Hans Henny Jahnn: Perrudja

[Mirabell]

This is novel crawling with sex and violence. It?s about modernity, myth and masculinity. Can you believe no-one wanted to buy this huge and brilliant novel when it came out originally? I can?t, but here?s the deal. I?m biased, I guess. I love, cherish and admire Hans Henny Jahnn like few other writers. I think that he is, along with D?blin and Feuchtwanger, the greatest German novelist of the first half of the 20th century. He was also an accomplished playwright (see this blog next week for more news on that). When he wrote and published Perrudja, he was known as the infamous author of two scandalous plays. Perrudja took a long while to gestate, and almost as long to get published. And when it was published, few people bought it. (...) Perrudja is a harrowing novel that leads us deep not into the darkness behind civilization, but the darkness civilization is made of. Joyce, whose influence on Perrudja is palpable, might have been a paragon in this, as well. Jahnn, together with geniuses like D?blin, was clearly engaged in trying to create the conscience of his race.

Abyss: Hans Henny Jahnn’s ?Perrudja? shigekuni.


This has not been translated into English yet, I think. But into French.

[titania7]

This has not been translated into English yet

M.,
Damn. That means I can't read it until I learn German and/or French. Impressive review, by the way. Very comprehensive. Jahnn sounds like a powerful author. It's no wonder he is one of your favorites. From how you describe Perrudja in your review, I, too, can see why some people might find it overwhelming. This particular statement you made stood out:

No matter how much we may retreat, we are always, to an extent, complicit in the things we don't try to stop. Running away does not absolve you of things.

This is an issue I have examined, and, ultimately, I concur with your opinion. However, it's tricky subject, and one that Hannah Arendt explores in much of her work. I think it's usually difficult to admit that we are guilty in a situation in which we don't take a necessarily active role. Perrudja's incredulity at finding out that he is master of over a "hundred million slaves" is not surprising. I would imagine he must also have a significant amount of difficulty coming to terms with the fact that he was part of a system that brought about a large number of atrocities. It's interesting to think of Perrudja as a "not-hero." If his wife considers him to be a not-hero, as opposed to a hero, whom she describes as someone who "acts upon desires and makes them come true," it would be intriguing to find out how she would define an "anti-hero," and what distinction she (and perhaps critics of this book) would make between the two terms: not-hero and anti-hero. Any thoughts on this?

yours,
Titania