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Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)

Author of The Physicists

369+ Works 11,727 Members 147 Reviews 54 Favorited

About the Author

Durrenmatt was born near Bern, Switzerland, the son of a Protestant clergyman. He studied philosophy and theology and originally planned to become a painter. "All of a sudden," he has said, "I began to write, and I just had no time to finish my University degree." He has called his first play, It show more Is Written (1947), "a wild story of Anabaptists during the Reformation." When it was first produced in Zurich, it caused a minor theatrical scandal because of its somewhat unorthodox sentiments. The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi, his first successful comedy, was produced in Munich in 1952 and, as adapted by Maximillian Slater with the title Fools are Passing Through, had a brief off-Broadway production in 1958. With this play he became established as one of the most popular European dramatists writing in German. His seventh play, The Visit (1956), which starred Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne on Broadway, received the N.Y. Drama Critics Circle Award in 1959. Brooks Atkinson called it "devastating. A bold, grisly drama of negativism and genius." (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Elke Wetzig, 1989

Series

Works by Friedrich Dürrenmatt

The Physicists (1962) 1,911 copies
The Judge and His Hangman (1950) — Author — 1,716 copies
The Visit (1956) — Author — 1,418 copies
The Pledge (1958) — Author — 1,118 copies
The Quarry (1953) 640 copies
Traps (1956) 388 copies
The Execution of Justice (1985) — Author — 357 copies
The Judge and his Hangman / The Quarry (1950) — Author — 294 copies
Once a Greek (1955) — Author — 249 copies
Romulus the Great (1958) — Author — 246 copies
La morte della Pizia (1976) — Author — 132 copies
The valley of confusion (1989) 117 copies
Racconti (1994) 90 copies
Il minotauro (1987) — Author — 86 copies
Der Hund. Der Tunnel. Die Panne (1980) — Author — 81 copies
An Angel Comes to Babylon (1957) — Author — 59 copies
His Five Novels (1985) — Author — 54 copies
The Meteor (1966) — Author — 50 copies
The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi (1952) — Author — 45 copies
Der Mitmacher (1980) 37 copies
Play Strindberg (1969) — Author — 37 copies
Turmbau. Stoffe 4 - 9 (1990) 30 copies
La caduta (1971) — Author — 28 copies
Il tunnel (1952) — Author — 24 copies
Die Frist (1977) 22 copies
Die Kriminalromane (1952) 21 copies
Labyrinth. Turmbau. Stoffe I - IX. (1998) — Author — 19 copies
Oedipus (1987) 18 copies
La morte di Socrate (1992) 17 copies
Urfaust / Woyzeck (1980) 15 copies
Meine Schweiz: Ein Lesebuch (1998) 15 copies
Literatur und Kunst (1998) 12 copies
Die Stadt (1974) — Author — 12 copies
Four plays, 1957-62 (1964) — Author — 12 copies
Teatro (1975) 12 copies
Erzählungen (1986) 11 copies
Episode on an Autumn Evening (1959) — Author — 11 copies
Theaterprobleme (1955) 11 copies
Der Winterkrieg in Tibet (1983) 10 copies
Radiodrammi (1997) 10 copies
Gedankenfuge (1992) 9 copies
Versuche (1988) 9 copies
Denkanstöße (1989) 9 copies
Komödien I (1967) 9 copies
Das Dürrenmatt Lesebuch. (1978) 9 copies
Meistererzählungen. (1992) 9 copies
The Possible is Monstrous (2010) 8 copies
Romanzi e racconti (1993) 8 copies
The Judge and His Hangman / A Dangerous Game (1964) — Author — 8 copies
Politik (1998) 8 copies
Kritik (1998) 8 copies
Das Unternehmen der Wega (1958) 8 copies
De val ; Pech ; Smithy (2018) 8 copies
Drei Horspiele (1965) 8 copies
Stoffe : I-III (1981) 8 copies
Der Gedankenschlosser (1982) 7 copies
Pour Vaclav Havel (1997) 7 copies
Le scintille del pensiero (2003) 6 copies
Detective omnibus (1985) — Author — 5 copies
Die Stücke (2015) 5 copies
Versuche (1988) 5 copies
Porträt eines Planeten. (1971) 5 copies
Tõotus 5 copies
Drámák (1977) 5 copies
Die panne and der tunnel (1970) — Author — 5 copies
La Panne - Le Juge et son Bourreau - Le Soupçon (1996) — Author — 4 copies
The Happy Pessimist (1997) 4 copies
Eclissi di luna 4 copies
Romulus (1963) 4 copies
La Valletta dell'Eremo (2002) 4 copies
Babil Kulesi (1998) 3 copies
La promesse (2023) 3 copies
Romans (1980) 3 copies
Meisterdramen 3 copies
Komödien (1968) 2 copies
JUSTICA (1987) 2 copies
Fizikciler (2015) 2 copies
Aufenthalt in einer kleinen Stadt — Author — 2 copies
Pilatus 2 copies
Sein Leben in Bildern (2011) 2 copies
A vak 2 copies
Das Versprechen — Author — 2 copies
ˆIl ‰cieco (2022) — Author — 2 copies
4 Hörspiele 2 copies
La mise en oeuvres (1996) 2 copies
TİYATRONUN SORUNLARI (1995) 1 copy
Fous de Dieu (Les) (2018) 1 copy
Albert Einstein (1996) 1 copy
The Pledge 1 copy
The Visit 1 copy
Die Stadt 1 copy
Yemin (2015) 1 copy
The Sausage 1 copy
Le joueur d'échecs (2021) 1 copy
Yargıç ve Celladı (2018) 1 copy
Stücke 1 copy
Suspeita, A 1 copy
1980 1 copy
Komödien. 2 1 copy
Komödien III. (1970) 1 copy
Friedrich Durrenmatt works — Author — 1 copy
Erzählungen Stories (1964) 1 copy
Prometeo (2012) 1 copy
Downfall — Author — 1 copy
Theater 1 copy
Le collaborateur (2014) 1 copy
5 her 1 copy
Der Tunnel, 1 Audio-CD (2003) 1 copy
Romane 1 copy
Sur Israël (1977) 1 copy
I Fisici 1 copy
Il complice 1 copy
La panne 1 copy
Hry (2006) 1 copy
5 томов 1 copy

