Tibor Fischer

Per sopravvivere alla guerra e alla dittatura con tutte le proprie facoltà mentali intatte occorrono disincanto, pigrizia, lucida visione delle cose, ma soprattutto un umorismo fulminante e nerissimo che consenta di mantenere tutte le vicende al proprio posto e nelle adeguate proporzioni, in modo da non farsi sopraffare dagli avvenimenti. Ma tutto questo può funzionare fino a quando lo status quo non viene mantenuto, diversamente, quando si assapora un po' di libertà, si finisce show more sopraffatti dall'orrore della propria condizione, e ci sono solo due vie di scampo, morire o andarsene. show less

A hilarious, darkly comic novel about a professor who turns to bank robbing with a one-armed accomplice. This is sort of an existential comedy, with lots of bizarre philosophical musings and digressions. Like all of Fischer's books, it can get a bit precious, but the humor is really gut-busting at points. All of his books are worth checking out, but my least favorite is "Voyage to the End of the Room." This or "Under the Frog" is #1. Both are recommended (but very different)!

If you love philosophy and have an appreciation for the absurd you will probably enjoy this book. Tibor Fischer has written a novel that I found dependable in producing humor evidenced by my smiles and more often than not outright laughter.

The story demonstrates the sublime absurdity of a middle-aged philosopher who is running from his academic publisher and others; and while doing so finds himself in France about to join with a semi-successful thief (the thief has recently been released show more from prison) ultimately entering into a series of adventures. Coffin uses a first-person narration (numbered in sections, like a philosophical treatise) that is not terribly mellifluous, but becomes fun through the use of wisecracks about Epictetus and Zeno--as well as Coffin's unexplained fascination with words that begin with the letter Z. The style gets to you (at least it did for this reader). He juxtaposes intellectual metaphysics and juvenile gangster fantasy as evidenced by the line, ``The thing about a gun is, it's like being on the right side of a Socratic dialogue."

The result of the philosophical and adventurous mish-mash is a delightfully wacky book that has echoes of Tristram Shandy and other books of that sort. Read it at your own philosophical risk. show less

A lot of fun. Feels a little of-its-time, but not necessarily dated. Very strong, convincing voice (better than Amis, with whose early work this book (particularly the earlier parts) must often be compared). Curiously inspiring. Get zet.