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The Eternal Philistine
This never-before translated work by a major yet overlooked mid-20th century writer is a brutally funny look at the human comedy on the eve of Europe's decent into Fascism.
It tells the tale of a failed used car salesman who wants to live the high life, and so decides to travel by train from Munich to Barcelona to attend the World's Fair — in hopes of meeting a beautiful, rich woman who will provide for his every whim.
It's a highly-stylized and, at times, raucously funny tale of the almost-absurd: a dark and satirical look at Europeans, and especially Germans, on the brink of cataclysm. Adrift in their acquisitive desires, they are vulnerable to the propaganda of the State — making this novel brilliantly foresightful in its understanding of politics and human nature at a crucial point in modern history.
Ödön von Horváth’s scathing insight, in fact, led to his having to flee the very society he depicted when, living in Berlin, he drew the wrath of the Nazis. And yet this hilarious tour-de-force — written just after his escape, and just before his death in a tragic accident — eschews bitterness for rambunctious perseverance and compassion, and provides ample evidence of why von Horváth deserves renewed appreciation.
It tells the tale of a failed used car salesman who wants to live the high life, and so decides to travel by train from Munich to Barcelona to attend the World's Fair — in hopes of meeting a beautiful, rich woman who will provide for his every whim.
It's a highly-stylized and, at times, raucously funny tale of the almost-absurd: a dark and satirical look at Europeans, and especially Germans, on the brink of cataclysm. Adrift in their acquisitive desires, they are vulnerable to the propaganda of the State — making this novel brilliantly foresightful in its understanding of politics and human nature at a crucial point in modern history.
Ödön von Horváth’s scathing insight, in fact, led to his having to flee the very society he depicted when, living in Berlin, he drew the wrath of the Nazis. And yet this hilarious tour-de-force — written just after his escape, and just before his death in a tragic accident — eschews bitterness for rambunctious perseverance and compassion, and provides ample evidence of why von Horváth deserves renewed appreciation.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1930
About the author
Ödön von Horváth
205 books121 followersÖdön von Horváth was a German-writing Austro-Hungarian-born playwright and novelist. Important topics in Horváth's works were popular culture, politics and history. He especially tried to warn of the dawn of fascism and its dangers. Among Horváth's most enduringly popular works, Jugend ohne Gott describes the youth in Nazi Germany from a disgruntled teacher's point of view, who, himself at first an opportunist, is helpless against the racist and militaristic Nazi propaganda that his pupils are subjected to and that de-humanizes them and, at last, loses his job but gains his identity.
Having always lived in fear of being struck by lightning, in Paris Horváth was hit by a falling branch and killed during a thunderstorm on the Champs-Élysées, opposite the Théâtre Marigny. Ödön von Horváth was buried in Saint-Ouen cemetery in northern Paris. In 1988, on the 50th anniversary of his death, his remains were transferred to Vienna and reinterred at the Heiligenstädter Friedhof.
Christopher Hampton's play Tales from Hollywood (1984, adapted for television in 1992) portrays a fictional Horváth. He survives the falling branch and moves to the United States, where expatriate German authors such as Bertolt Brecht and Thomas Mann write for the motion picture industry.
Having always lived in fear of being struck by lightning, in Paris Horváth was hit by a falling branch and killed during a thunderstorm on the Champs-Élysées, opposite the Théâtre Marigny. Ödön von Horváth was buried in Saint-Ouen cemetery in northern Paris. In 1988, on the 50th anniversary of his death, his remains were transferred to Vienna and reinterred at the Heiligenstädter Friedhof.
Christopher Hampton's play Tales from Hollywood (1984, adapted for television in 1992) portrays a fictional Horváth. He survives the falling branch and moves to the United States, where expatriate German authors such as Bertolt Brecht and Thomas Mann write for the motion picture industry.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
July 29, 2014
A brewery here in the U.S. advertizes its products as if they were deliberately offensive: "It's not too strong, you're too weak" and that kind of thing. That is how this book should advertize itself. Essentially, you are too soppy and pathetic to deal with Horvath's rage, and too conventional and boring to accept the bizarre structure he uses to convey said rage. Because, my friend, you are a philistine.
"The philistine," he tells us, is "an egoist who suffers from hypochondria, and this is why he seeks, like a coward, to fit in wherever he goes and to distort every new formulation of the idea by calling it his own." That's not the definition I would have made, but anyway, the important point is that "the old species of philistine no longer even deserves to be ridiculed, and whoever is still mocking him at present is at best a philistine of the future."
And we see how the philistine comports him or herself very clearly in this book, written around 1929--and somewhat chillingly showing how 'ordinary' people will do whatever the hell they (we) think will help them get ahead, not excluding, for instance, nazism. The old philistine believes in ideals like Art and the League of Nations and Universal Humanity, despite never having understood anything he's read. The new philistine believes only in his own wallet and penis, sees no need to justify his revolting actions, and never bothered to read anything at all.
That takes us through the first part of the novel, a train trip through a Europe turning fascist. In the second part, we get a female philistine; but while the gentlemen of the first part chose their philistinism, our Fraulein has it forced on her.
So, if you've ever wished that Evelyn Waugh had been a middle-european novelist, who was more sympathetic to the proletariat and more skeptical of the rich, you should probably read this book.
As a special bonus, Shalom Auslander's introduction is so perfect that I immediately went out to buy his novel. But my bookstore didn't have a copy. Hence making his introduction, about the speed with which funny books go out of print, even more perfect. No matter--they had plenty of Jonathan Franzen. Deep.
"The philistine," he tells us, is "an egoist who suffers from hypochondria, and this is why he seeks, like a coward, to fit in wherever he goes and to distort every new formulation of the idea by calling it his own." That's not the definition I would have made, but anyway, the important point is that "the old species of philistine no longer even deserves to be ridiculed, and whoever is still mocking him at present is at best a philistine of the future."
And we see how the philistine comports him or herself very clearly in this book, written around 1929--and somewhat chillingly showing how 'ordinary' people will do whatever the hell they (we) think will help them get ahead, not excluding, for instance, nazism. The old philistine believes in ideals like Art and the League of Nations and Universal Humanity, despite never having understood anything he's read. The new philistine believes only in his own wallet and penis, sees no need to justify his revolting actions, and never bothered to read anything at all.
That takes us through the first part of the novel, a train trip through a Europe turning fascist. In the second part, we get a female philistine; but while the gentlemen of the first part chose their philistinism, our Fraulein has it forced on her.
So, if you've ever wished that Evelyn Waugh had been a middle-european novelist, who was more sympathetic to the proletariat and more skeptical of the rich, you should probably read this book.
As a special bonus, Shalom Auslander's introduction is so perfect that I immediately went out to buy his novel. But my bookstore didn't have a copy. Hence making his introduction, about the speed with which funny books go out of print, even more perfect. No matter--they had plenty of Jonathan Franzen. Deep.
January 19, 2022
Sledeći sarkastično-satirički - protivudar kvalitetu SS kroja Hugo Bosa - manir, Eden Fon nas bez nagvaždanja paneuropejski "prostituiše" s trima srcima tame dva nemecka (malo)graždaninâ i jedne (malo)graždanke, mentalno okrepljivanih za sve podvige koji im se nadaju pred siluetom II sv. rata. I premda mi je u ekskluzivno-disjunktivnoj nedoumici "da li je bolje biti đubre ili đubrence" oduvek bilo teško da se opredelim, alternativama je zajedničko to da uvek izazivaju susramlje i žučljiv smeh(ovrat).