Associated Works

Nine Plays of the Modern Theater (1981) — Contributor — 182 copies
Black Water 2: More Tales of the Fantastic (1990) — Contributor — 152 copies
Granta 35: An Unbearable Peace (1991) — Contributor — 139 copies
One World of Literature (1992) — Contributor — 24 copies
Briefe (German Edition) (1999) — Contributor — 2 copies
Poesie : Hebräisch, Deutsch — Translator — 1 copy
Veduten und Figuren — Foreword — 1 copy

Tagged

20th century (165) anthology (53) Belletristik (107) classic (100) classics (39) comedy (64) crime (164) crime fiction (137) detective (52) drama (428) Dürrenmatt (53) european literature (38) fiction (568) Friedrich Dürrenmatt (40) German (484) German fiction (45) German language (49) German literature (413) Germany (44) literature (268) murder (29) mystery (147) narrativa (64) novel (160) own (29) paperback (31) play (145) plays (163) prose (31) read (90) Roman (133) short stories (65) Swiss (104) Swiss literature (215) Switzerland (323) Theaterstück (35) theatre (247) to-read (234) translation (37) unread (52)

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

Went on a bit too much in parts of the third act, otherwise really good.
½
 
Flagged
blueskygreentrees | 13 other reviews | Mar 1, 2024 |
Wunderbar morbides und grotesken Buch
 
Flagged
Maxim2 | 13 other reviews | Nov 15, 2023 |
Splendido - dall'interpretazione del mito, alla forma del testo, all'intreccio delle immagini di questa edizione.

Breve da leggere, lungo da digerire.
 
Flagged
kenshin79 | 6 other reviews | Jul 25, 2023 |

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Statistics

Works
369
Also by
14
Members
11,727
Popularity
#2,006
Rating
3.9
Reviews
147
ISBNs
729
Languages
27
Favorited
54

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