Little Man, What Now? (Paperback)

Hans Fallada

ISBN 10: 0241300878 / ISBN 13: 9780241300879

Published by Penguin Books Ltd, London, 2019

About this Item

Paperback. The novel that made Hans Fallada famous in his lifetime, now in Penguin Modern Classics, in a new translation by Michael HofmannThe book that made Hans Fallada famous, Little Man, What Now? is filled with an extraordinary mixture of comedy and desperation. It tells the story of one of European literature's most sympathetic young couples - 'Boy' and 'L mmchen' - as they battle indomitably through a world of grotesque threats in Depression Berlin. A rich gallery of hulking crooks, maternity nurses, nudists, a terrible mother and Nazi streetfighters cannot shake their love for each other. But is love enough in a city as cold and indifferent as Berlin in 1932?The great novel of Weimar Germany, Little Man, What Now? is full of men and women trying to keep ahead of their bills and hang on to their daydreams, from harrassed men's clothing assistants to a very unlucky chocolate shop owner. This brilliant new translation by Michael Hofmann brings to life an entire era, one that was - as neither Fallada nor his characters knew - just about to be swept away. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780241300879

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Little Man, What Now? (Paperback)
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, London
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0241300878
• ISBN 13: 9780241300879
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

From the bestselling author of Alone in Berlin, his acclaimed novel of a young couple trying to survive life in 1930s Germany

''Nothing so confronts a woman with the deathly futility of her existence as darning socks''

A young couple fall in love, get married and start a family, like countless young couples before them. But Lämmchen and ''Boy'' live in Berlin in 1932, and everything is changing. As they desperately try to make ends meet amid bullying bosses, unpaid bills, monstrous mothers-in-law and Nazi streetfighters, will love be enough?

The novel that made Hans Fallada''s name as a writer, Little Man, What Now? tells the story of one of European literature''s most touching couples and is filled with an extraordinary mixture of comedy and desperation. It was published just before Hitler came to power and remains a haunting portrayal of innocents whose world is about to be swept away forever. This brilliant new translation by Michael Hofmann brings to life an entire era of austerity and turmoil in Weimar Germany.

''An inspired work of a great writer ... Fallada is a genius. The "Little Man" is Mr Everybody'' Beryl Bainbridge

''There are chapters which pluck the nerves...there are chapters which raise the spirits like a fine day in the country. The truth and variety of the characterization is superb...it recognizes that the world is not to be altered with moral fables'' Graham Greene

''Fallada deserves high praise for having reported so realistically, so truthfully, with such closeness to life'' Herman Hesse

''Fallada at his best'' Philip Hensher

''Performs the most astounding task, of taking us to a moment before history'' Los Angeles Review of Books