Produktdetaljer
Biographical note
Robert Menasse was born in Vienna in 1954 and studied there before moving to Brazil, where he lived for six years as a professor of literature at the University of São Paulo. He is the author of several novels translated into English, including Wings of Stone and Reverse Thrust, and of a work of non-fiction, Enraged Citizens, European Peace and Democratic Deficits: Or Why the Democracy Given to Us Must Become One We Fight for (2016). In 2017 he was awarded the German Book Prize for Die Hauptstadt (The Capital).<b>First-class satire </b>. . .<i>The Capital</i> delivers, within a <b>brilliant satirical fiction</b>, thoughtful and instructive analysis of both the weaknesses in the EU that galvanise leavers and the strengths that motivate remainers.
- Mark Lawson, Guardian
<p>A traditional novel,<b> broadshouldered, omniscient,</b> almost Balzac-ian, but with terrorism part of a plot centered<br />satirically around an all-too-plausible Brussels idea.</p>
- Steven Erlanger, New York Times
<i>The Capital</i> is <b>a mischievous yet profound story about storytelling</b>; about the art of shaping a narrative by finding resonances in the messy stuff of life . . . <b>[An] unexpectedly delightful book about Brussels.</b>
Economist
Menasse has <b>a finely tuned satirical ear</b> that easily criss-crosses borders . . . <b>an intelligently written, pacy novel</b> whose wide-ranging narratives ensure the momentum never wavers . . . Robert Menasse has produced <b>an extraordinary piece of work</b>
- Charlie Connelly, New European
A <b>thoroughly entertaining</b> fiction that serves both as a sort of campus satire and a novel of ideas . . . Menasse packs his Brussels with <b>sharply-etched types . . . </b>With its <b>zest, pace and wit</b>, Jamie Bulloch's translation serves him splendidly.
- Boyd Tonkin, Spectator
<b>A deliciously vicious - and timely - satire </b>about the E.U. and the meaning of Europe today
- Frederick Studemann, Financial Times
[<b>An] ambitious panorama</b> that arrives amid the throes of Brexit and the Chinese Year of the Pig. <b>Intelligent, fun, sad, insightful - an exceptional work</b>.
Kirkus Reviews
<b>An elegantly written, brilliantly constructed novel</b>, full of discussion points and ideas
- Andreas Isenschmid, Die Zeit
A <b>sharply observed, witty</b> novel, a character comedy . . . the best novel about European bureaucracy you'll read . . .<b> a brave and funny book</b>
- Charlie Connelly, New European Best Books of 2019
A <b>brutally funny</b> and exhaustive tableau of both a continent in transition and the organisation straining to hold it together . . . <b>a teeming epic</b>
- Andrew R. Chow, Time Magazine
<b>Rumbustious . . . deliciously witty</b>
- Paul Connolly, Metro
<b><i>The Capital</i> could hardly be more topical</b> . . . It is about Europe reconnecting with its ideals via a tragic past . . . It's <b>a smart read</b>, unlike anything being written in Britain today.
- David Herman, Jewish Chronicle
Robert Menasse's <b>polyphonic EU satire</b> juggles a multitude of wryly amusing storylines.
- Siobhan Murphy, The Times
This is above all <b>the polyphonic novel</b><i><b> in excelsis</b> . . . </i>I want to read much more from <b>this major European writer</b>
- David Nice, Arts Desk
<b>Witty but humane</b>. . . . The massive cast never becomes unwieldy thanks to Menasse's <b>delightful prose</b>. This epic, droll account of contemporary Europe will be <b>catnip for fans of mosaic novels and comical political machinations</b>.
Publishers Weekly (*****)
<b>I enjoyed <i>The Capital</i> so much</b> . . . <b>A major book</b> about coincidences, of linked and overlapping meanings . . . This is <b>a deeply humane novel</b>, a novel for adults.
- Dwight Garner, The New York Times
Menasse assembles his cast from the different member states . . . but he gives their inner lives a complexity that belies the satirical shorthand of simple labels . . . <b>brilliantly comic</b> . . . An <b>important and timely</b> book.
- Michael Cronin, Irish Times
A <b>gripping</b> novel with an <b>urgent </b>political purpose
- Fintan O'Toole, New York Review of Books