A Posthumous Confession (Paperback)

Paperback. Termeer, the narrator of A Posthumous Confession, is a twisted man and a troubled one. The emotionally stunted son of a cold, forbidding, and hypocritical father, Termeer has only succeeded in living up to his parents low expectations when, to his own and others astonishment, he finds himself wooing a beautiful and gifted womana woman whose love he wins. But instead of finding happiness in marriage, Termeer discovers it to be a new source of self-hatred, hatred that he turns upon his wife and child. And when he becomes caught up in an affair with a woman as demanding as his own self-loathing, he is driven to murder.What is the self, and how does it evade or come to terms with itself? What can make it go permanently, lethally wrong? Marcellus Emantss grueling and gripping novela late-nineteenth-century tour de force of psychological penetrationis a lacerating exposition of the logic of identity that looks backward to Dostoyevsky, forward to Simenon, and beyond to the confessional literature, whether fiction or fact, of our own day. "A Posthumous Confession "is narrated by Termeer, a deeply frustrated man who persuades himself that only in murder can he find ultimate satisfaction. Emotionally stunted, thanks to his upbringing by forbidding and condemning parents—they never miss a chance to remind him that he is a worthless mediocrity—Termeer is rapidly living up to their low expectations when, to his own and others' astonishment, he successfully woos a beautiful and gifted woman. But instead of finding happiness in his marriage, he discovers it to be a new source of self-hatred, hatred that he directs at his innocent wife and child. And when he becomes caught up in an affair with a woman as demanding as his own self-loathing, Termeer murders his wife. What is the self? What makes it go permanently, murderously wrong? Marcellus Emants's lacerating exploration of this age-old tragic question looks backward to Dostoyevsky and forward to Simenon, and beyond that to the memoirs of our own day. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.…