Boys & Murderers [Paperback]

Hermann Ungar (Author), Isabel Fargo Cole (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2006

Boys & Murderers is the first complete collection of novellas and stories in English from Hermann Ungar, author of the highly-acclaimed novel The Maimed. A writer of unique talent whose life was prematurely ended by illness, he was much admired by Thomas Mann, who prefaces this volume, and known as the "Moravian Dostoevsky" for his analysis of the human psyche. In fiction that is often grotesque and comical, Ungar explores the depravities of the heart and delusions of the mind. Taking Prague as well as his hometown of Boskovice for his settings, he can be located in that illustrious tradition of both Prague German writers (he was associated with Max Brod in the Prague Circle) and Jewish writers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, such as Joseph Roth.

Forgotten for decades, Ungar's work has experienced a renaissance over the past years with translations appearing in a number of languages and new editions appearing in German, which has allowed him to take his place among the greats of 20th-century European literature.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In the two novellas "Boys & Murderers" [Ungar] demonstrates an almost disconcerting mastery. Here, in utterly sharp, utterly clear, almost violently naked language, the author relates two fates with an intensity equaled by few of today's luminaries. Unyielding, steely as a screw, a cruel psychology bores its way into people, down to the innermost core of their being: you falter, you shudder to read on, but with the relentless grip of a man on fire he thrusts you inexorably into his narrative will, not releasing you until the final page. I rank this little book among the most powerful to have emerged from Austria or Germany in recent years. From now on the greatest hopes, the highest expectations, will be pinned to this new name. --Stefan Zweig

As with his notorious first novel, the stories in Boys & Murderers plumb the depths of desperation and depravity, suggesting both Robert Walser's sense of the abject and Franz Kafka's brutal irony. --Rain Taxi

[T]aken as a whole, there is much to be admired in this volume, and much in keeping with Ungar's novels. Boys & Murderers strengthens the case for Ungar being an unjustly neglected writer. --Review of Contemporary Fiction

Ungar is convinced of our fated lives. We struggle to maintain order and propriety but, for his characters, the struggle is inevitably doomed. --Times Literary Supplement

The perpetual humiliation machine in Ungar's fiction never winds down; it blocks both pleasure and resolution, ratcheting ever further into horror ... In [the] minor arena of sexual horror, Ungar is unsurpassable. --Diana George, Chicago Review

[A] masterpiece, with such a wealth of psychological relationships, symbolism, harrowing experience, comedy and misery, bold moral statements and artfully evoked mystery that one has this feeling: this comes from a fullness; here is a talent that musters its forces for deeds that will make a stir ... --Thomas Mann

About the Author

Hermann Ungar (1893-1929) was born to a prominent Jewish family in Moravia and became a lawyer. He earned the Silver Merdal of Valor in WWI.

Hermann Ungar was born on April 20, 1893 to a well-off Jewish family in the small Moravian town of Boskovice, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Ungar's writing career officially began in 1920 with the publication of Boys & Murderers, a volume comprising two novellas that caught the attention of Thomas Mann. He then published his only two novels: The Maimed in 1923 and The Class in 1927. Ungar died of peritonitis at the age of thirty-six on October 28, 1929 and is buried in Prague.

Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: Twisted Spoon Press; Tra edition (August 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8086264254
• ISBN-13: 978-8086264257
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,946,671 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre Expressionist Short Stories - Not a Good Introduction to Ungar, January 31, 2011

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Hexameron - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Boys & Murderers (Paperback)

Avoid this anthology of short stories if you are new to Hermann Ungar. The works herein are not his best and I would only recommend them to Ungar completists and those interested in expressionism. The Maimed and The Class (Dedalus European Classics) remain Ungar's masterworks and evidence that his strengths as a writer are better displayed in his novels.

The contents of this anthology are a little confusing and Amazon's product details lack any information about what this book contains. "Boys & Murderers" is actually the collective title for two novellas: "A Man and a Maid" and "Story of a Murder." These are the finer specimens in this anthology, dark and expressionist. "A Man and a Maid" tells the first person account of a man's lifelong obsession with dominating a maid who ignores his every action. This is a powerful short story about a desperate and impotent protagonist who cannot physically, mentally, or emotionally break this maid and in the end is broken himself.

"Story of a Murder" is of similar expressionist angst: a first person narrative about a sadistic and alienated individual and how he becomes a murderer. This is a sordid tale of cruelty, abuse, and humiliation. There are many grotesque, grimy, and shocking moments, all appropriately expressionist. The most disturbing element of the story is the cold and explicitly detailed descriptions of torturing animals. Here are some examples: "I proceeded by clamping the [cat] into a vice-like instrument I had made and stretching it until it died of its torments" and "I did not know what to do but crush the cat's head with the heel of my boot." Cat lovers beware!

"Colbert's Journey" is the next major collection of nine unrelated short stories. Thomas Mann calls this collection a "minor masterpiece", but I found most of them dull or so-so. Like Kafka's short fiction, most are ambiguous and so simple that it's easy to overlook a deeper message. The short story "Colbert's Journey" from which the collective title stems from is bizarre. The plot centers on the hopes and aspirations of an aristocrat who wants to visit France with his servant, Modlizki, the strange and enigmatic servant from Ungar's "The Class". Ungar isn't just giving Modlizki a cameo appearance, but allows for some startling character development by exploring the servant's sexual perversities and bottled-up malice. Other tales include "The Wine Traveler", about a murderer who escapes justice, and "Reasons for Everything", a suspenseful mood piece about a vision that comes true. The rest of the stories are ho-hum.

The "Uncollected Stories" are a compilation of six very short vignettes, some only two pages long. Again, there's not much of interest here. The only outstanding exceptions are "Sanatorium" and "Little Lies". The former is a poignant and bleak account of life in a sanatorium: "For us... there's no more spring, no summer. No seasons at all. No love, no friendship. We just lie calmly and wait. Wait for death." This little story is, I think, the greatest of the entire anthology - in less than two pages, Ungar reaches a level of profundity and despair not revealed in anything else he wrote. "Little Lies" is a dialogue between a married couple, which reads like an interrogation by the husband. What's so fascinating is how calm and innocent the husband's questions are, and yet they unearth the subtle truth that the wife is having an affair as she desperately fabricates layers upon layers of lies.

Bottom line: There are some gems here, but also many duds. For those who haven't yet read any Ungar, I would advise skipping this anthology in favor of his masterpieces, The Maimed and The Class (Dedalus European Classics). But the two novellas under the collective title "Boys & Murderers" are decent reads, even if they do not match up to the aforementioned novels. Of the uncollected stories, "Sanatorium" and "Little Lies" are very memorable and enjoyable. In the end, I would only recommend this book for fans of Ungar and expressionist literature.