{"title":"Robert Walser","description":"\u003cp\u003eRobert Walser's works invite readers into a delicate world where subtle humour and profound observation intertwine. From the whimsical scenes of \u003cem\u003eComedies\u003c\/em\u003e to the introspective journey in \u003cem\u003eJakob von Gunten\u003c\/em\u003e, his storytelling captures the nuances of human experience with lyrical precision.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlurring the boundaries between prose and poetry, Walser’s writing often reflects on art and everyday moments, as seen in \u003cem\u003eLooking at Pictures\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Poems\u003c\/em\u003e. This collection offers a unique blend of \u003cstrong\u003eGeneral Fiction\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eArts \u0026amp; Culture\u003c\/strong\u003e that continues to inspire and challenge conventional literary forms.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"jakob-von-gunten-by-robert-walser-9781788164504","title":"Jakob von Gunten","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Institut Benjamenta: a school of humility for the unambitious. The young Jakob von Gunten arrives at this most curious of educational establishments with the goal of becoming \u003cem\u003e'something very small and subordinate later in life'\u003c\/em\u003e, a goal he sets about achieving with laconic dedication and wry detachment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIrony, scepticism, absurd images and sensations, disconcerting humour, minor humiliations and minute observations mingle to form one of the signature works of twentieth-century fiction. First published in 1908, a forerunner to and key influence on the work of writers such as Franz Kafka and Thomas Bernhard, Robert Walser's masterpiece is a paean to infinitesimal unimportance, a celebration of the marginal life that is the life of the mind.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46531731947756,"sku":"9781788164504","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/18174083482824.jpg?v=1749282768"},{"product_id":"the-poems-by-robert-walser-9781803090696","title":"The Poems","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe first complete publication of Robert Walser’s poems translated into English.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAdmired by the likes of Kafka, Musil, and Walter Benjamin and acclaimed as “unforgettable, heart-rending” by J. M. Coetzee, Swiss writer Robert Walser (1878–1956) remains one of the most influential authors of modern literature. Walser left school at fourteen and led a wandering and precarious existence while producing poems, stories, essays, and novels. In 1933, he abandoned writing and entered a sanatorium, where he remained for the rest of his life. “I am not here to write,” Walser said, “but to be mad.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis first collection of Walser’s poems in English translation allows English-speaking readers to experience the author as he saw himself at the beginning and the end of his literary career––as a poet. The book also includes notes on dates of composition, draft versions of the printed poems, and brief biographical information on characters and locations that appear in the poems and may not be known to readers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFew writers have ever experienced such a steady rise in their reputation and public profile as Walser has seen in recent years, and this collection of his poems will help readers discover a unique writer whose off-kilter sensibility and innovations in form are perfectly suited to our fragmented, distracted, bewildering era.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47433010118892,"sku":"9781803090696","price":66.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781803090696.jpg?v=1774765827"},{"product_id":"comedies-by-james-reidel-9781803090498","title":"Comedies","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThis book brings English-language readers works by Walser in a rare form: dramolette.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFew writers have ever experienced such a steady rise in their reputation and public profile as Swiss writer Robert Walser (1878–1956) has seen in recent years. As more of his previously little-known work has been translated into English, readers have discovered a unique writer whose off-kilter sensibility and innovations in form are perfectly suited to our fragmented, distracted, bewildering era.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe short plays presented here, inspired by the German theatre Walser enjoyed in his youth, while never meant to be performed, present scenes, characters, and situations that comment on the brutality of fairy tales, the impossibilities of love, the dark fate of the Christ child (and Walser himself), and more. At the same time, like all of Walser’s work, they are infused with a humour that is wholly genuine despite its shades of darkness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGathering all of Walser’s plays, as well as his later, fragmentary dramatic writings, \u003cem\u003eComedies\u003c\/em\u003e will be celebrated by the many devoted fans of this lately rediscovered master.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47455536709868,"sku":"9781803090498","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/61bbn-iOAdL._SL1500.jpg?v=1774780498"},{"product_id":"looking-at-pictures-by-robert-walser-9780811224246","title":"Looking at Pictures","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA beautiful and elegant collection, with gorgeous full-colour art reproductions, \u003cem\u003eLooking at Pictures\u003c\/em\u003e presents a little-known side of the eccentric Swiss genius: his great writings on art.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHis essays consider Van Gogh, Cezanne, Rembrandt, Cranach, Watteau, Fragonard, Brueghel and his own brother Karl. They also discuss general topics such as the character of the artist and of the dilettante, as well as the differences between painters and poets.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEvery piece is marked by Walser's unique eye, his delicate sensitivity, and his very particular sensibilities—and all are touched by his magic screwball wit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47596794183916,"sku":"9780811224246","price":47.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780811224246-looking-at-pictures.jpg?v=1777942139"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/robert-walser.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}