Review by Choice Review
J"unger published major works as long ago as the Weimar Republic. This long career as a writer translates into superb craftsmanship in structure, style, and language. The original of this novel, Eine gef"ahrliche Begegnung, appeared in 1985, in J"unger's 90th year. Though not his first attempt at the detective genre, it is, this reviewer believes, his most successful. Like most of his work, it betrays his admiration for fierce individualism and elitist thinking, expressed in uncompromising clarity for the right-leaning intellectual. This murder story, filled with J"unger's usual radical rightist political philosophy, espoused here by Inspector Dobrowsky, manifests itself in the detective's theory of crime--i.e., his belief that crime is an attempt at freedom unmotivated by social or economic considerations. In Dobrowsky's view, if the state becomes the "despoiler of unlimited personal power," then to triumph over it is "an improbable but priceless gain." Dobrowsky also supposes that a jewel thief's "object was not so much monetary value as the concentration of Plutonian power." Statements like these probably explain Helmut Kohl's recent visit to J"unger for the writer's 98th birthday. J"unger is a fine writer. He is still the best the right has to offer as an intellectual. This excellent translation is the second novel of his to be published by Marsilio. (See Aladdin's Problem, CH, May'93). General; undergraduate; graduate. R. C. Conard; University of Dayton
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Not one but many treacherous encounters fill the pages of Junger's ( In Stahlgewittern ) fin de siecle detective story. In the first such, Gerhard zum Busche, a young German diplomat living in Paris, meets a decadent aristocrat named Ducasse. Gerhard's striking good looks and equally striking naivete provide Ducasse with the opportunity to commit mischief, and he loses little time in orchestrating the mesalliance of Gerhard with the volatile Irene, Countess Kargane. An assignation is followed by murder and an investigation by the sharp-witted Inspector Dobrowsky and his admiring sidekick Etienne. Junger's shimmering, imaginative writing is most evident at the novel's beginning in his marvelous portrait of Ducasse, who resembles a rather more disillusioned version of Alexander Lernet-Holenia's Count Maltravers. Armed only with his cynicism and his savoir vivre , Ducasse is the last practitioner of a gentlemanly decadence which itself is the faded reflection of a bygone social structure. If the second half of the novel devolves into a rather unsatisfying francophonic Holmes and Watson riff, its beginning is a clear indication of Junger's talent. Marsilio's decision to introduce his work--whether for the first time as is the case here, or in the upcoming new translation of the 1939 On the Marble Cliffs --is laudable. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
The 98-year-old Junger is considered by some critics to be one of Germany's most distinguished writers, but his success during the Third Reich and his murky relationship to the Nazi state has caused him to be rejected by others. His interest in France, which goes back in part to the days of the Nazi occupation, here yields a fascinating mystery novel set in late 19th-century Paris. While the mystery itself is easily solved by any fan of the genre, Junger is highly successful in evoking the decadent and menacing atmosphere on the edges of the great metropolis. The novel's elegant economy of style is beautifully captured in Barr's translation. Recommended for general readers.-- Michael T. O'Pecko, Towson State Univ., Md. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An innocent young German receives a rude awakening at the hands of world-weary decadents in fin de siècle Paris--in a polished tale from the prolific Jünger, a 97-year-old author who's acclaimed in Europe but little known here. Diplomat Gerhard is admired for his looks and valued for his honesty, but his inexperience and introverted nature leave him open to suggestion. When a chance dinner with a faded French aristocrat brings him to the attention of the bored, beautiful wife of a Navy Captain, Gerhard's companion, a bon vivant turned bilious, arranges a liaison between the two for his own amusement. The dream of a discreet romantic interlude is destroyed, however, when a woman is savagely murdered at the door of their room, and all of Paris is scandalized at the thought that London's Jack the Ripper might have crossed the Channel. The homicide investigation is in the capable hands of Inspector Dobrowsky, but, meanwhile, the Captain has sought Gerhard out to demand satisfaction as a wronged husband. With the young man in a fog of confusion, the duel is easily arranged, and is averted only at the last moment when Dobrowsky learns of the deed and arrives to arrest the Captain for murdering the woman, whom he had mistaken for his wife. Delicately mannered and full of nuance, this is certainly subtle--but a side effect of its careful, quiet understatement is that is seems over before it's really begun.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
