Gargoyles by Thomas Bernhard

 

In our dance across central Europe we come to Austria and a book I was so very sure I was going to like. Oh, how wrong I was...

Thomas Bernhard was an Austrian novelist and playwright. For some reason he is considered one of the most important modern German-language writers.

Gargoyles was originally published as Verstörung in 1967. Verstörung translates as disturbance, and I can see why this title was chosen, the whole novel centres around humanity's degradation of itself (at least that's how I read it). 

For some reason, when it was translated into English the title was changed to Gargoyles, as a reference to the grotesque characters portrayed, but it seems an odd choice to transpose an interpretation on the work that was not there in the original.

The novel follows a doctor and his son as they go about his rounds in rural Austria, a collection of individuals who showcase the innate monstrosity of the human race. It terminates at Hochgobernitz Castle, where the final patient of the day, Prince Saurau launches into a monologue which lasts 120 pages, over half the length of the novel. This reminds me of Andy Kaufman's 'joke' where he just read The Great Gatsby in its entirety to his audience at a comedy show. The idea might sound funny. What a powerful idea, you might think, a raging monologue that dwarfs the rest of the novel. But when one is forced to sit through the whole-damn-thing the novelty soon wears off, and it quickly becomes interminably boring.

The novel is self-indulgent drivel, and a worthy recipient of the first ★☆☆☆☆ review on this blog.

It is some consolation that while the book was
so awful, the crested version of the Austrian flag
is damnably handsome. What's more, I believe it
is the only European flag to still bear a hammer
and sickle.