HOURGLASS - Rare Fine Copy of The First Hardcover Edition/First Printing

Kis, Danilo (Translated by Ralph Manheim)

ISBN 10: 0374172870 / ISBN 13: 9780374172879

Published by New York City, NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1990, 1990

About this Item

1st Printing. 274 pages. Published in 1990. The author's third novel. One of the greatest novels of the 20th century. The first appearance of the title in English and in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Danilo Kis' "Pescanik" in a felicitous English translation. Considered his greatest novel by some critics and readers, inspired by Bruno Schulz's masterpiece. "Describes the external and internal worlds of a railway clerk called ES whose quotidian concerns include antagonism toward his well-to-do sister Netty, quarrels with her son George about a piece of jointly owned property, and futile, indignant inquiries to the authorities about why his pension has been reduced. But Kis uses this life of a victim as a counterpoint to his second storyline, which matter-of-factly reveals an exploding, horrific world in which Jews are murdered in countless mundane or outlandish ways, commit suicide, or simply disappear while the general population goes mad" (Publisher's blurb). The novel is an homage to Bruno Schulz's "Sanatorium Under The Sign of The Hourglass" (first published in English in 1978). Schulz was a murder victim of the most arbitrary kind, shot in the street by a Nazi officer who wanted to kill someone else - but could not - because he was a fellow Nazi officer. The latter happened to admire and collect Schulz's drawings and so became his protector. In this "life-versus-death" game of one-upmanship, there was no possible way Schulz's Nazi protector could up the ante. Despite his talent, Schulz was just another Jew after all, inferior, sub-human. Kis' fictional re-creation of Schulz's pathetic life is one of the most sublime and moving gestures in literature. An absolute "must-have" title for Danilo Kis collectors. This title is a great book. This is one of very few copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing (American) still available online and is in fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have very serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are the Softcover Edition. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare copy thus. "Hourglass" is regarded by Joseph Brodsky and Susan Sontag as one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER DANILO KIS TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 0374172870.

Seller Inventory # 24069

Bibliographic Details

• Title: HOURGLASS - Rare Fine Copy of The First Hardcover Edition/First Printing
• Publisher: New York City, NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1990
• Publication Date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0374172870
• ISBN 13: 9780374172879
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Signed: no

About this title

Synopsis

In a devastating story of the Holocaust, a fifty-three-year-old minor functionary of the Royal Hungarian Railways, E.S., investigates the reduction of his pension, while the Nazis plot the extermination of the European Jews

Reviews

Particularly fascinating in this difficult and demanding novel, regarded by many as the late author's finest, is Kis's agile re-creation of the multi-ethnic culture of the border territory between Hungary and Yugoslavia. Set in 1942, the novel describes in rich, Kafka-esque terms the external and internal worlds of a railway clerk called E.S. whose quotidian concerns include antagonism toward his well-to-do sister Netty, quarrels with her son George about a piece of jointly owned property, and futile, indignant inquiries to the authorities about why his pension has been reduced. But Kis uses this "life" of a victim as a counterpoint to his second story line, which matter of factly reveals an exploding, horrific world in which Jews are murdered in countless mundane or outlandish ways, commit suicide, or simply disappear while the general population goes mad. The novel is fleshed out by a series of questions and answers elicited by an ominous, unseen person who interrogates E.S. A final "letter" reveals that the preceding text is a manuscript, written by E.S., meant to be "a bourgeois horror story," a telling summation of this ultimately rewarding novel.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Volume after tantalizing volume, the works of the Serbo-Croation Kis are slowly making their way into English. This wonderfully translated work is the fourth to reach us, following by a year The Encyclopedia of the Dead (Farrar), an important collection of disturbing short stories that extends the genre's boundaries. Equally disturbing and innovative, this book echoes Kafka. The "hero," known only as E.S., is an insignificant railroad worker whose pension is mysteriously reduced. We watch in horror as he struggles to learn his fate. We shudder as we discover he represents European Jews destined for extermination. A brilliant stylist, Kis takes us deep into history's darkness. A major achievement.
- Vincent D. Balitas, Allentown Coll., Center Valley, Pa.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.