[Eden fon Horvat "Večiti malograđanin", s nemačkog preveo Andrej Ivanji, Radio B92, 1995]
[Eden fon Horvat "Večiti malograđanin", s nemačkog preveo Andrej Ivanji, Radio B92, 1995]
August 18, 2015
I tend to like publishers that expose me to authors and/or books that I haven't experienced much less heard of, hence why I'm a big follower of anything NYRB related, so when I came across the 'Neversink' library put out by Melville House Books, I was elated to find a collection that I could follow as well. (I blame all the Simenon books for leading me in that direction!)
With that said, Horvath's 'The Eternal Philistine' is probably not the best place to start if you're new to Neversink territory. He alludes to the eternal philistine throughout with his characters using juvenile potty humor by calling each other and themselves shitheads, but other than that, the story falls flat and is all over the place. Perhaps, it's meant to, but ultimately is a bore.
Some books should really only be published once, left in the hands of the few; not truly being worth of re-publishing in any language.
With that said, Horvath's 'The Eternal Philistine' is probably not the best place to start if you're new to Neversink territory. He alludes to the eternal philistine throughout with his characters using juvenile potty humor by calling each other and themselves shitheads, but other than that, the story falls flat and is all over the place. Perhaps, it's meant to, but ultimately is a bore.
Some books should really only be published once, left in the hands of the few; not truly being worth of re-publishing in any language.
March 31, 2024
Alfons Kobler looking for a sugar mommy
and other people having problems 🤙
and other people having problems 🤙
May 14, 2012
Okay, I will admit it. I was very likely influenced to order this book instead of any other from the Neversink collection because there was a forward written by Shalom Auslander, author of the wickedly awesome collection of short stories, Beware of God. Once I'd read that introduction, I have to say, that if I had picked this book up in a shop somewhere, and skimmed through or read that introduction, I would have been compelled to buy this book immediately, at nearly any cost, no matter the state of my bank account. As it was, I spent days trying to explain, to anyone who would listen, how witty and pointed this introduction was.
It wouldn't be easy to live up to a build-up like that.
The book did its best, but it was hindered by my near-complete lack of comprehension of the historical context of the stories. (The book is in three parts, which are definitely connected, but kind of separate.) An appreciation of this book doesn't require a familiarity with the political and economic conditions of Europe between the two world wars, but I couldn't help feeling it would be greatly improved by such knowledge. Particularly during Kobler's train voyage -- the attitudes that various strangers from different regions and countries took toward one another, not to mention remarks on cities and geographical features they passed through or by -- I felt repeatedly frustrated that I just had no context to place these in.
Despite all my lack of prior knowledge, The Eternal Philistine still managed to convey a great deal about its time and place, but even more about the universal state of people caught up in societal forces beyond their control. Some seek for, and some find, a way to thrive in their changing times. Others die by inches. There is an excellent quote near the end of this book, which could sum up most of it:
Yes, this book is bitter, and dark. But what makes it bearable is not the comedy, but what makes any horror in life more bearable -- a little bit of human solidarity.
It wouldn't be easy to live up to a build-up like that.
The book did its best, but it was hindered by my near-complete lack of comprehension of the historical context of the stories. (The book is in three parts, which are definitely connected, but kind of separate.) An appreciation of this book doesn't require a familiarity with the political and economic conditions of Europe between the two world wars, but I couldn't help feeling it would be greatly improved by such knowledge. Particularly during Kobler's train voyage -- the attitudes that various strangers from different regions and countries took toward one another, not to mention remarks on cities and geographical features they passed through or by -- I felt repeatedly frustrated that I just had no context to place these in.
Despite all my lack of prior knowledge, The Eternal Philistine still managed to convey a great deal about its time and place, but even more about the universal state of people caught up in societal forces beyond their control. Some seek for, and some find, a way to thrive in their changing times. Others die by inches. There is an excellent quote near the end of this book, which could sum up most of it:
"If all the shitheads went and helped each other out, then every shithead would be better off."
Yes, this book is bitter, and dark. But what makes it bearable is not the comedy, but what makes any horror in life more bearable -- a little bit of human solidarity.
March 31, 2024
1,5 ⭐️aber ich war mal nett
July 18, 2013
This short novel written in 1930 had three sections. The first one took up most of the book and told the story of Kobler, an ex-car salesman on the make, who takes a picaresque journey by train from his home in Munich to the World's Fair in Barcelona, where he expects to find a wealthy "Egyptian" woman - although any nationality will do - who will keep him in luxury once he's placed her in a compromising position by debauching her. The much briefer middle section relates how Anna, an unemployed seamstress who appears briefly in the first section, "becomes practical" by turning to prostitution. And the even briefer final section attempts to end things on a modestly hopeful note with the altruistic gesture of Herr Reithofer, a down-and-out Austrian living in Munich who can't even collect unemployment insurance because he's not a German citizen; even after he had been shamefully led on by Anna, who gets him to pay for a movie despite his straitened circumstances, then refuses him sex unless he pays for it, Reithofer presents her with a job lead that he happens upon serendipitously, while drowning his sorrows with a 30-pfennig beer.
Mildly amusing at times - not so funny as Shalom Auslander, who wrote the introduction (which, I agree with the readers below, is very good), makes out - the novel nevertheless didn't resonate with me, perhaps because it's so dated in its style and politics. The author, Horvath, was remarkably clear-eyed and prescient about the fascist menace; he had to flee Germany, then Austria, before his accidental death in 1938. Still, I didn't find that his satire and irony offered any enduring insights, although his exposure of the brutal hypocrisies accepted by the comfortable classes and the right-wingers of Europe during that era were certainly stinging and provocative at the time. Satire has exposed many of the same tendencies again and again over the decades since without having had much of an effect, so it may be admirable - especially when it gets the Nazis after you - but not all that impressive, given the score sheet. Horvath seems aware of this: nearly all of his characters are on the make and - if they haven't started out that way, end up being - cynical. The exception is Reithofer. His altruism can't really be read as Horvath revealing a true naïve sentimentality hidden beneath a sardonic mask, however, given how it occurs at the very end of a long gauntlet of "shitheads" being "shitheads".
The war - the Great War - and its aftermath haunts the novel and its characters, explaining their desperate circumstances and moral malaise. The one part of the novel that really stood out for me is the account of the bullfight that Kobler witnesses when in Barcelona. The parallel between the plight of the animals - bulls and a horse - and that of the common soldiers goaded into attack only to be butchered to serve the blood lust and interests of those in charge was striking and moving.
Mildly amusing at times - not so funny as Shalom Auslander, who wrote the introduction (which, I agree with the readers below, is very good), makes out - the novel nevertheless didn't resonate with me, perhaps because it's so dated in its style and politics. The author, Horvath, was remarkably clear-eyed and prescient about the fascist menace; he had to flee Germany, then Austria, before his accidental death in 1938. Still, I didn't find that his satire and irony offered any enduring insights, although his exposure of the brutal hypocrisies accepted by the comfortable classes and the right-wingers of Europe during that era were certainly stinging and provocative at the time. Satire has exposed many of the same tendencies again and again over the decades since without having had much of an effect, so it may be admirable - especially when it gets the Nazis after you - but not all that impressive, given the score sheet. Horvath seems aware of this: nearly all of his characters are on the make and - if they haven't started out that way, end up being - cynical. The exception is Reithofer. His altruism can't really be read as Horvath revealing a true naïve sentimentality hidden beneath a sardonic mask, however, given how it occurs at the very end of a long gauntlet of "shitheads" being "shitheads".
