16557

Author:   Alexander Kluge ,  A01 ,  Wieland Hoban
Publisher:   Seagull Books London Ltd
ISBN:  

9780857422989


Pages:   160
Publication Date:   29 September 2015
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Our Price $52.25 Quantity:  
Add to Cart

Share |

16557


Add your own review!

Overview

April 30, 1945, marked an end of sorts in the Third Reich. The last business day before a national holiday and then a series of transfers of power, April 30 was a day filled with contradictions and bewildering events that would forever define global history. It was on this day that while the Red Army occupied Berlin, Hitler committed suicide in his underground bunker, and, in San Francisco, the United Nations was being founded. Alexander Kluge's latest book, 30 April 1945, covers this single historic day and unravels its passing hours across the different theaters of the Second World War. Translated by Wieland Hoban, the book delves into the events happening around the world on one fateful day, including the life of a small German town occupied by American forces and the story of two SS officers stranded on the forsaken Kerguelen Islands in the South Indian Sea. Kluge is a master storyteller, and as he unfolds these disparate tales, one unavoidable question surfaces: What is the appropriate reaction to the total upheaval of the status quo? Enriched by an afterword by Reinhard Jirgl, translated by Iain Galbraith, 30 April 1945 is a riveting collection of lives turned upside down by the deadliest war in history. The collective experiences Kluge paints here are jarring, poignant, and imbued with meaning. Seventy years later, we can still see our own reflections in the upheaval of a single day in 1945. Praise for Klug ""More than a few of Kluge's many books are essential, brilliant achievements. None are without great interest.""-Susan Sontag

Full Product Details

Author:   Alexander Kluge ,  A01 ,  Wieland Hoban
Publisher:   Seagull Books London Ltd
Imprint:   Seagull Books London Ltd
Dimensions:   Width: 13.70cm , Height: 3.00cm , Length: 19.80cm
Weight:   0.499kg
ISBN:  

9780857422989


ISBN 10:   0857422987
Pages:   160
Publication Date:   29 September 2015
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Those familiar with this particular date in history might feel as if they already know the story of the day Hitler committed suicide, but Kluge weaves a tale of all the events large and small that occurred concurrently. From the momentous political occasions to small tragedies, the examination of one single day demonstrates compellingly how the effects of war radiate out from the big players.""-- ""World Literature Today"" ""Uncompromisingly experimental and resistant to the shaping power of narrative. Kluge creates from the fragments of history the chronicle of a single day. . . . Interspersed with lyrical interludes by the poet Reinhard Jirgl, Kluge's episodic tapestry allows the reader to appreciate the diverse responses to the imminent collapse of the Reich. . . . Kluge's 'mosaic of time' shows the endpoint, but also the blossoming of new beginnings.""-- ""Times Literary Supplement"" ""Readers familiar with how Hitler committed suicide on the last day of April 1945 will find that story enmeshed here in a dense tangle of plots playing out on the same fateful day. In this fractured polynarrative, gifted novelist Alexander Kluge depicts the travails of the famous (Martin Heiddegger, Ezra Pound, Thomas Mann) and the anonymous (refugees, scavengers, merchants). . . . A compelling translation of a vertiginous descent into a world-shaping cataclysm.""--Booklist ""starred review""


Alexander Kluge is one of the major German fiction writers of the late-twentieth century and an important social critic. As a filmmaker, he is credited with the launch of the New German Cinema movement. Wieland Hoban is a British composer who lives in Germany. He has translated several works from German, including several by Theodor W. Adorno.


Readers familiar with how Hitler committed suicide on the last day of April 1945 will find that story enmeshed here in a dense tangle of plots playing out on the same fateful day. In this fractured polynarrative, gifted novelist Alexander Kluge depicts the travails of the famous (Martin Heiddegger, Ezra Pound, Thomas Mann) and the anonymous (refugees, scavengers, merchants). . . . A compelling translation of a vertiginous descent into a world-shaping cataclysm. --Booklist starred review


Author Information

Alexander Kluge is one of the major German fiction writers of the late-twentieth century and an important social critic. As a filmmaker, he is credited with the launch of the New German Cinema movement. Wieland Hoban is a British composer who lives in Germany. He has translated several works from German, including several by Theodor W. Adorno.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions
Latest Reading Guide

RGJUNE2025

 

Shopping Cart
Your cart is empty
Shopping cart
Mailing List