Yes (Phoenix Fiction) [Paperback]

Thomas Bernhard (Author), Ewald Osers (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Phoenix Fiction | Publication Date: November 1, 1992

The narrator, a scientist working on antibodies and suffering from emotional and mental illness, meets a Persian woman, the companion of a Swiss engineer, at an office in rural Austria. For the scientist, his endless talks with the strange Asian woman mean release from his condition, but for the Persian woman, as her own circumstances deteriorate, there is only one answer.

"Thomas Bernhard was one of the few major writers of the second half of this century."—Gabriel Josipovici, Independent

"With his death, European letters lost one of its most perceptive, uncompromising voices since the war."—Spectator

Widely acclaimed as a novelist, playwright, and poet, Thomas Bernhard (1931-89) won many of the most prestigious literary prizes of Europe, including the Austrian State Prize, the Bremen and Brüchner prizes, and Le Prix Séguier.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bernhard's (1931-89) reputation as one of the most important voices of post-WW II Central Europe is bolstered mightily by these two short but dense novels. Yes, first published in Austria in 1978, is a monologue by an unnamed narrator, a scientist telling of an encounter with a mysterious Persian woman who rescues him from the depths of a deep depression at the cost of her own life. The book that results from this simple scenario is an astonishing technical feat, with cascading clauses that reproduce the rush of thought that borders on madness and with a looping series of repetitions and variations that is almost musical in structure, surging forward with hysterical emergy before concluding in a somber diminuendo. In Old Masters , written four years before Bernhard's death in 1989, an intellectual--this time a music scholar--has chosen to isolate himself, groping his way through a depression. This novel, however, is a series of interlocking monologues. Atzbacher tells of his friend Reger, who every other day comes to a museum to sit in front of Tintoretto's White-Bearded Man . In a series of wildly inventive but ultimately disturbing soliloquies, Reger, Atzbacher and the museum guard who has befriended them all rail against the dissolution of post-WW II Vienna and the decadence of Austrian culture. Gradually we learn of Reger's despair at the death of his wife and the book closes with a touching and funny gesture of friendship between Atzbacher and Reger. Both of these masterful novels are difficult but enthralling fugues of despair and recovery. Oser's translations brilliantly preserve the structural complexities of both works.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Monolog gets a workout in these two novels by Austrian novelist Bernhard ( The Loser , LJ 8/1/91), though the result is often tiresomely repetitive and tedious. Yes , the superior work, traces an aging scientist's descent into depression. Only his real estate agent keeps him from death--that is, until a Swiss architect's companion moves to town. In this Persian woman the scientist finds a kindred spirit, one whose troubled mind closely mirrors his own. Their relationship, and its resolution, prove the intellectual core of an otherwise thin work. Old Masters , a supposed comedy, is just an old man's fit of pique. From start to finish, this novel has but one tone: irritation. Regularly sitting before a painting in an art museum, an aging musicologist dwells on all that dissatisfies him in Austrian life. At intervals the voice shifts to other observers, but no matter what the point of view, the perspective is boringly consistent.
- Paul E. Hutchison, Bellefonte, Pa.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 140 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (November 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226043908
• ISBN-13: 978-0226043906
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #845,271 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intellectual roller-coaster with a bang., December 16, 2002

By 

Hovig J. Heghinian (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yes (Phoenix Fiction) (Paperback)

"Yes" is the story of a man who lives in rural Austria, a scientist with an overactive imagination, and a psychologically oversensitive nature. His friend, a real-estate agent, sells a highly undesirable plot of land to a Swiss couple, a man retiring from a successful career as a power-station architect, and his female companion, a middle-aged Persian woman. The narrator strikes a friendship with the woman, and finds her his intellectual equal, or at least his emotional one. He wonders why this couple has chosen that horrible plot of land (which his friend had never previously been able to sell), and why they are building an ugly home on it.

He begins to suspect the retiring architect does not treat his female companion with as much respect as she deserves. He retreats into his home for a time, trying to get away from the world, in a fit of general agitation and anxiety, but eventually returns to his friends' company, and deepens his friendship with the Persian woman, who seems to be growing apart from her companion. The novel ends with an emotional shock, summarizing the story's happenings, and explaining it in highly dramatic terms.

This novel is unequivocally brilliant. Thomas Bernhard (1931-1989) does not employ a style easy to understand at first, but it is worth every ounce of energy invested. For example, he has written this short novel with no paragraph breaks whatsoever. (The book is 135 pages long, but the type is larger than usual and the pages shorter than usual.)

Bernhard writes in an overflowing, fulsome style, not unlike Samuel Beckett, full of language, full of description, incessant, and captivating. This is exactly his strategy: he is trying to capture the reader by forcing them to expend so much energy following his text, his narrative, his story, and his unusual style, that the final words of the story will hit the reader like a ton of bricks. This is Bernhard's signature, and this novel is a fantastic example.

Any reader should try this novel who is interested in an inventive, experimental novel, but one which does not veer too far from normal story-telling. Berhard's novels, for all their roller-coaster style, are actually quite conventional, and "Yes" is a great introduction to his literary work. His vocabulary is sharp, his characters are well spun, his occasional insights are spectacular, and his stories are intruiguing. This novel is highly recommended for anyone wishing to sharpen their mind, find a new adventure after having enjoyed Beckett's works, or introduce themself to one of the finest writers of the 20th century.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars YES TO DARKNESS, August 10, 2001

By 

Sesho "www.sesho.libsyn.com" (Pasadena, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yes (Phoenix Fiction) (Paperback)

This novel was my first exposure to Thomas Bernhard and I have to admit I was initially put off by its style. Some of the sentences went on for a page and half, using only commas as punctuation. After the first page or two I began to enjoy it. The plot is very simple. The narrator is a scientist who has retired to the Austrian countryside to conduct his research on antibodies. At first he believes that the isolation will benefit his studies but gradually, he works less and less, due to the great depression that comes over him. He begins to cut off all relations with the outside world, keeping only a token connection with his friend, Moritz. When he comes to recognize that his mind can only be stimulated by socializing with other people it is too late. He cannot free himself of his terrible loneliness. It's been so long since he has communicated with a human being he doesn't know where to start. All this changes when a Swiss engineer and a Persian woman show up at Moritz's house to buy a plot of land to build a home on. Talking with the woman, the narrator finds new life, but tragically, it will be shortlived.

This is a great novel. I have never seen the mindset of isolation and the depression that follows better portrayed. The style of the piece lends itself to a breathless reading. You don't notice that periods are scarce after a while. It has an exquisite flow to it. All the characters are nicely done. The translation is excellent. I really have nothing negative to say about it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Minor Key, January 11, 2001

By 

Jason Blickstein (Rosendale, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yes (Phoenix Fiction) (Paperback)

I have long been a fan of Bernhard, and this is one of my favorites. It appears to be less ambitious than his "masterpieces," but this untrue. I find it to be one of his most intimate, intelligent, comical and most brutal pieces of work. It is incredibly concise and as readable as "Wittgenstein's Nephew." It contains everything one desires of Bernhard, due in part to the fine translation, stripped down to the to the bone. Something is always lost in translation, but an excellent ear and eye has been at work here. It is a poetic masterpiece with blinding light, brialliant language, and a twisted satori. Aside from the politcal, moral, social and philosophical criticism that is Bernhard's trademark, there is a unbelievable consecration between the author and reader that takes place and demands that "you must change your life." If you allow it to happen you will be left with nothing but an eyelash and a sock, but you will find that the author with all his vitriol,sarcasm,and "so black it's blue" humor, has still preserved what is best in the human heart, and damn, he tells a good story.