Wednesday 23 July 2014

2 BY HANS KEILSON

The 2 books here could have been 3 as I have Keilson’s The Death of an Adversary also on the shelves. Probably not crime fiction more regarded as literature I suppose, though any rational analysis of the Nazis couldn’t but help classify them and some of the unthinkable acts they perpetrated as criminal.

Keilson wrote his first book in the 30’s, which was banned by the Nazis. He fled to the Netherlands later and was a part of the Dutch resistance during World War II. For more details on a fascinating life check his Wikipedia page here.



He never received much acclaim outside the Netherlands until he celebrated his 100th birthday. Cue international fanfare and trumpets. He died a year later aged 101 in 2011.

In 2010 he was featured in The Guardian and was tagged “the greatest novelist you’ve never heard of.” The following year they were publishing his obituary.



Links to both pieces are here and here

Comedy in a Minor Key

"The Death of the Adversary and Comedy in a Minor Key are masterpieces and Hans Keilson is a genius... Read these books and join me in adding him to the list, which each of us must compose on our own, of the world's greatest writers."
Francine Prose   

A penetrating study of ordinary people resisting the Nazi occupation - and, true to its title, a dark comedy of wartime manners - Comedy in a Minor Key tells the story of Wim and Marie, a Dutch couple who first hide a Jew they know as Nico, then must dispose of his body when he dies of pneumonia. This novella, first published in 1947 and now translated into English for the first time, shows Hans Keilson at his best: deeply ironic, penetrating, sympathetic, and brilliantly modern, an heir to Joseph Roth and Franz Kafka. In 2008, when Keilson received Germany's prestigious Welt Literature Prize, the citation praised his work for exploring 'the destructive impulse at work in the twentieth century, down to its deepest psychological and spiritual ramifications.'

Published to celebrate Keilson's hundredth birthday, Comedy in a Minor Key - and The Death of the Adversary, reissued in paperback - will introduce American readers to a forgotten classic author, a witness to World War II and a sophisticated storyteller whose books remain as fresh as when they first came to light.

Life Goes On


Published when the author was just twenty-three, Life Goes On is an autobiographical novel that paints a dark portrait of Germany between the world wars. It tells the story of Max Seldersen - a Jewish store owner modelled on Keilson's father, a textile merchant and decorated World War I veteran - along with his wife, Else, and son, Albrecht, and the troubles they encounter as the German economy collapses and politics turn rancid. The book was banned by the Nazis in 1934. Shortly afterward, following his editor's advice, Keilson emigrated to the Netherlands, where he would spend the rest of his life.


Life Goes On is an essential volume for fans of Keilson's Comedy in a Minor Key and The Death of the Adversary. At the age of one hundred, with his one copy of the first edition of Life Goes On in hand, he told The New York Times he would love to see his first novel reissued and translated, too. 'Then you would have my whole biography,' he told them. He died at the age of one hundred and one.

12 comments:

  1. Col, if Francine Prose has recommended THE DEATH OF THE ADVERSARY and COMEDY IN A MINOR KEY, then I'd certainly like to read them. She is an authority on 20th century fiction. In any case the subject is right up my reading alley. Which of these three books are you going to review first?

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    1. Prashant, I'm going to show my ignorance and admit I have never heard of Francine Prose (put me in stocks and pelt me with rotten fruit!) - I will go and look her up.
      When I get around to these I will start with COMEDY IN A MINOR KEY, I think. I believe all his books are relatively short, at <250 pages.

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    2. Col, I'm ignorant about ninety per cent of fiction and fiction writers. I've barely scratched the surface. I first learnt about Francine Prose two-three years ago, when I came across her hardback "Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them (2006). According to Wikipedia, "Prose shares how she developed her writing craft through writing and reading. She uses examples from literature to demonstrate how fictional elements, such as character and dialogue, can be mastered." It's worth picking up the book. Prose has written both fictional and nonfictional books.

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    3. Thanks for the extra detail. I'm probably going to take a pass on her book, having no literary aspirations of my own. Sounds a bit like painting by numbers, but no doubt I'm doing her a grave injustice. I'm in the dark really about how you go about teaching something like "creative writing" - not that I'm overly curious, just an uninformed outsider looking in.

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    4. Col, no problem. Sometimes I'm tempted to take a creative writing class online but I might not be able to distinguish the genuine from the fake. Maybe, when I retire...

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    5. Prashant you should take one. If it works for you happy days - you'll see a benefit come through in your writing. If it doesn't, you get fuel for an investigative journalistic piece, by Prashant the intrepid undercover reporter! WIN - WIN

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  2. Count me in with the people who've never heard of him - and now I feel that I should have. He sounds well worth reading - I'm making a note of the name, and hope you'll read and review one soon as a reminder....

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    1. Moira, I'll bump COMEDY up the pile. Most of my "2 by post" books disappear back in to the mountain, to re-surface who knows when. I'll make an exception this time. I'm glad he's captured your attention.

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  3. Col - Really interesting!! I confess I'd not heard of Keilson's work either. But it does sound compelling and worth the read. I'll be interested in your take on it.

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    1. Margot thanks. I'm looking forward to starting one of them soon.

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  4. These books do sound interesting. I will wait for your reviews.

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    1. Tracy, thanks - I'm hopefully you will hear about 1 of them in August.

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