Overview

The epigraph to Rosendorfer's third novel is Mallarme's: 'The ultimate aim of the world is a book.' When Anton L. wakes up one morning and gradually discovers that he is the only person left in the world, he accepts the situation with greater sang froid than most would. Survival presents no great problems: he moves into a hotel then into part of the royal palace, and dines on roast venison, chocolates and champagne. He is something of a shlemiel and his memories of people and places he knew generally end in minor disasters and lead to bizarre dreams and nightmares. Finding out about people who have volatilised (only their clothes are left) becomes a passion, especially when he finds himself on the trail of a group secretly searching for The Book, a book that contains all knowledge, the world between two covers. He discovers it, reads it and...Has the world achieved its 'ultimate aim'? The amusing episodes Rosedorfer has woven together cast a gently satirical light on modern society, but Anton's discussions with Jacob the hare and the statue of the Prince Elector - which are, of course, conversations with himself - raise ultimate philosophical and theological questions.

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9781903517451

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Herbert Rosendorfer was born in Germany in 1934. His first novel The Architect of Ruins was a critical and commercial success, and is regarded by many critics as one of the masterpieces of German twentieth-century fiction. It was published in English by Dedalus in 1992. This was followed by Stephanie in 1995, which was shortlisted for the Schlegel-Tieck Translation Prize. Letters Back to Ancient China is the most commercially successful of his novels. Mike Mitchell's translation was awarded the Schlegel-Tieck Translation Prize in 1997.

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