The war - the Great War - and its aftermath haunts the novel and its characters, explaining their desperate circumstances and moral malaise. The one part of the novel that really stood out for me is the account of the bullfight that Kobler witnesses when in Barcelona. The parallel between the plight of the animals - bulls and a horse - and that of the common soldiers goaded into attack only to be butchered to serve the blood lust and interests of those in charge was striking and moving.
February 3, 2019
Am Anfang wollte ich das Buch schon wieder weglegen. In der Mitte hab ich mir meine Deutschlehrerin gewünscht, um durch geschickte Fragen den Kern des Buches zu erfassen. Und am Ende dachte ich mir, die paar Seiten kannst du jetzt auch noch lesen.
Die Geschichte an sich ist sprunghaft und stellenweise schwer zu fassen, zwischendurch auch mal lustig.
Die Schwierigkeiten der Weltwirtschaftskrise bestimmen alle Protagonisten und der beginnende Aufstieg der Nazis und der Hass gegenüber den Juden kommen immer wieder in kurzen Abschnitten vor.
Das ist erschreckend, weil es auch auf heute zutrifft. Und weil das Buch schon 1930 geschrieben würde.
Ödön von Horvath greift diese Themen auch in seinen späteren Büchern wieder auf.
Ich würde das Buch eher Horvath-Fans empfehlen und als Einstieg zu seinen Werken immer wieder "Jugend ohne Gott".
Die Geschichte an sich ist sprunghaft und stellenweise schwer zu fassen, zwischendurch auch mal lustig.
Die Schwierigkeiten der Weltwirtschaftskrise bestimmen alle Protagonisten und der beginnende Aufstieg der Nazis und der Hass gegenüber den Juden kommen immer wieder in kurzen Abschnitten vor.
Das ist erschreckend, weil es auch auf heute zutrifft. Und weil das Buch schon 1930 geschrieben würde.
Ödön von Horvath greift diese Themen auch in seinen späteren Büchern wieder auf.
Ich würde das Buch eher Horvath-Fans empfehlen und als Einstieg zu seinen Werken immer wieder "Jugend ohne Gott".
March 24, 2024
Justice for Anna
January 26, 2022
"Human life," Ödön von Horváth wrote, "is always a tragedy and only in individual episodes is it a comedy."
Set in the political and economical instability of Europe after the First World War and before the rise of Fascism, THE ETERNAL PHILISTINE is an episodic novel that explores both the comic and the tragic.
The novel begins...
"The philistine is, as is generally known, an egoist who suffers from hypochondria, and this is why he seeks, like a coward, to fit in wherever he goes and to distort ever new formulation of the idea by calling it his own.
If I am not mistaken, the news has slowly spread that we, of all people, are living in between two eras. The old species of philistine no longer deserves to be ridiculed, and whoever is still mocking him at present is at best a philistine of the future. I say "future" because the new species of philistine is still nascent, it has yet to fully emerge.
Several contributions to the biological makeup of this nascant philistine shall now be attempted in the form of a novel. Of course, the author would not dare hope to have an influence on legitimate world affairs through these pages, but, well, all the same.
(pg. 1)
"In the bed the writer had a dream that was not a dream. As he grew somewhat sleepy but was still conscious, figures began to appear before his eyes. He imagined the young indescribable thing within himself was driving a long procession of figures before his eyes.
You see the interest in all this lies in the figures that went before the eyes of the writer. They were all grotesques. All of the men and women the writer had ever known had become grotesques."
- Sherwood Anderson (Winesburg, Ohio)
The first and most prominent part is entitled "Herr Kobler Becomes a Pan-European".
Like the writer of Anderson's WINESBURG, OHIO, the protagonist of the first part, Alfons Kobler, experiences a similar "dream that was not a dream".
Indeed, he encounters many grotesque characters, all philistines. They are described in grotesque detail - their appearance, their background, their conduct... all serve as evidence of condemnable philistinism.
Take the Count Blanquez, who "seemed for the most part to be in good spirits [...] but sadly without scruples." (pg. 15) Blanquez enters Kobler's room (admitted by the landlady) where he "squeezes out his blackheads in front of the mirror" (using Kobler's handkerchief) and combs his hair (using Kobler's comb). Kobler is surprised when Blanquez repays ten marks lent to him, but not surprised when Blanquez borrows back the same ten marks - under the pretense of picking up his laundry, although he has already admitted his plans to go gambling.
He encounters many more on his travels. He is a tourist of new landscapes, new landscapes belonging to foreign lands and foreign ideologies, political landscapes that are more evocative of the rise of philistinism than anything else (the two seem inextricably linked, politics and philistinism).
As a tourist, Kobler encounters much confusion and disgust.
"a gentleman with a vigorous demeanor who was absorbed in his newspaper" - under the headline of which is written "that any German who said he was proud to be a German because, were he not proud of being a German, he would still be a German all the same and would, therefore, naturally be proud to be a German - 'such a German,' read the newspaper, 'is no German, but rather an asphalt German.'" (pg. 31)
This "gentleman with a vigorous demeanor" responds negatively upon learning Kobler's intentions of travelling to Barcelona - he "looked up with a jerk and, seething with hatred, glared at [Kobler], only then to continue reading the definition of an asphalt-German for the twentieth time" (pg. 33)
Kobler's announcement is heard by many in the compartment, and an argument ensues. One outraged partners says that "Under no circumstance should a German send his honestly earned money abroad in these economically depressed times." (pg. 34) But this same passenger is denounced by the omnipresent narrator for being the owner of "a hotel in Parkenkirchen that was generally avoided because of its insanely high prices and was always vacant."
Later, Kobler will meet a travel companion, Schmitz, who best summarizes the generalized attitude toward Kobler when he remarks to himself:
In another compartment, Kobler witnesses "a Hofrat, a privy councilor from the Old Austrain empire, and a so-called man of the street...." (pg. 41) As if this wasn't already enough to distinguish the Hofrat, the omnipresent narrator continues: "He had a very smart appearance - and, indeed, he seemed to be an altogether very vain man because he chattered incessantly just so he could hear the other man's approval." The Hofrat is overheard making vulgar statements such as: "Hopefully the Lord will let me live to see the day when all the pinkos are hanged."
"'The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a downright crime,' a university professor from Innsbruck once said. And has he not been a chauvinist, he really would have been quite right." (pg. 43)
"The passport subofficer gave a stately nod. 'Well, well, going to Italy he is,' he drawled, imagining himself to be more important than Mussolini himself." (pg. 45)
Kobler's "dream that was not a dream" is best expressed in a passage (reminiscent of the passage from WINESBURG, OHIO) following the first leg of his travels...
"All the people he had come into contact with in the last twelve hours now appeared before his his mind's eye, only this time everybody made just one gesture. And yet the apparitions still did not want to come to an end." (pg. 53)
Kobler's ambiguous politics...
