The Strudlhof Steps (Paperback)

Vincent Kling

ISBN 10: 1681375273 / ISBN 13: 9781681375274

Published by New York Review Books, New York, 2021

About this Item

Paperback. The Strudlhof Steps is an unsurpassed portrait of Vienna in the twentieth-century, a novel crowded with characters, from the elegant, alcoholic Prussian aristocrat through the innocent ingenue through "respectable," narrow shopkeepers through sexual adventurers, bohemians, grifters, and honest working-class folk, in which the greatest character is the city itself.But perhaps the main character is the ubiquitous narrator, a tireless companion by turns exuberant, hilarious, and lyrical. He relishes the drollery and irony of shifting registers, so that the telling itself, rich in asides and word plays, emerges as a major effect, as in all great comedy.Doderer depicts Vienna and its surrounding hills and woods with all the vividness of Joyce's Dublin or D blin's Berlin. This panorama is brought to a central focus through the outdoor staircase of the title, a triumph of engineering and architecture from which radiate energy, form, and mythic significance. By linking two interwoven time periods, 1908-1911 and 1923-1925, it stands as an emblem in stone of the novel's subtitle, The Depth of the Years.The Strudlhof Steps is also deliberately constructed as a "good read" with suspense elements and surprise twists, though patience is needed to follow the seemingly scatterbrained narrator's leaps and digressions. The conventional story elements encompass crime and romance, heartbreak and happiness, treachery and fidelity, but the novel is also palatably experimental, announcing the climatic action in the first sentence, for example.A novelist's novel, beloved by many writers for its craft, but also an affectionately treasured popular success.The first English translation of an essential Austrian novel about life in early-twentieth-century Vienna, as seen through a wide and varied cast of characters.The Strudlhof Steps is an unsurpassed portrait of Vienna in the early twentieth century, a vast novel crowded with characters ranging from an elegant, alcoholic Prussian aristocrat to an innocent ingenue to "respectable" shopkeepers and tireless sexual adventurers, bohemians, grifters, and honest working-class folk. The greatest character in the book, however, is Vienna, which Heimito von Doderer renders as distinctly as James Joyce does Dublin or Alfred D blin does Berlin. Interweaving two time periods, 1908 to 1911 and 1923 to 1925, the novel takes the monumental eponymous outdoor double staircase as a governing metaphor for its characters' intersecting and diverging fates. The Strudlhof Steps is an experimental tour de force with the suspense and surprise of a soap opera. Here Doderer illuminates the darkness of passing years with the dazzling extravagance that is uniquely his. Translation of: Strudlhofstiege oder Melzer und die Tiefe der Jahre. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781681375274

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Strudlhof Steps (Paperback)
• Publisher: New York Review Books, New York
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1681375273
• ISBN 13: 9781681375274
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

The first English translation of an essential Austrian novel about life in early-twentieth-century Vienna, as seen through a wide and varied cast of characters.

The Strudlhof Steps is an unsurpassed portrait of Vienna in the early twentieth century, a vast novel crowded with characters ranging from an elegant, alcoholic Prussian aristocrat to an innocent ingenue to “respectable” shopkeepers and tireless sexual adventurers, bohemians, grifters, and honest working-class folk. The greatest character in the book, however, is Vienna, which Heimito von Doderer renders as distinctly as James Joyce does Dublin or Alfred Döblin does Berlin. Interweaving two time periods, 1908 to 1911 and 1923 to 1925, the novel takes the monumental eponymous outdoor double staircase as a governing metaphor for its characters’ intersecting and diverging fates. The Strudlhof Steps is an experimental tour de force with the suspense and surprise of a soap opera. Here Doderer illuminates the darkness of passing years with the dazzling extravagance that is uniquely his.

About the Author

Heimito von Doderer (1896-1966), who was born in Vienna, Austria, received the Grand Austrian State Prize for Literature and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times. He served in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I and began to write during the years he spent as a prisoner of war in Siberia, eventually fleeing and returning to Vienna by foot. His novels The Strudlhof Steps and The Demons brought him international recognition.

Daniel Kehlmann is a novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. His most recent novel, Tyll, was shortlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize. He lives in New York, NY.

Vincent Kling is a translator and scholar of German literature who teaches at La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has translated fiction, poetry, and criticism by Heimito von Doderer, Heimrad Bäcker, Andreas Pittler, Gert Jonke, Gerhard Fritsch, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and Aglaja Veteranyi. He was awarded the Schlegel-Tieck Prize in 2013 for his translation of Veteranyi's Why the Child Is Cooking in the Polenta.