What other central european authors do you read?

[RaleC]

Thomas Bernhard's Lime Works would sit by the above suggestions pretty snugly.

Ben Hecht, the American screenwriter of the original Scarface, wrote the very Kafkaesque books Fantazius Mallare and Kingdom Of Evil. The former H.P.Lovecraft praised the illustrations in; kinda Osman Spare via Harry Clarke - though I imagine the primary influence on all of it - text and design - was Beardsley.

[MagnusTC]

Alfred Döblin, best known for his novel Berlin Alexanderplatz, also wrote several tales in the horror & supernatural tradition. For those who read German, most of these stories from the early 20th century can be found in the collection Die Ermordung einer Butterblume und andere Erzählungen (DTV, 2004). I found the story about Bluebeard especially fascinating. I had never before heard of this wife-murder and serial killer figure, who apparently was invented by Charles Perrault in 1697, and later re-adapted in works by Tieck, Ungern-Sternberg, Vonnegut and others.

This recent book about Bluebeard's legacy also looks exciting:

http://www.amazon.com/Bluebeards-Legacy-Hitchcock-Encounters-Cultures/dp/184511633X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349363957&sr=8-1&keywords=alfred+d%C3%B6blin+bluebeard

 

http://www.amazon.com/Bluebeards-Legacy-Hitchcock-Encounters-Cultures/dp/184511633X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349363957&sr=8-1&keywords=alfred+d%C3%B6blin+bluebeard

[ChildofOldLeech]

Hope I'm not repeating any previous recommendations, but here are a few of my favorite titles from the wilds of Mittleuropa:

The Adventures of Sindbad - Gyula Krudy
The Other Side - Alfred Kubin
The Melancholy of Resistance - Laszlo Krasznahorkai
St. Peter's Snow - Leo Perutz
The Pendragon Legend - Antal Szerb
The Toys of Princes - Ghislain de Diesbach
Daemon in Lithuania - Henri Guigonnat
The Poet and The Idiot - Friedebert Tuglas
The Tragic Demise of a Faithful Court Official -
Fritz von Herzmanovsky-Orlando
The Foundation Pit - Andrey Platonov
The Red Laugh - Leonid Andreyev
Incidences - Daniil Kharms
Seven Stories - Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky
The Good Soldier Svejk - Jaroslav Hasek
An Ermine in Czernopol - Gregor von Rezzori
The Ship - Hans Henny Jahnn
Zenobia - Gellu Naum
Baron Bagge, Count Luna - Alexander Lernet-Holenia

[xylokopos]

Possibly the best novella I have read. I can't get it out of my mind. Trust me on this one, get it and read it now.

Quote

There, it has been said: God will destroy the vampire once we have surrendered to him. A biblical vow, commensurate with the obsession with sin engrafted in the bodies of Calvinists in their wasteland. Their souls in despair at the steep ascent to a heaven that is out of reach. Béranger knows his people well. However, especially after night has fallen, everyone thinks of the three lovely bodies, bloody and cut to pieces deep in their fresh beds of soil in the three lonely little graveyards, and they know that the monster will have the last word in this vale of bitter tears and richly deserved darkness that God has granted us.

[qcrisp]

Gombrowicz and Junger have been mentioned, of course. I also have my eye on Robert Musil and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. I have a collection of stories by the latter, The Lord Chandos Letter, on my shelves, waiting to be read.

I would also highly recommend Heinrich von Kleist. Some of his short stories (I have read one volume) are among the best I have read.

[MadsPLP]

Kleist is one of the greatest short story writers ever. And he didn't write that much before his early death, so reading his collected works should be easy.

Musil is one of the greats as well. The Man Without Qualities is very much worth it.

I don't know if Péter Nadas has been mentioned, but if not, I'd heartily recommend his A Book of Memories which is one of the best novels in recent years. Parallel Stories, his most recent novel, I have yet to read.

[R.P.Dwyer]

Friedrich Dürrenmatt (German: [ˈfriːdrɪç ˈdʏrənˌmat]; 5 January 1921 – 14 December 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist.

I've read his short story "The Tunnel" and his novella _Traps_. These stories are something that Kafka might have written

[xylokopos]

I just finished reading it and I am still coming to terms with its sheer brilliance. Satantango is Kraznahorkai's first novel but the English translation was first published a couple of years ago. I plan to write a proper review when the spirit moves me but for now, suffice it to say that Satantango is Kafka and Ligotti's bastard lovechild, a disturbed, malnourished and feverish creation rolling in the mud of a decaying farming cooperative.

[Druidic]

Thanks, Mr. Dwyer for your comments on Durrenmatt. Durrenmatt is relatively unknown in English-speaking countries and if book publishers ever decide to bring out his untranslated works, it will be thanks to readers like yourself. Are you aware of "The Pledge"? Like "Traps" it's a major work and easily available thanks to the Penn movie of a few years back.

Mark Samuels did me a real kindness and sent me a copy from London of Durrenmatt's one act play, "Conversation at Night with a Despised Character". It was televised on the BBC in 1969 with Sir John Gielgud and Sir Alec Guinness. It's the story of a writer's encounter with the assassin sent to kill him by the State. (Earlier, D. had taken aim at the Black fascists with "Suspicion"; this time he had the Red fascists in his sights.) It's a brilliant work with the author at the peak of his powers.

WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD

The ending isn't a twist; it's a warm pretzel, nicely salted, and with spicy mustard. Any other writer would have the Author lecture and teach the Hangman a thing or two about basic humanity, perhaps even instill deep doubts about the 'rightness' of his profession. But this is Durrenmatt. Guess who teaches who how to "die humbly" and unconquered?
I would have loved to have seen this with those two great actors.

[Acutely decayed]

Quote Originally Posted by qcrisp

I would also highly recommend Heinrich von Kleist. Some of his short stories (I have read one volume) are among the best I have read.

I have been reading Kleist with enjoyment "Marquise of O and other stories" Greenberg translation - but just a note of warning if you are thinking of reading these - do not read the preface - even though it is by Thomas Mann first - also do not read the intro (save - these until afterward) they will describe the stories and detract from them.