"What a disaster it'd be if everybody were an employee, like Marxism envisions it. As an employee, I would never have gone the extra mile to cheat Portschinger. If the convertible had been state property, I'd just have had it melted down as scrap metal, which would have been the right and proper thing to do anyway. But so many potentially exploitable objects of value would lie idle as a result of this menacing socialization. And that's just how it'd be because the personal incentive would be eliminated." (pg. 31)
Kobler admits that it would be "the right and proper thing to do", knowing that the convertible was in disrepair. But he sees no alternative, existing not in the system envisioned by Marxism but stuck in economical and political conditions that necessitate that he utilize all "potentially exploitable objects", even if that means cheating someone as he cheated Portschinger.
Kobler has no trouble telling one of Mussolini's supposed Italian informants that he is a "German Fascist". (pg. 49) Later, Kobler is pleased with himself: "it was like winning a lawsuit that he should by all rights have lost." (pg. 50)
Throughout the first part, Kobler aligns himself - not supporting but opposing a political ideology. He does so again in conversation with Schmitz...
"'Well, I personally don't care much for revolutions,' said Kobler. 'Now, sure, I wouldn't have anything against everybody being better off, but I just don't believe that revolutionary leaders are business men - they're simply not business-minded." (pg. 59)
Another of the philistines from Kobler's travels - the omnipresent narrator describes him as a "cultivated gentleman" for having come from Weimer, "home of Goethe and the constitution" (pg. 50), and then he describes himself as a "Renaissance man" for having inherited a "keen eye" from his architect father, and "a bunch of money and the collected classical works" from his mother.
He demonstrates his privilege with his eating habits ("he could afford to eat his three salmon canapes, four sardines in oil, two frankfurter sausages, and three eggs in a glass without any concern"), and he exercises his privilege with his glib opinions...
"My ideal is the southern Italian who suns himself day and night on the beach, never doing anything, and is exceedingly undemanding. Believe me, our German workers would be happier too if they were just less demanding."
This opinion, followed by the order "Waiter! Bring me another steak tartar!" is glib in itself. But the extent to which it is glib is stressed in the following paragraph...
"Naturally this renaissance man had never worked a day in his life, and thus suffered from an almost pathological form of hypochondria. He had nothing to do but worry about dying. And to top it off, he was recklessly stupid." (pg. 50-51)
It is this "cultivated gentleman", this "Renaissance man" who recommends that Kobler visit the bullfights - "to experience something splendidly traditional" (pg. 51)
The bullfight may be "traditional" in the context of Spanish history, but Horváth's portrayal of the bullfight transforms it into an allegory for European tradition - that is, the tradition of what Schmitz labels "lust murder". He further remarks: "It serves us right for having had a World War - we're nothing but beasts!" (pg. 103)
In this way, Horváth suggests that it is not the clash of languages but the violent history of Europe that will prevent the fulfillment of Schmitz's Pan-Europe.
Kobler's naive/oblivious nature...
Like Candide, the novel has many characteristics of the Bildungsroman (German: "novel of formation/education/culture"). In fact, THE ETERNAL PHILISTINE was called "an edifying novel" by its author. Like Voltaire (influenced by the philosophers of his era), Horváth is concerned with the problem of evil (influenced by the political unrest of his era).
Kobler, not accustomed to travelling, eagerly invites the customs officer to inspect his bag upon being asked "Anybody got anything to declare?" The customs officer does not acknowledge Kobler's submission, but rather repeats himself and exits the compartment in a hurry - "He was afraid that somebody would, by way of exception, really have something to declare, which would mean that he would, by way of exception, have something to do." (pg. 39)
Kobler is a philistine himself (evidently a philistine of the "old species", and yet he is not entirely exempted from the omnipresent narrator's ridicule)
His philistinism is evident when he attempts to be profound...
"'What is a mountain?' it suddenly occurred to him. And this thought really took hold of him. 'Next to a mountain is one big nothing. You see, that's why I wouldn't want to live in the mountains all the time. I'd rather live in the lowlands, at most maybe among some hills." (pg. 42-43)
Here, Kobler takes a mountain and makes it into a molehill. The mountain is the subject of mountains ("What is a mountain?"), indeed a potentially mountainous subject, but Kobler reduces the subject to a molehill by turning instead to himself ("You see, that's why I wouldn't live in the mountains all the time."). His philistinism is thereby betrayed by his egoism.
Upon arriving in Italy, Kobler finds that Fascism has already arrived in the form of Mussolini. German-Italian tensions are established: "Mussolini ordered that wherever possible all German names - place names, surnames, etc. - be rendered into Italian such that they could only be pronounced in Italian. And rendered according to their literal sense, at that." (pg. 43-44) (This is a consequence of border disputes in the aftermath of WWI, which would contribute to the outbreak of WWII.)
Horváth lends his signature satire to the Fascist practice of gentrification/appropriation thus: "Should, however, a name lack a literally translatable sense, Mussolini would merely stick an "o" on the end of it." (pg. 44)
Hereafter, Kobler considers everything in these terms. He is taken, as many were taken, by the wrongly presumed authority of the kind of dictator who would add an "o" to the end of a word (whether or not this was actual practice, it is indicative of the superfluous gestures by tyrants who sought to impose their status).
Later, Kobler remarks: "It's a shame that my name's not Koblero!" (pg. 47)
During his travels, Kobler is frequently impatient with fellow passengers who attempt to engage him - assuming (rightfully) that they are engaging him for their own benefit, having nothing to offer him. (How like the Hofrat, speaking to hear the other man's approval.) When a gentleman identifies Kobler as a German - "'by the skull,' said the gentleman. 'I can tell by the skull straightaway. You see, Germans all have thick skulls, but of course only in the true sense of the word...'" (pg. 55) - his intent (to use Kobler, in this case to relive his boredom) is made clear by the speech that follows - "I'm also half German myself. What am I not half of? I'm half everything! Such is life!" His speech is aimless, his logic is flawed, but still the worst we can accuse him of is belonging to the "old species" of philistine. Still, Kobler is most impatient with this type of traveller, and he thinks to himself that they are "windbags" or "shitheads". In fact, the term "shithead" seems to be a stand-in for "philistine throughout the novel (particularly in the third part).
Another windbag arrives in the form of the train conductor who expresses his esteem and respect for Germany by relating the story of a German family - "they were extraordinarily decent and accommodating people. Granted, they were not actually pure Germans, but rather Germans from Russiam so-called emigrants." (pg. 60)
Here, too, we encounter a special kind of transience that is characteristic of Europe in this time - they are not "pure" German, but rather "Germans from Russia".
just as the previous gentleman (or "windbag") was not only "half-German" but "half everything". In this way, many Europeans have already embraced the idea of Pan-Europe.
Here, for the first time, the idea of Pan-Europe is held in opposition to the racial "purity" that is already present in Mussolini's Italy (and, as we know, will become prominent in Hitler's Germany).
Although he initially dismisses the idea (and the idea-holders as "windbags") Kobler gradually comes around to the idea.
Nowhere is Kobler's naive/oblivious nature (indeed, his philistinism) more evident than in his interactions with his travel companion, Schmitz. They acknowledge the generation gap that divides them, and seem to embody the conflict between the "old species" of philistine and the "future philistine".
"You'll get a chance to see plenty of gothic stuff!"
"I'm not really keen on gothic stuff," said Kobler.
"Yeah, I'm more of a baroque guy myself," said Schmitz.
