Set against the backdrop of Germany's tumultuous history, this trilogy explores life from the Nazi era to a dystopian future. The first novel follows a government worker who finds solace in the stories of a Napoleonic deserter. The second portrays a writer navigating the chaos of postwar survival within a small community. The final installment features a solitary narrator grappling with existential dread in a nearly obliterated world, only to confront new fears upon discovering another survivor. Schmidt's writing is marked by keen observation and wit.
35 Jahre lang hat John E. Woods Arno Schmidt übersetzt, fast das gesamte literarische Werk des deutschen Schriftstellers übertrug der Amerikaner in seine Muttersprache. Die erste Schmidt-Lektüre war für ihn eine »Explosion« – mit Schmidts »Evening Edged in Gold« (»Abend mit Goldrand«) hat der preisgekrönte Übersetzer seine Karriere einst begonnen, dessen wichtigstes und umfangreichstes Werk hob sich Woods bis zum Schluss auf: Jetzt liegt der Überroman »Zettel’s Traum« endlich auf Englisch vor. Schmidts Sprachspiele, eine Herausforderung für jeden Übersetzer, hat Woods immer kreativ in die flexible englische Sprache übertragen, und manchmal ist seine Lösung witziger als das Original. John E. Woods über Bottom’s Dream: »›I have had a dream past the wit of man to say what dream it was,‹ says Bottom. ›I have had a dream, and I wrote a Big Book about it,‹ Arno Schmidt might have said. Schmidt’s rare vision is a journey into many literary worlds. First and foremost it is about Edgar Allan Poe, or perhaps it is language itself that plays that lead role; and it is certainly about sex in its many Freudian disguises, but about love as well, whether fragile and unfulfilled or crude and wedded.«
They are grouped under three headings: the first two, Tales from Island Street and Sturenburg Stories, are a perfect spot to test Schmidtian waters, to hear the voice of a master storyteller. Twenty-five short tales written for a wide audience, they all share an eerie whimsy. It is as if Schmidt's beloved German Romantics were here with new stories for the modern reader.And then there is Country Matters, longer, more experimental stories written for the adventurous reader. Joyce and Freud are constant inspirations, but Schmidt's unique brand of intellectual ribaldry, shot through with the pain of our common humanity, enlivens all ten stories.Of the thirty-five stories in this volume, only two have previously appeared in English translation. Ranging from Schmidt at his most inviting and whimsical to Schmidt at his most cerebral and complex, the stories are a perfect introduction to his work.
