Comedy in a Minor Key
Published on 23. May 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
128 pages
978-1-78227-976-1 (ISBN)
Description
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.
Taut, penetrating and rich with dark irony, Comedy in a Minor Key is a masterful study of human relationships under extreme circumstances.
Reviews / Votes
Hans Keilson is a genius... Rarely have such harrowing narratives been related with such wry, off-kilter humor... [one] of the world's very greatest writers -- Francine Prose * New York Times Book Review * Surprisingly entertaining... Keilson wrote only four works of fiction in his lifetime. We should treasure them * Guardian * A book of such profound and understated beauty that it almost seems to function as a parable * LA Times * A taut tale of domestic subterfuge -- Lucy Scholes * Prospect * A short, psychologically complex but darkly funny story... Its sharp irony and honesty still feel fresh today * Daily Mail *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pushkin Press
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 195 mm
Width: 126 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
134 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78227-976-1 (9781782279761)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
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Persons
Hans Keilson (1909-2011) was a German-Dutch novelist, poet, psychoanalyst and child psychologist. Keilson studied pharmacology in Berlin but was prevented from working in the field by the Nazi law prohibiting Jews from employment. He published his first novel in 1933, which was banned by the Nazis the following year.
In 1936, he fled Germany for the Netherlands, where he later became active in the resistance to the Nazi occupation. It was this experience that inspired his novel Comedy in a Minor Key, first published in German in 1947. Keilson went on to become a psychiatrist specialising in children's war trauma, and achieved great international recognition as a writer shortly before his death at the age of 101.
In 1936, he fled Germany for the Netherlands, where he later became active in the resistance to the Nazi occupation. It was this experience that inspired his novel Comedy in a Minor Key, first published in German in 1947. Keilson went on to become a psychiatrist specialising in children's war trauma, and achieved great international recognition as a writer shortly before his death at the age of 101.