"I'm not really keen on baroque stuff either," said Kobler. (pg. 63)
"If I'm going to read something, I'd prefer it to be a true story than a made-up one," said Kobler
"That's just the generation gap between us," nodded Schmitz, and smiled paternally. "Sometimes I just don't get your generation. Sometimes your theories seem insipid, insubstantial, and non-Dionysian in a higher sense. In my youth I was able to recite half of Faust by heart, and all of Rimbaud. Ever hear of the drunken ship?"
(The irony of Schmitz's character is that he alternates between speaking eloquently - or seeming to speak eloquently when he wants to impress the listener - and saying things like "Excuse me for a moment - I've got to run to the john," as he does in this instance.)
Here, the reader is compelled to ask: Is Kobler the philistine for his unapologetic ignorance regarding all things artistic, or is Schmitz the philistine for believing that everyone should know his art references?
Set in the political and economical instability of Europe after the First World War and before the rise of Fascism, THE ETERNAL PHILISTINE is an episodic novel that explores both the comic and the tragic.
The novel begins...
"The philistine is, as is generally known, an egoist who suffers from hypochondria, and this is why he seeks, like a coward, to fit in wherever he goes and to distort ever new formulation of the idea by calling it his own.
If I am not mistaken, the news has slowly spread that we, of all people, are living in between two eras. The old species of philistine no longer deserves to be ridiculed, and whoever is still mocking him at present is at best a philistine of the future. I say "future" because the new species of philistine is still nascent, it has yet to fully emerge.
Several contributions to the biological makeup of this nascant philistine shall now be attempted in the form of a novel. Of course, the author would not dare hope to have an influence on legitimate world affairs through these pages, but, well, all the same.
(pg. 1)
"In the bed the writer had a dream that was not a dream. As he grew somewhat sleepy but was still conscious, figures began to appear before his eyes. He imagined the young indescribable thing within himself was driving a long procession of figures before his eyes.
You see the interest in all this lies in the figures that went before the eyes of the writer. They were all grotesques. All of the men and women the writer had ever known had become grotesques."
- Sherwood Anderson (Winesburg, Ohio)
The first and most prominent part is entitled "Herr Kobler Becomes a Pan-European".
Like the writer of Anderson's WINESBURG, OHIO, the protagonist of the first part, Alfons Kobler, experiences a similar "dream that was not a dream".
Indeed, he encounters many grotesque characters, all philistines. They are described in grotesque detail - their appearance, their background, their conduct... all serve as evidence of condemnable philistinism.
Take the Count Blanquez, who "seemed for the most part to be in good spirits [...] but sadly without scruples." (pg. 15) Blanquez enters Kobler's room (admitted by the landlady) where he "squeezes out his blackheads in front of the mirror" (using Kobler's handkerchief) and combs his hair (using Kobler's comb). Kobler is surprised when Blanquez repays ten marks lent to him, but not surprised when Blanquez borrows back the same ten marks - under the pretense of picking up his laundry, although he has already admitted his plans to go gambling.
He encounters many more on his travels. He is a tourist of new landscapes, new landscapes belonging to foreign lands and foreign ideologies, political landscapes that are more evocative of the rise of philistinism than anything else (the two seem inextricably linked, politics and philistinism).
As a tourist, Kobler encounters much confusion and disgust.
"a gentleman with a vigorous demeanor who was absorbed in his newspaper" - under the headline of which is written "that any German who said he was proud to be a German because, were he not proud of being a German, he would still be a German all the same and would, therefore, naturally be proud to be a German - 'such a German,' read the newspaper, 'is no German, but rather an asphalt German.'" (pg. 31)
This "gentleman with a vigorous demeanor" responds negatively upon learning Kobler's intentions of travelling to Barcelona - he "looked up with a jerk and, seething with hatred, glared at [Kobler], only then to continue reading the definition of an asphalt-German for the twentieth time" (pg. 33)
Kobler's announcement is heard by many in the compartment, and an argument ensues. One outraged partners says that "Under no circumstance should a German send his honestly earned money abroad in these economically depressed times." (pg. 34) But this same passenger is denounced by the omnipresent narrator for being the owner of "a hotel in Parkenkirchen that was generally avoided because of its insanely high prices and was always vacant."
Later, Kobler will meet a travel companion, Schmitz, who best summarizes the generalized attitude toward Kobler when he remarks to himself:
In another compartment, Kobler witnesses "a Hofrat, a privy councilor from the Old Austrain empire, and a so-called man of the street...." (pg. 41) As if this wasn't already enough to distinguish the Hofrat, the omnipresent narrator continues: "He had a very smart appearance - and, indeed, he seemed to be an altogether very vain man because he chattered incessantly just so he could hear the other man's approval." The Hofrat is overheard making vulgar statements such as: "Hopefully the Lord will let me live to see the day when all the pinkos are hanged."
"'The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a downright crime,' a university professor from Innsbruck once said. And has he not been a chauvinist, he really would have been quite right." (pg. 43)
"The passport subofficer gave a stately nod. 'Well, well, going to Italy he is,' he drawled, imagining himself to be more important than Mussolini himself." (pg. 45)
Kobler's "dream that was not a dream" is best expressed in a passage (reminiscent of the passage from WINESBURG, OHIO) following the first leg of his travels...
"All the people he had come into contact with in the last twelve hours now appeared before his his mind's eye, only this time everybody made just one gesture. And yet the apparitions still did not want to come to an end." (pg. 53)
Kobler's ambiguous politics...
"What a disaster it'd be if everybody were an employee, like Marxism envisions it. As an employee, I would never have gone the extra mile to cheat Portschinger. If the convertible had been state property, I'd just have had it melted down as scrap metal, which would have been the right and proper thing to do anyway. But so many potentially exploitable objects of value would lie idle as a result of this menacing socialization. And that's just how it'd be because the personal incentive would be eliminated." (pg. 31)
Kobler admits that it would be "the right and proper thing to do", knowing that the convertible was in disrepair. But he sees no alternative, existing not in the system envisioned by Marxism but stuck in economical and political conditions that necessitate that he utilize all "potentially exploitable objects", even if that means cheating someone as he cheated Portschinger.
Kobler has no trouble telling one of Mussolini's supposed Italian informants that he is a "German Fascist". (pg. 49) Later, Kobler is pleased with himself: "it was like winning a lawsuit that he should by all rights have lost." (pg. 50)
Throughout the first part, Kobler aligns himself - not supporting but opposing a political ideology. He does so again in conversation with Schmitz...
"'Well, I personally don't care much for revolutions,' said Kobler. 'Now, sure, I wouldn't have anything against everybody being better off, but I just don't believe that revolutionary leaders are business men - they're simply not business-minded." (pg. 59)
Another of the philistines from Kobler's travels - the omnipresent narrator describes him as a "cultivated gentleman" for having come from Weimer, "home of Goethe and the constitution" (pg. 50), and then he describes himself as a "Renaissance man" for having inherited a "keen eye" from his architect father, and "a bunch of money and the collected classical works" from his mother.
He demonstrates his privilege with his eating habits ("he could afford to eat his three salmon canapes, four sardines in oil, two frankfurter sausages, and three eggs in a glass without any concern"), and he exercises his privilege with his glib opinions...
"My ideal is the southern Italian who suns himself day and night on the beach, never doing anything, and is exceedingly undemanding. Believe me, our German workers would be happier too if they were just less demanding."
