many empty houses. Inhabited in turn by very different familiesJews, fascists, communiststhe houses now stand empty, decaying, the objects of countless lawsuits. Richard Swartz's quirky and marvelous first novel revolves around one such house and the Western European man obsessed with it. Narrated by his wife, the action takes place over just seven blazing hot days in Istria, formerly Yugoslavia. His obsession drags his poor wife, a native of Istria, into long burlesque conversations with lawyers and owners; her out-of-control husband (who doesn't speak the language) involves them in surreal scenes with nearly insane characters. Since everything the husband knows (and everything the reader knows) must be channeled through the wife, we enter a world in which nothing is directly intelligibleand everything is skewed. The unusual, antic, hilarious style calls Capek, Gogol, and Kafka all to mind. |
