Overview

The Hothouse traces the tragic final two days in the life of a minor German politician, Keetenheuve, a man disillusioned by the corruption of his country after World War II. Following his self-imposed exile during the war, Keetenheuve returns to the hothouse: the city of Bonn, the capital of that new postwar capitalist nation, West Germany. Until this point he has led a life guided by principle and political optimism. Here, in spellbinding internal monologue and jarring montage, he meets his end. The Hothouse is an existential masterpiece and a portrait of a moral man crushed by an immoral world. Bitterly controversial at home, a cult writer abroad, Koeppen (1906-1996) brought a volcanic modernist style to German literature that remains unparalleled to this day. His uniquely radical voice and breathtaking prose is rendered magnificently by Michael Hofmann. Bitterly controversial at home, a cult writer abroad, Wolfgang Koeppen (1906-1996) brought a volcanic modernist style to German literature that remains unparalleled to this day. His uniquely radical voice and breathtaking prose are rendered magnificently by Michael Hofmann.

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Reviews

""Wolfgang Koeppen, a remorselessly brilliant German writer of the twentieth century, has long remained scandalously obscure in the Anglophone world."" -- Pankaj Mishra ""The Hothouse is literature of a quality that is not often attained."" -- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

The Hothouse is literature of a quality that is not often attained.-- ""Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung"" Wolfgang Koeppen, a remorselessly brilliant German writer of the twentieth century, has long remained scandalously obscure in the Anglophone world.--Pankaj Mishra

Author Information

Wolfgang Koeppen (1906-1996) was born in Greifswald and died in Munich. He worked as a junior chef, a dramaturge, and an editor. In 1951, 1953 and 1954 three novels were published to high acclaim for accurately capturing the atmosphere of the republic under Konrad Adenauer: Pigeons on the Grass, The Hothouse, and Death in Rome. The award-winning translator Michael Hofmann has also translated works by Jenny Erpenbeck, Gert Hofmann, Franz Kafka, Heinrich von Kleist, and Joseph Roth for New Directions. His translation of Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck was awarded the International Booker Prize in 2024. Pankaj Mishra is an Indian writer whose work focuses on literature and politics. He is the author of a novel, The Romantics, and several non-fiction books, including, most recently, The World After Gaza. His essays have appeared in many publications, and he is a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books and the Guardian.

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