This opinion, followed by the order "Waiter! Bring me another steak tartar!" is glib in itself. But the extent to which it is glib is stressed in the following paragraph...
"Naturally this renaissance man had never worked a day in his life, and thus suffered from an almost pathological form of hypochondria. He had nothing to do but worry about dying. And to top it off, he was recklessly stupid." (pg. 50-51)
It is this "cultivated gentleman", this "Renaissance man" who recommends that Kobler visit the bullfights - "to experience something splendidly traditional" (pg. 51)
The bullfight may be "traditional" in the context of Spanish history, but Horváth's portrayal of the bullfight transforms it into an allegory for European tradition - that is, the tradition of what Schmitz labels "lust murder". He further remarks: "It serves us right for having had a World War - we're nothing but beasts!" (pg. 103)
In this way, Horváth suggests that it is not the clash of languages but the violent history of Europe that will prevent the fulfillment of Schmitz's Pan-Europe.
Kobler's naive/oblivious nature...
Like Candide, the novel has many characteristics of the Bildungsroman (German: "novel of formation/education/culture"). In fact, THE ETERNAL PHILISTINE was called "an edifying novel" by its author. Like Voltaire (influenced by the philosophers of his era), Horváth is concerned with the problem of evil (influenced by the political unrest of his era).
Kobler, not accustomed to travelling, eagerly invites the customs officer to inspect his bag upon being asked "Anybody got anything to declare?" The customs officer does not acknowledge Kobler's submission, but rather repeats himself and exits the compartment in a hurry - "He was afraid that somebody would, by way of exception, really have something to declare, which would mean that he would, by way of exception, have something to do." (pg. 39)
Kobler is a philistine himself (evidently a philistine of the "old species", and yet he is not entirely exempted from the omnipresent narrator's ridicule)
His philistinism is evident when he attempts to be profound...
"'What is a mountain?' it suddenly occurred to him. And this thought really took hold of him. 'Next to a mountain is one big nothing. You see, that's why I wouldn't want to live in the mountains all the time. I'd rather live in the lowlands, at most maybe among some hills." (pg. 42-43)
Here, Kobler takes a mountain and makes it into a molehill. The mountain is the subject of mountains ("What is a mountain?"), indeed a potentially mountainous subject, but Kobler reduces the subject to a molehill by turning instead to himself ("You see, that's why I wouldn't live in the mountains all the time."). His philistinism is thereby betrayed by his egoism.
Upon arriving in Italy, Kobler finds that Fascism has already arrived in the form of Mussolini. German-Italian tensions are established: "Mussolini ordered that wherever possible all German names - place names, surnames, etc. - be rendered into Italian such that they could only be pronounced in Italian. And rendered according to their literal sense, at that." (pg. 43-44) (This is a consequence of border disputes in the aftermath of WWI, which would contribute to the outbreak of WWII.)
Horváth lends his signature satire to the Fascist practice of gentrification/appropriation thus: "Should, however, a name lack a literally translatable sense, Mussolini would merely stick an "o" on the end of it." (pg. 44)
Hereafter, Kobler considers everything in these terms. He is taken, as many were taken, by the wrongly presumed authority of the kind of dictator who would add an "o" to the end of a word (whether or not this was actual practice, it is indicative of the superfluous gestures by tyrants who sought to impose their status).
Later, Kobler remarks: "It's a shame that my name's not Koblero!" (pg. 47)
During his travels, Kobler is frequently impatient with fellow passengers who attempt to engage him - assuming (rightfully) that they are engaging him for their own benefit, having nothing to offer him. (How like the Hofrat, speaking to hear the other man's approval.) When a gentleman identifies Kobler as a German - "'by the skull,' said the gentleman. 'I can tell by the skull straightaway. You see, Germans all have thick skulls, but of course only in the true sense of the word...'" (pg. 55) - his intent (to use Kobler, in this case to relive his boredom) is made clear by the speech that follows - "I'm also half German myself. What am I not half of? I'm half everything! Such is life!" His speech is aimless, his logic is flawed, but still the worst we can accuse him of is belonging to the "old species" of philistine. Still, Kobler is most impatient with this type of traveller, and he thinks to himself that they are "windbags" or "shitheads". In fact, the term "shithead" seems to be a stand-in for "philistine throughout the novel (particularly in the third part).
Another windbag arrives in the form of the train conductor who expresses his esteem and respect for Germany by relating the story of a German family - "they were extraordinarily decent and accommodating people. Granted, they were not actually pure Germans, but rather Germans from Russiam so-called emigrants." (pg. 60)
Here, too, we encounter a special kind of transience that is characteristic of Europe in this time - they are not "pure" German, but rather "Germans from Russia".
just as the previous gentleman (or "windbag") was not only "half-German" but "half everything". In this way, many Europeans have already embraced the idea of Pan-Europe.
Here, for the first time, the idea of Pan-Europe is held in opposition to the racial "purity" that is already present in Mussolini's Italy (and, as we know, will become prominent in Hitler's Germany).
Although he initially dismisses the idea (and the idea-holders as "windbags") Kobler gradually comes around to the idea.
Nowhere is Kobler's naive/oblivious nature (indeed, his philistinism) more evident than in his interactions with his travel companion, Schmitz. They acknowledge the generation gap that divides them, and seem to embody the conflict between the "old species" of philistine and the "future philistine".
"You'll get a chance to see plenty of gothic stuff!"
"I'm not really keen on gothic stuff," said Kobler.
"Yeah, I'm more of a baroque guy myself," said Schmitz.
"I'm not really keen on baroque stuff either," said Kobler. (pg. 63)
"If I'm going to read something, I'd prefer it to be a true story than a made-up one," said Kobler
"That's just the generation gap between us," nodded Schmitz, and smiled paternally. "Sometimes I just don't get your generation. Sometimes your theories seem insipid, insubstantial, and non-Dionysian in a higher sense. In my youth I was able to recite half of Faust by heart, and all of Rimbaud. Ever hear of the drunken ship?"
(The irony of Schmitz's character is that he alternates between speaking eloquently - or seeming to speak eloquently when he wants to impress the listener - and saying things like "Excuse me for a moment - I've got to run to the john," as he does in this instance.)
Here, the reader is compelled to ask: Is Kobler the philistine for his unapologetic ignorance regarding all things artistic, or is Schmitz the philistine for believing that everyone should know his art references?
April 6, 2022
Sarkastisch-satirische Betrachtung der Doppelmoral der kleinen Leute in der Zeit nach dem ersten Weltkrieg vor der Hyperinflation. Es geht den Menschen schon schlecht und einige verlieren ihre Arbeit. Also versuchen die einen, die nichts haben, nach oben zu kommen oder zumindest zu überleben, während die anderen, die noch was haben, ihre Lage auszunutzen. Die Moral wird dabei als erstes fahren gelassen und Familienbande brechen auf. Hochstapelei und Schein sind die Mittel der Wahl.
Zwei Drittel des Buches werden durch die Bahnreise des Herrn Kobler von München nach Barcelona und zurück eingenommen, die der entlassene Autoverkäufer mit dem Geld eines betrügerischen Cabrioletverkaufs sich leistet, während derer man Politisches und Vorurteile über die Länder auf der Strecke erfährt.
