A couple of books this week from Swiss author Friedrich Durrenmatt.
According to the biography on his Fantastic Fiction page……
Friedrich Durrenmatt was a Swiss author and dramatist. He
was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of
World War II. The politically active author gained fame largely due to his
avant-garde dramas, philosophically deep crime novels, and often macabre
satire.
The Pledge (1958)
Set in a small town
in Switzerland, The Pledge centres around the murder of a young girl and the
detective who promises the victim's mother he will find the perpetrator. After
deciding the wrong man has been arrested for the crime, the detective lays a
trap for the real killer - with all the patience of a master fisherman. But
cruel turns of plot conspire to make him pay dearly for his pledge. Here
Friedrich Dürrenmatt conveys his brilliant ear for dialogue and a devastating
sense of timing and suspense. Joel Agee's skilled translation effectively
captures the various voices in the original, as well as its chilling
conclusion.
One of Dürrenmatt's
most diabolically imagined and constructed novels, The Pledge was adapted for
the screen in 2000 in a film directed by Sean Penn and starring Jack Nicholson
The Execution of Justice (1989)
This allegorical
thriller describes the case of a convicted murderer, who persuades a young
lawyer, Spat, to re-investigate his case. Seduced by the notion of justice Spat
decides to murder the murderer.
These sound really interesting, Col. I haven't read his work before, but it sounds as though I might enjoy it. I'll be keen to know what you think of these when you get to them.
ReplyDeleteThey do seem a bit different from my usual books, so I'm hoping for a couple of interesting reads. I'll be similarly interested in hearing how you find them, if you take the plunge,
DeleteI have been interested in trying a book by this author, but never have gotten to the stage of purchasing one. So many books I want to read.
ReplyDeleteOne day maybe, when we are both retired we'll have more time to read more!
DeleteI've read and much liked The Pledge and the two Inspector Barlach pieces, but The Execution of Justice is one I hadn't heard of. I must see if I can find a copy that doesn't cost an arm and a leg!
ReplyDeleteJohn, your recent Pledge review spurred me on to uncover these ones. Hopefully I will get around to reading them later this year. Hope you find a reasonably priced Execution copy mate.
DeleteHave the blogger gremlins been eradicated now? Hopefully, or is it too early to say?
Have the blogger gremlins been eradicated now? Hopefully, or is it too early to say?
DeleteI do not yet know. I've actually subscribed to your blog a few days ago using my little emergency gmail account and this morning set up a mini-Blogger identity for commenting (because Wordpress doesn't recognize the gmail address, oh gibber). Having done the latter, I then discovered your update had arrived for the first time in weeks in my regular (OPTONLINE) inbox -- not just your update but updates from other, er, Blogger bloggers, from Science Daily (which had also been blocked), etc., etc.
According to Wikipedia the problem with Blogger can be the "blogspot" part of the URL. Exceptionally stupid spam blockers pick up the "gspot" part of that and OH LURID OH NOES IT'S PRON!!
I suspect someone bigger and more powerful than I am has put a rocket up OPTONLINE's rear end.
Fingers are crossed!
DeleteI read The Pledge a long time ago, but not read anything else by him. Sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteI might have to dig and see if I can find a copy of the film - I like a bit of Jack. At least this guys books are short, when I get there!
DeleteCol, I think I have seen THE PLEDGE though without realising it was based on a book by Friedrich Durrenmatt who is new to me.
ReplyDeleteYou're ahead of me then, I'll try to get to both the book and the film.
Delete