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Loser
Loser | Thomas Bernhard
8 posts | 13 read | 7 to read
"The Loser" is a brilliant fictional account of an imaginary relationship among three men--the late piano virtuoso Glenn Gould, the unnamed narrator, and a fictional pianist, Wertheimer--who meet in 1953 to study with Vladimir Horowitz. In the face of Gould's incomparable genius, Wertheimer and the narrator renounce their musical ambition, but in very different ways. While the latter sets out to write a book about Gould, Wertheimer sinks deep into despair and self-destruction."Like Swift, Bernhard writes like a sacred monster. . . . A remarkable literary performer: [he] goes to extremes in ways that vivify our sense of human possibilities, however destructive".--Richard Locke, "Wall Street Journal" "The excellence of Bernhard--and it is a kind virtuosity, ably maintained in this American translation--is to make his monotonous loathing not only sting but also, like Gould at the piano, sing".--Paul Griffiths, "Times Literary Supplement" "[He is] one of the century's most gifted writers".--David Plott, "Philadelphia Inquirer" "America has been sadly immune to the charm and challenge of Bernhard's work and the American public has deprived itself of the deep and serious pleasure of reading one of the great writers of this century. . . . One of the great works of world literature. Its arrival on these shores is a significant literary event".--Thomas McGonigle, "New York Newsday"
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review
BarbaraBB
BarbaraBB
The Loser | Thomas Bernhard
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Pickpick

After piano virtuoso Glenn Gould dies, the unscrupulous narrator (alter ego of the author) and their friend Wertheimer are free to blame him for the fact they haven‘t become piano geniuses themselves.
After Wertheimers suicide, Bernhard as usual doesn‘t hold back. Again he pours out tons of criticism about Austrian society, and he mocks and taunts both of his friends with demonic pleasure. It is a pleasure to follow his linguistic brain.

BarbaraBB #52booksclub23 #typographicCover @AshleyHoss820 @Cinfhen @Jenniferw88 @squirrelbrain @deblovestoread @LeeRHarry @karenuk @carolynm @britt_brooke @bookbelle84 @Bluebird @Smarkies @triplem80 @larareads @ravenlee @read4life @rmaclean4 @librarybelle 1y
BarbaraBB #pop23 #SetInDecadeIWasBorn @RaeLovesToRead @KarenUK @Cortg @squirrelbrain @kelly_the_bookish_sidekick 1y
Cinfhen This one doesn‘t really appeal to me but I‘m glad you enjoyed it xx 1y
See All 10 Comments
squirrelbrain Doesn‘t sound like my thing either but good job on the prompts! 1y
BarbaraBB @Cinfhen @squirrelbrain It‘s a typical #1001books author and I really enjoy getting back to him once in a while after I‘ve read many contemporary books. 1y
Megabooks Sounds cool! 👍🏻 1y
Librarybelle Hooray! 1y
Cortg Nice job with the prompts! I love reading older books that I missed along the way. This one sounds good! 1y
batsy This sounds so good! I really must read Bernhard. 1y
BarbaraBB @batsy He is totally up your alley! 1y
86 likes10 comments
blurb
BarbaraBB
BarbaraBB
The Loser | Thomas Bernhard
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#WeeklyForecast 02/23

I am having the Persephone one, Harriet, in progress. Next will be another shortlisted book from the #ToB23 which I can use for #TarotTBR as well. When there‘s time I‘d like to start the tagged book by Thomas Bernhard. Not a light read probably but the man can write!

tagged users iconCinfhen
squirrelbrain I‘m going to listen to the #tob one on audio soon… perhaps the week after next? Have a good week! 1y
BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain Thanks! You too! 1y
Megabooks Have a great week B! 😘 1y
See All 6 Comments
Cinfhen I‘m hoping to listen to this #ToB shortlisted book this week
[tagged book]Mercury Pictures Presents: A Novel
1y
Cinfhen Lots of people didn‘t care for 2am but I didn‘t mind it - it worked for me on audio but not sure how I would have felt in print. I‘ll be curious to hear your thoughts 1y
BarbaraBB @Cinfhen I still need to read that one too. 1y
71 likes6 comments
blurb
SqueakyChu
SqueakyChu
The Loser | Thomas Bernhard
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I‘m almost finished this book...but not before drinking a German beer while reading this novel by an Austrian novelist who wrote in German...and wondering what happened to my daughter who was in Germany this week. I guess she‘s having too much fun to write. Back to my book. It‘s really good...as is the beer! 😃

SqueakyChu Just finished the book...Wow! 6y
16 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
SqueakyChu
SqueakyChu
The Loser | Thomas Bernhard
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I am now about 3/4 if the way through this book. I am just amazed the way this author could keep repeating himself and still create a coherent, fascinating story with no paragraphs and no quotation marks! I will certainly look for more of his books in the future.

19 likes
blurb
SqueakyChu
SqueakyChu
The Loser | Thomas Bernhard
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Yep. I was right! This book, although fairly thin, takes some work as it has no paragraphs nor any quotation marks!!

14 likes
blurb
SqueakyChu
SqueakyChu
The Loser | Thomas Bernhard
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I decided to read this book for the #LibraryThing TIOLI challenge to read a work by or about a deceased #playwright. This is a new-to-me author. From the looks of this book, it might take a little work to get into this story. We‘ll see...

BarbaraBB What is the TIOLI challenge, if I may ask? 6y
SqueakyChu @BarbaraBB It‘s the Take It Or Leave It reading challenge which I host on LibraryThing. 6y
SqueakyChu @BarbaraBB http://www.librarything.com/topic/295424 6y
BarbaraBB Nice! I looked it up! 6y
SqueakyChu 😃 6y
15 likes5 comments
review
wanderer15
wanderer15
Loser | Thomas Bernhard
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Pickpick

I seem to rate everything "pick" even if it's a book I'd recommend to almost nobody, but I can't give this anything else. My first Bernhard - 170 pages, one gigantic stream-of-consciousness, Kafkaesque paragraph from an unreliable narrator with more than a little Salieri in him as he is both inspired and tortured by the genius of the pianist Glenn Gould. Not an easy read, but I was gripped.

13 likes