About this title: Nobel Prizewinner Elfriede Jelinek's 1988 novel is the story of Erika Kohut, a middle-aged piano teacher in Vienna whose refuge from her constricted life is hardcore pornography. When she becomes involved in an affair with one of her piano students, she is able to fulfill her dark side as she forces him into increasingly sadomasochistic sexual ...
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Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Serpent's Tail
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9781852427504ISBN:1852427507
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. tight good clean readable copy. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 280 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Good. 1999-Paperback----Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Grove Press
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780802118066ISBN:0802118062
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Serpent's Tail
Date Published: 1999
Description: Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Fine and bright stiff wraps with strong square spine and crisp bright text throughout. read more
Description: FINE/Trade pb. Scarce, excellent condition English language edition of Nobel-winner's novel, also made into a prize-winning movie. No marks, straight, bright, clean. 1999, Serpent's Tail Trade pb, 280 pp. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Grove Pr
Date Published: 2004-12-30
ISBN-13:9780802118066ISBN:0802118062
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780802118066. read more
"Finalement il s'agit avant tout du portrait d'une femme. Une femme assez malheureuse, piloté par sa mère pour devenir une pianiste de réputation mondiale, mais qui ne réussira jamais se contentant d'être une simple prof de piano. Ce qui d'ailleurs ne découragera pas sa mère à régenter sa vie à plus de 30 ans passé.
Alors on pourrait plaindre cette pauvre femme, mais Jelinek n'est pas tendre avec elle, la décrivant comme une sadique ne sachant comment se débarrasser de ses frustrations. A cela s'ajoute un de ses élèves, un bon autrichien qui fait du sport et d'autres saines activités mais qui ne vaut pas mieux que les autres. Jelinek décrit tout cela sur un ton extrêmement cynique et plein de richesse stylistique qui en fait une histoire très consistante (voir bourrative pour certain estomac, je suppose) ."
Elle ne boit pas, ne fume pas, couche encore à 36 ans dans le lit maternel et aime bien rester chez elle.
Chaque fois que ses horaires de professeur de piano au conservatoire de Vienne le lui permettent, elle se plaît à fréquenter les cinémas pornos, les peepshows et les fourrés du Prater.
Et quand un de ses étudiants tombe amoureux d'elle, Erika Kohut ne sait lui offrir en échange qu'un scénario éculé, propre à redorer la vieille relation du maître et de l'esclave.
Cru, féroce et en même temps d'un comique irrésistible, ce livre n'épargne ni l'amour maternel et ses vaines ambitions, ni la vénérable institution qu'est à Vienne la grande musique, ni le sexe et ses névroses."
"I find Jelinek's writing extraordinary. A dark and disturbing tale, sharply critical of contemporary Western society, punctuated by moments of (black) humor. Just when you feel the narrative is too oppressive or overpowering, here comes a tragi-comical moment, or a sarcastic word pun to provide relief.
Although I know nothing of musical composition, the pacing of Jelinek's writing must in some way resemble a musical piece, with respect to the narrative style. Mostly Jelinek is brutally honest with respect to her characters; a few rare times she sympathizes with them. Sometimes she portrays her characters in such a way that allows the reader to understand the underlying motivation; sometimes the author prefers to depict the characters as inscrutable, leaving the reader in the dark. Other times Jelinek openly makes her authorial presence known -- as the force controlling the fate of her characters. The novel in this respect varies in tone and mood, something that is not always successful in fiction, but necessary (I assume) in a musical piece.
I wanted to substantiate my comments here with certain phrases from the novel, but I've noted down so much I'm ready to write a thesis! I'll just quickly mention the elements I feel are indispensable to the overall thematics of the novel, but which are not fully presented in the film adaptation: the incident of Erika versus the 'First Viennese Trolley Court', the battles between male/female sexes & Turkish/Austrian cultures in the Prater park, the banality of art (or at the very least, the banality of the teaching/learning of art), the numbing/dumbing effect of the everpresent TV set, etc."
"I bought this book after reading about it in WRB and found it pretty weird. Unsettling. Jill came shortly after that as a visit and i gave it to her to read. Oh, no, actually she read the book _before_ I had read it, and when I did read it afterwards, I questioned my having lent her such a depressing book! LRB: "Its merciless portrayal of female sexual perversion is the overlay on a savage critique of normal male sexuality.......This book can be read as a wildly creative rereading of Goethe's cynical little pseudo ballad 'Heidenroslein', set to music by Schubert in what is perhaps his most famous song.....""
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