Details

ISBN-10: 1913097447
ISBN-13: 9781913097448
Publisher: Fitzcarraldo Editions
Publish Date: 05/18/2021
Dimensions: 8.00" L, 5.00" W, 1.00" H

Rein Gold

Translator: Gitta Honegger

Paperback

Price: $17.95

Overview

Originally written as a libretto for the Berlin State Opera, Elfriede Jelinek’s rein GOLD reconstructs the events of Wagner’s epic Ring cycle and extends them into the present day. Brünnhilde diagnoses Wotan, father of the gods, to be a victim of capitalism because he, too, has fallen into the trap of wanting to own a castle he cannot afford. In a series of monologues, Brünnhilde and Wotan chart the evolution of capitalism from the Nibelungen Saga to the 2008 financial crisis. Written with her trademark ‘extraordinary linguistic zeal’ (Swedish Academy), rein GOLD is a playful and ferocious critique of universal greed by the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate.

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Reviews

'Translated with verve by Gitta Honegger, [rein GOLD] becomes a series of monologues without paragraph breaks: a frequent discordant assault on the senses. A visceral challenge to lazy and pernicious consumerism [...] Brünnhilde and Wotan may have the names of gods, but they play down and dirty, their lengthy slanging match ripe with expletives and references to popular culture and Marxist and anarchist theory, the most obvious being Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's slogan "Property is theft." [...] Jelinek's critique is simultaneously timely and timeless, as Brünnhilde and Wotan's arguments and digressions map capitalism's progression.'
– Catherine Taylor, Financial Times

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Details

ISBN-10: 1913097447
ISBN-13: 9781913097448
Publisher: Fitzcarraldo Editions
Publish Date: 05/18/2021
Dimensions: 8.00" L, 5.00" W, 1.00" H
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