Den Rest nehmen Episoden aus dem Milieu des Herrn Kobler ein, die nicht direkt damit zu tun haben. Die Anna Pollinger, die sich prostituieren muss, nachdem sie entlassen wird. Und der arbeitslose Kellner Reithofer, der als Mann nicht einmal diese Möglichkeit besitzt. Aber er vermittelt Anna eine Stelle, ohne eine Gegenleistung zu erwarten.
Eine stringente Handlung gibt es nicht, die Szenen und Personen sind eher locker miteinander verbunden. Trotz der üblen Zeit sind die Betrachtungen mehrheitlich heiter. So werden Sozial- und Gesellschaftskritik verpackt, indem man sich über die kleinen Leute amüsiert.
Mein zweiter Horváth war sein erster, aus dem Jahre 1930. Hat mir gefallen trotz der Asymmetrie und strukturellen Schwächen.
Zwei Drittel des Buches werden durch die Bahnreise des Herrn Kobler von München nach Barcelona und zurück eingenommen, die der entlassene Autoverkäufer mit dem Geld eines betrügerischen Cabrioletverkaufs sich leistet, während derer man Politisches und Vorurteile über die Länder auf der Strecke erfährt.
Den Rest nehmen Episoden aus dem Milieu des Herrn Kobler ein, die nicht direkt damit zu tun haben. Die Anna Pollinger, die sich prostituieren muss, nachdem sie entlassen wird. Und der arbeitslose Kellner Reithofer, der als Mann nicht einmal diese Möglichkeit besitzt. Aber er vermittelt Anna eine Stelle, ohne eine Gegenleistung zu erwarten.
Eine stringente Handlung gibt es nicht, die Szenen und Personen sind eher locker miteinander verbunden. Trotz der üblen Zeit sind die Betrachtungen mehrheitlich heiter. So werden Sozial- und Gesellschaftskritik verpackt, indem man sich über die kleinen Leute amüsiert.
Mein zweiter Horváth war sein erster, aus dem Jahre 1930. Hat mir gefallen trotz der Asymmetrie und strukturellen Schwächen.
September 23, 2024
4/5. Weimarski Munchen leta 1929. Samoljubni in konformistični Alfonz Kobler je zviti preprodajalec rabljenih avtomobilskih razvalin, ki z nakradenim denarjem od prodaje kupi vozovnico za vlak do Barcelone, da bi si ogledal Svetovno predstavo in igral, kar mu družbeni čas dopušča - večnega filistra. Na vlaku njegovo filistrstvo spretno preizkuša človek Starih časov in ureditev, dolgoletni časopisni dopisovalec Schmitz. Potna lista pa jim že pregleduje vojska Večnega Sina iz Predappia, Mussolinija... Schmitz verjame, da se bodo stari časi vrnili, vojne ne bo nikoli več, zgodila se bo Panevropa... Kobler je novi panevropejec...
June 3, 2021
„Der Spießer ist bekanntlich ein hypochondrischer Egoist, und so trachtet er danach, sich überall feige anzupassen und jede neue Formulierung der Idee zu verfälschen, indem er sie sich aneignet."
Kurz gesagt: bissig, humorvoll und lesenswert!
Wer es ausführlicher mag:
„Der ewige Spießer“, veröffentlicht 1930, ist in meiner Wahrnehmung eine erfrischend pointierte und unerwartet offene Kritik, die auf allen politischen und gesellschaftlichen Ebenen durchdekliniert wird. Dabei richtet er sich sowohl an das Kollektiv als auch an das Individuum. Gekonnt legt Ödön von Horváth den Finger in die Wunden der konfliktreichen Beziehungen der europäischen Länder, die geprägt sind vom Spannungsfeld eines imperialistischen Weltbildes und dem Ausgang des ersten Weltkriegs. Er demaskiert Patriotismus als ein Art Blindmacher der soziale Konflikte lediglich verschleiert. Und sein Weitblick löste bei mir die Frage aus, warum nicht viel mehr Menschen Horváths Kritik teilten.
Nun inszeniert Ödön von Horvath diese sehr ernsten und moralistisch anmutenden Themen auf eine einnehmend naive und freimütige Art und Weise.
All das schafft er mit einem sehr eingegrenzten Handlungsraum, da sich die Ereignisse über weite Strecken während einer Zugfahrt durch Mittel- und Westeuropa entspinnen. „Sex verkauft sich immer gut“, scheint sich der Autor gedacht zu haben, denn an diesem Motiv wurde nicht gespart, jedoch unterlässt er es auch hierbei nicht noch weiter Seitenhiebe zu verteilen.
Er bedient sich Klischees und Stereotypen, lässt seine Hauptcharaktere meines Erachtens jedoch nicht eindimensional wirken. Spitzfindig spart er nicht an Kritik und teilt sie in ALLE Richtungen aus.
Bemerkenswert fand ich zudem die Verweise auf den deutschen Kolonialismus. Ich habe bisher kaum Belletristik aus jener Zeit gelesen, die sich mit dieser Thematik auseinandersetzten und gar positionierten.
Ich war zunächst positiv überrascht, dass die auktoriale Erzählstimme von Schwarzen sprach und lediglich die Charaktere – zur Darstellung des allgemeinen Rassismus – das N-Wort benutzten. Leider hielt Ödön von Horváth diese Trennung nicht aufrecht, was ich sehr bedauerlich finde.
Nun noch eine Kleinigkeit zur Struktur. Die drei Geschichten sind zwar miteinander verbunden, werden aber in einer abgeschlossenen und voneinander getrennten Weise erzählt. Diese Darstellung erweckte zumindest bei mir den Eindruck der Fragmentierung; als sei das Werk nicht abgeschlossen, auch wenn der Autor den Schluss, fast schon unangenehm plakativ, mit einer moralischen Botschaft schließen lässt.
Abschließend würde ich sagen, dass es auch heute noch ein sehr lesenswertes Buch ist und mir zudem noch besser gefiel als „Jugend ohne Gott“. Jedoch sollten historische Grundlagen bekannt sein, um die Zusammenhänge und Anspielungen zu verstehen. Es ist aber keineswegs schwer zugänglich, ganz im Gegenteil.
Kurz gesagt: bissig, humorvoll und lesenswert!
Wer es ausführlicher mag:
„Der ewige Spießer“, veröffentlicht 1930, ist in meiner Wahrnehmung eine erfrischend pointierte und unerwartet offene Kritik, die auf allen politischen und gesellschaftlichen Ebenen durchdekliniert wird. Dabei richtet er sich sowohl an das Kollektiv als auch an das Individuum. Gekonnt legt Ödön von Horváth den Finger in die Wunden der konfliktreichen Beziehungen der europäischen Länder, die geprägt sind vom Spannungsfeld eines imperialistischen Weltbildes und dem Ausgang des ersten Weltkriegs. Er demaskiert Patriotismus als ein Art Blindmacher der soziale Konflikte lediglich verschleiert. Und sein Weitblick löste bei mir die Frage aus, warum nicht viel mehr Menschen Horváths Kritik teilten.
Nun inszeniert Ödön von Horvath diese sehr ernsten und moralistisch anmutenden Themen auf eine einnehmend naive und freimütige Art und Weise.
