BBC World Book Club was right

this short simple story of one entire average pre- and post- WW2 life is an unpretentious good read - succinct detailed poetic- prose. original voice without many conclusions on suffering and death (it just is so) lends authenticity to tihe tme it is set in. feelings exist in private, poverty of mind is expressed violently. beautiful meditation on the value of every man's life

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Bleak and stoic

This is a bleak but fulfilling book about the life of an ordinary Austrian man living through the twentieth century.

Andreas Egger is abandoned by his mother as a small child with a purse of money tied around his neck for whoever will take him. Unfortunately he is taken by a brutal man who puts him to work on his farm as soon as he is old enough. His new father administers regular beatings to the boys naked body for minor misdemeanours. On one such occasion the boy's leg is permanently damaged leaving him with a life-long limp.

But the boy never cries and grows strong until the day he refuses to accept any more beatings. This is one of the many significant life events which include Andreas getting a tough job on the building of the first cable cars for the early development of the skiing industry. Andreas always works in lumpen manual jobs which are often dangerous and low paid, sleeping outdoors or in barns.

He marries a woman and when there looks to be a promise of pleasure and happiness in his life, she is killed in an avalanche together with their unborn child.

Andreas is left homeless and devastated, and becomes even further alienated and solitary. The story line is not linear and jumps around to events which include Andreas being conscripted into the army during the Second World War. He is sent to the Caucasus where he is taken prisoner by the Russians.

After the war, he returns to his labours, often living in places little better than shacks and caves. He witnesses the moon landing, the provision of film and television and the beauty of Grace Kelly.

There is a circular story from the book's start when he rescues a hermit who runs off before reaching civilisation but Andreas discovers the lost body many years later.

This book is thoughtful, moving and poignant as well as bleak and stoic. Unlike many books it is not overwritten but relatively short yet covers a whole life.

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sublime story , great Narrater

A story like a mountain , evident yet quiet. No life too isolated to be told , A story of a man in a solitude so full of life , couldn't be told better by anyone other than Sam Peter Jackson

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This is a sublime book. The language is superb, spare and yet richly descriptive. It is one of the best books I have ever read.

I was almost afraid to listen to it for fear it would ruin the story I had read, but this edition is just perfect. The story of Everyman and no man. Wonderful! Memorable. Moving. Loved it.

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2 people found this helpful