The June SWR-Bestenliste, where 30 leading German literary critics vote for their favorite new publications is now up; it's almost always a fascinating mix of titles -- and certainly is this month.
Top position goes to a rediscovered Arthur Schnitzler novella, Später Ruhm ('Late Fame'; see the Zsolnay publicity page). Most of Schnitzler's works have been translated, and quite a bit remains more or less available (Pushkin Press -- who else ? -- have a trio), but he hasn't hadn't had a modern-day English-language resurgence like Jospeh Roth or Stefan Zweig have; I wonder whether his turn will come too.
Tied for fourth on the list are Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and ... the diary of Sophia and Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Tied for eighth are Werktage 2 by Volker Braun (see my recent mention) and a novel by Tomas Espedal (see my recent review of his Against Art).
That's a pretty eclectic and pretty interesting selection. I suspect a US or UK poll of thirty leading literary critics would come to a very different sort of consensus.
Top position goes to a rediscovered Arthur Schnitzler novella, Später Ruhm ('Late Fame'; see the Zsolnay publicity page). Most of Schnitzler's works have been translated, and quite a bit remains more or less available (Pushkin Press -- who else ? -- have a trio), but he hasn't hadn't had a modern-day English-language resurgence like Jospeh Roth or Stefan Zweig have; I wonder whether his turn will come too.
Tied for fourth on the list are Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and ... the diary of Sophia and Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Tied for eighth are Werktage 2 by Volker Braun (see my recent mention) and a novel by Tomas Espedal (see my recent review of his Against Art).
That's a pretty eclectic and pretty interesting selection. I suspect a US or UK poll of thirty leading literary critics would come to a very different sort of consensus.