Extinction - BookWyrm

French language

Published Oct. 29, 1990

ISBN:: 9782070720507

(1 review)

From the late Thomas Bernhard, arguably Austria's most influential novelist of the postwar period, and one of the greatest artists in all twentieth-century literature in the German language, his magnum opus. Extinction, Bernhard's last work of fiction, takes the form of the autobiographical testimony of Franz-Josef Murau, the intellectual black sheep of a powerful Austrian land-owning family. Murau lives in Rome in self-imposed exile from his family, surrounded by a coterie of artistic and intellectual friends. On returning from his sister's wedding to the "wine-cork manufacturer" on the family estate of Wolfsegg, having resolved never to go home again, Murau receives a telegram informing him of the death of his parents and brother in a car crash. Not only must he now go back, he must do so as the master of Wolfsegg. And he must decide its fate. Divided into two halves, Extinction explores Murau's rush of memories of …

From the late Thomas Bernhard, arguably Austria's most influential novelist of the postwar period, and one of the greatest artists in all twentieth-century literature in the German language, his magnum opus. Extinction, Bernhard's last work of fiction, takes the form of the autobiographical testimony of Franz-Josef Murau, the intellectual black sheep of a powerful Austrian land-owning family. Murau lives in Rome in self-imposed exile from his family, surrounded by a coterie of artistic and intellectual friends. On returning from his sister's wedding to the "wine-cork manufacturer" on the family estate of Wolfsegg, having resolved never to go home again, Murau receives a telegram informing him of the death of his parents and brother in a car crash. Not only must he now go back, he must do so as the master of Wolfsegg. And he must decide its fate. Divided into two halves, Extinction explores Murau's rush of memories of Wolfsegg as he stands at his Roman window considering the fateful telegram, in counterpoint to his return to Wolfsegg and the preparations for the funeral itself. Written in the seamless style for which Bernhard became famous, Extinction is the ultimate proof of his extraordinary literary genius. It is his summing-up against Austria's treacherous past and -- in unprecedented fashion -- a revelation of his own incredibly complex personality, of his relationship with the world in which he lived, and the one he left behind. A literary event of the first magnitude.

2 editions

airdog reviewed Extinction by Thomas Bernhard

Not for everyone

4 stars

This author has been described, on a commercial alternative to Bookwyrm as, "the dentist drill of literature". I have to admit that the description fits quite well. Bernhardt is famous for his endless sentences that repeat what has already been said many times before just a little bit differently. And to add to the "pain", he never, but never says anything positive. He's Austrian and criticizes his country to such a point that most of his compatriots have reacted very negatively to his novels. Personally, I liked it. By the way, I read it in German and noticed that the English edition has 250 pages and the German one 651 pages. Am I to assume that the English editors believed that English readers will not be able to stomach so many pages of reflections on life?

I don't know. In my case, it induced in me some kind of comfortable …

This author has been described, on a commercial alternative to Bookwyrm as, "the dentist drill of literature". I have to admit that the description fits quite well. Bernhardt is famous for his endless sentences that repeat what has already been said many times before just a little bit differently. And to add to the "pain", he never, but never says anything positive. He's Austrian and criticizes his country to such a point that most of his compatriots have reacted very negatively to his novels. Personally, I liked it. By the way, I read it in German and noticed that the English edition has 250 pages and the German one 651 pages. Am I to assume that the English editors believed that English readers will not be able to stomach so many pages of reflections on life?

I don't know. In my case, it induced in me some kind of comfortable trance, there's something very musical to his writing, that kept me going and enjoying.

But as said, not for everyone. You've been warned!