All das schafft er mit einem sehr eingegrenzten Handlungsraum, da sich die Ereignisse über weite Strecken während einer Zugfahrt durch Mittel- und Westeuropa entspinnen. „Sex verkauft sich immer gut“, scheint sich der Autor gedacht zu haben, denn an diesem Motiv wurde nicht gespart, jedoch unterlässt er es auch hierbei nicht noch weiter Seitenhiebe zu verteilen.
Er bedient sich Klischees und Stereotypen, lässt seine Hauptcharaktere meines Erachtens jedoch nicht eindimensional wirken. Spitzfindig spart er nicht an Kritik und teilt sie in ALLE Richtungen aus.
Bemerkenswert fand ich zudem die Verweise auf den deutschen Kolonialismus. Ich habe bisher kaum Belletristik aus jener Zeit gelesen, die sich mit dieser Thematik auseinandersetzten und gar positionierten.
Ich war zunächst positiv überrascht, dass die auktoriale Erzählstimme von Schwarzen sprach und lediglich die Charaktere – zur Darstellung des allgemeinen Rassismus – das N-Wort benutzten. Leider hielt Ödön von Horváth diese Trennung nicht aufrecht, was ich sehr bedauerlich finde.
Nun noch eine Kleinigkeit zur Struktur. Die drei Geschichten sind zwar miteinander verbunden, werden aber in einer abgeschlossenen und voneinander getrennten Weise erzählt. Diese Darstellung erweckte zumindest bei mir den Eindruck der Fragmentierung; als sei das Werk nicht abgeschlossen, auch wenn der Autor den Schluss, fast schon unangenehm plakativ, mit einer moralischen Botschaft schließen lässt.
Abschließend würde ich sagen, dass es auch heute noch ein sehr lesenswertes Buch ist und mir zudem noch besser gefiel als „Jugend ohne Gott“. Jedoch sollten historische Grundlagen bekannt sein, um die Zusammenhänge und Anspielungen zu verstehen. Es ist aber keineswegs schwer zugänglich, ganz im Gegenteil.
December 6, 2012
This short book tells the story of a German used-car salesman on a train trip to the 1929 Barcelona world's fair, hoping to find there some diversion, mostly in the form of available women. He encounters a journalist also on his way there, with similar ideas. Their misadventures, and their meditations upon the state of the Europe between-the-wars, are both hilarious and prophetic. Don't skip the introduction by Shalom Auslander, it is perhaps even funnier than the book itself.
February 13, 2021
Nicht so hervorragend wie Jugend ohne Gott, aber trotzdem sehr gut. Ich bin total verliebt in die absolut seriöse Art und Weise, in der Horvath die höhnischsten Szenen beschreibt. Wenn man nach einer schwarzen Komödie in Buchform sucht, ist er immer eine sichere Wahl.
February 26, 2024
Honestly, I only read it bc of school, but I really didn't get why we needed to read such books.
The only thing I learned from it is that women were objects and the paneuropa thing.
In general I wouldn't recommend it :)
The only thing I learned from it is that women were objects and the paneuropa thing.
In general I wouldn't recommend it :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 26, 2012
The introduction is one of the most forceful, persuasive and damned funny arguments for satire you'll ever read.
The book itself is somehow no less biting even the better part of a century later.
The book itself is somehow no less biting even the better part of a century later.
December 25, 2024
About to take a Xmas trip to Croatia, I googled "Croatian writers" and, for some reason, up popped Odon Von Horvath. I say "for some reason" because the man was born in Trieste, Italy, or Hungary (depending on the biographer), wrote in German and considered himself a mélange of Old Austria...but the Croats claim him nonetheless. The Eternal Philistine was Horvath's first novel. At first, I found his writing humorous in a stylized way, sort of Brechtian, dark but clever, and much better. I quickly lost interest as there are no redeeming characters - save one and he does not appear until the end - and they all seem to have walked through The Looking Glass, speaking in gibberish and rhymes. Despite this, I found myself compelled to finish the novel given the setting is Munich on the eve of Europe's descent into madness/Fascism. Horvath meets the horror of his reality not with horror literature but by turning his back on realism and presenting the harsh truth in a comedic fashion. The introduction by Shalom Auslander, a regular contributor on NPR, convinces the reader to respect Horvath's "noble mission of comedy".
April 23, 2024
Ein Beispiel für kritische Literatur in der Weimarer Republik, 1930 erschienen. Und leider erkennt man in Horvaths Darstellung (wie auch in Kästners Fabian) gesellschaftliche Strömungen und Typen wieder, die auch aktuell wieder auftauchen. Anpassung im negativen Sinne, Antisemitismus und Egoismus prägen die Szene. Scharfe Ironie begleitet die Darstellung einer Gesellschaft auf dem Weg in die Katastrophe. Der Erzähler bleibt in Distanz, ohne einen Standpunkt zu beziehen. Dem Leser von 1930 wird ein Spiegel vorgehalten: hohle Phrasen und Oberflächlichkeit sind darin zu sehen - wenn man sie denn sehen wollte...
July 24, 2018
Originally published in German in 1930, I'd be curious as to how well the translation holds up to the original. I read some back-and-forth comments regarding the use of the word "philistine," for example. Overall, I found it an interesting and enjoyable book, but you can draw your own conclusions....
"If all the shitheads went and helped each other out, then every shithead would be better off. Yeah, shitheads should help each other more often--it's just downright indecent not to help somebody when you can" (p. 159).
"If all the shitheads went and helped each other out, then every shithead would be better off. Yeah, shitheads should help each other more often--it's just downright indecent not to help somebody when you can" (p. 159).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2022
Mein erstes Werk von Horváth hat mich leider ziemlich enttäuscht. Der Protagonist des ersten Teils ist unglaublich unemphatisch, man kann sich nicht in ihn hineinversetzten und im Allgemeinen war die Handlung unglaublich trostlos.
Ich hoffe, dass mir "Jugend ohne Gott" mehr zusagen wird...
Außerdem finde ich die Darstellung der weiblichen Charaktere grauenhaft...
Ich hoffe, dass mir "Jugend ohne Gott" mehr zusagen wird...
Außerdem finde ich die Darstellung der weiblichen Charaktere grauenhaft...
April 7, 2024
Spannend für die Beobachtungen der damaligen Zeit(1929) und dem Weg zur NS-Zeit. Jene Beobachtungen machen leider im Grunde die ganze Handlung aus und dazu kommen irrelevante Details von Verwandten von Charakteren, die wir nur kurz kennenlernen. Der ironische Ton ist manchmal lustig aber manchmal nicht deutlich deutlich genug und irreführend.
April 18, 2024
I had to read this because my school forced me to. Its rare that I like any book that my school wants me to read, but I happen to like this one! It was entertaining despite being confusing at times because of all the characters that have names and backstories all mentioned but only appear for 3 pages max.
September 12, 2024
obwohl 1930 erschienen finde ich die anhand verschiedener romanfiguren beschriebene architektur der spießigkeit immernoch zutreffend. vielleicht ist sie eins der größten hindernisse auf dem weg zu einer besseren welt
September 15, 2018
Really liked it. Very post-K&K. Reads lovely in German...
March 31, 2024
Für Schule - 2.8
April 2, 2024
Deutsch Lk 🥲 , anyways fürn deutsch buch not that bad aber es war langweilig und anstrengend zu lesen, inhaltlich aber ganz gut
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April 19, 2024das war etwas messy. nicht so mein Fall
May 8, 2024
Faserland in 1929
December 4, 2024
abitur abitür 😔
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