Kirjahaku

Written while Hans Keilson was in hiding during World War II, The Death of the Adversary is the self-portrait of a young man helplessly fascinated by an unnamed "adversary" whom he watches rise to power in 1930s Germany. It is a tale of horror, not only in its evocation of Hitler's gathering menace but also in its hero's desperate attempt to discover logic where none exists. A psychological fable as wry and haunting as Badenheim 1939, The Death of the Adversary is a lost classic of modern fiction.

Published when the author was just twenty-three, Life Goes On was Hans Keilson's literary debut, an extraordinary autobiographical novel that paints a dark yet illuminating portrait of Germany between the world wars. It is the story of Herr Seldersen--a Jewish store owner modeled on Keilson's father, a textile merchant and decorated World War I veteran--along with his wife 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 readers of Keilson's later work. At the age of one hundred, with his one copy of the first edition of Life Goes On in hand, Keilson told The New York Times that he would love to see his first novel reissued, and translated as well. "Then you would have my whole biography," he told them. He died at the age of one hundred and one.

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.

" 1944 Diary] is a deeply personal account, made even more remarkable that it was written during World War II and the horrors of the Holocaust . . . A moving and fascinating read." --Library Journal In 2010, Farrar, Straus and Giroux published two novels by the German-Jewish writer Hans Keilson: Comedy in a Minor Key--written in 1944 while Keilson was in hiding in the Netherlands, first published in German in 1947, and never before in English--and The Death of the Adversary, begun in 1944 and published in 1959, also in German. With their Chekhovian sympathy for perpetrators and bystanders as well as for victims and resisters, Keilson's novels were, as Francine Prose said on the front page of The New York Times Book Review, "masterpieces" by "a genius" on her list of "the world's very greatest writers." Keilson was one hundred years old, alive and well and able to enjoy his belated fame. 1944 Diary, rediscovered among Keilson's papers shortly after his death, covers nine months he spent in hiding in Delft with members of a Dutch resistance group, having an affair with a younger Jewish woman in hiding a few blocks away and striving to make a moral and artistic life for himself as the war and the Holocaust raged around him. For readers familiar with Keilson's novels as well as those new to his work, this diary is an incomparable spiritual X-ray of the mind and heart behind the art: a record of survival and creativity in what Keilson called "the most critical year of my life." Offering further insight into Keilson are the sonnets he wrote for his lover, Hanna Sanders, which appear in translation at the back of this volume.

1930s Germany; the shadow of Nazism looms. Pictures of the new dictator, 'B.', fill magazines and newspapers. Our hero is ten when his world begins to change dramatically. Suddenly, the other children won't let him join in their games. Later, he is refused a job on a shop-floor. Later still, he hears youths boasting of an attack on a Jewish cemetery. Both hypnotised and horrified by his enemy, our hero chronicles the fear, anger and defiance of everyday life under tyranny.Written while Hans Keilson was in hiding during World War II, this novel is a powerful account of what he outlived. Painful, trenchant and streaked with dark humour The Death of the Adversary is a rediscovered masterpiece.

When Wim and Marie, a young Dutch couple, agree to hide a Jewish man in their home during the Nazi occupation, they think they are fulfilling their patriotic duty. Tension and awkwardness reign in the house as they try to adapt to this forbidden guest, whom they know as Nico. Small accidents and unexpected encounters ensue as the dynamic unsettles all three - until Nico dies, and Wim and Marie must face the risky endeavour of disposing of his body. Taut, penetrating and rich with dark irony, Comedy in a Minor Key is a masterful study of human relationships under extreme circumstances.

Hans Keilson analysiert die massiv-kumulative Traumatisierung bei Kindern am Beispiel der jüdischen Kriegswaisen in den Niederlanden in je einem deskriptiv-klinischen und einem quantifizierend-statistischen Untersuchungsgang. Zugleich prüft er damit die Hypothesen der alterspezifischen Traumatisierung sowie einen Teil der psychoanalytischen Theorie der Traumatisierungsintensität.

"Min fiende jag ska kalla honom B. klev in i mitt liv, jag minns, det har väl gått ungefär tjugo år sedan dess. På den tiden hade jag bara en oklar uppfattning om vad det innebar att vara fiender, och visste än mindre vad det innebar att ha en fiende." "Vedersakarens död" är skriven som en dagbok där berättaren är anonym och inte avslöjar mycket om sig själv. Vi får veta att hans tillvaro förändrades dramatiskt då han i tioårsåldern plötsligt inte längre fick vara med i skolkamraternas lekar. Några år senare nekades han arbete på grund av sitt ursprung. En tid därefter fick han höra hur några ungdomar skröt om en attack mot den judiska begravningsplatsen. Att B. är identisk med Hitler står klart. Men det faktum att hans namn aldrig nämns, och att inte heller ord som nazism, judisk eller Tyskland förekommer, gör det här till en tidlös berättelse som kan appliceras även på händelser i vår egen tid. Röster om boken: "Både Vedersakarens död och Komedi i moll är mästerverk och Hans Keilson är ett geni." New York Times Book Review"Ett berättande som för tankarna till Camus existentiella djup samt Kafkas och Becketts absurdism." Kirkus Reviews "Keilsons verk är lika starkt i dag som det var för femtio år sedan." Publishers Weekly"Du har aldrig tidigare läst om 2:a världskriget som i Vedersakarens död." Bloggen Kring Böcker"En mycket gripande roman." Gert-Ove Fridlund, BTJ-häfte 4/17

Wim och Marie är ett helt vanligt par som lever i Holland under den tyska ockupationen. Men de bär på en hemlighet sedan flera månader tillbaka har de en judisk man, Nico, gömd i sitt hem. Ingen har hittills fattat någon misstanke, men när Nico plötsligt blir sjuk i lunginflammation och dör uppstår problem: hur ska de göra för att bli av med kroppen? Deras försök blir mitt i allvaret nästan komiska. Och i ett av världshistoriens värsta skeenden kan en komedi lätt förvandlas till tragedi. Röster om boken: "En högst läsvärd, lågmäld och tragikomisk liten historia." Martin Lagerholm, SvD"En fantastisk liten bok ... Det här måste man läsa." Yukiko Duke, Gomorron Sverige"Komedi i moll berättar en Anne Frank-liknande historia men så att säga från den andra sidan, från de som gömmer juden. Det är en vacker, gripande och stundtals riktigt humoristisk skildring av en tid som inte får falla i glömska. Denna till synes oansenliga bok är definitivt något som fastnar i minnet - ett mästerverk i det lilla formatet. Henrik B. Nilsson har gjort ett utmärkt arbete i sin översättning från det tyska originalet." Katrine Hamori, BTJ-häfte 4/17"Hans Keilson kan mycket väl vara den främste författaren du aldrig har hört talas om." The Guardian"Ett mästerverk, och Hans Keilson är ett geni." The New York Book Review"Allt som Keilson upplevt in på bara skinnet har han fått med i den här perfekt komponerade boken, som lyckas fånga både de oräkneliga anonyma offrens sorgliga öden och enskilda människors tragedier." Frankfurter Allgemeine ZeitungHans Keilson (1909- 2011) fick sitt internationella genombrott som 100-åring i samband med den amerikanska utgåvan av Komedi i moll. Han kallades geni och boken såldes till en rad länder. Boken skrevs medan Keilson, som var av judisk börd och tvingats i exil, satt gömd i ett litet rum hos ett par i Delft, Nederländerna. Originalutgåvan utkom på exilförlaget Querido i Amsterdam 1947, samma år som Anne Franks dagbok.