Description

Book Synopsis

''Bernhard is one of the masters of contemporary European fiction''George Steiner

Old Masters (1985) is Thomas Bernhard''s devilishly funny story about the friendship between two old men.

For over thirty years Reger, a music critic, has sat on the same bench in front of a Tintoretto painting in a Viennese museum, thinking and railing against contemporary society, his fellow men, artists, the weather, even the state of public lavatories. His friend Atzbacher has been summoned to meet him, and through his eyes we learn more about Reger - the tragic death of his wife, his thoughts of suicide and, eventually, the true purpose of their appointment. At once pessimistic and exuberant, rancorous and hilarious, Old Masters is a richly satirical portrait of culture, genius, nationhood, class, the value of art and the pretensions of humanity.

Old Masters A Comedy Penguin Modern Classics

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    A Paperback / softback by Thomas Bernhard

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      Book details

      Publisher Penguin Random House Group
      Imprint Penguin Classics
      Published 1 October 2020
      ISBN-13 9780241459423
      978-0241459423
      ISBN-10 0241459427
      Also in:
      Books by Thomas Bernhard

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      ''Bernhard is one of the masters of contemporary European fiction''George Steiner

      Old Masters (1985) is Thomas Bernhard''s devilishly funny story about the friendship between two old men.

      For over thirty years Reger, a music critic, has sat on the same bench in front of a Tintoretto painting in a Viennese museum, thinking and railing against contemporary society, his fellow men, artists, the weather, even the state of public lavatories. His friend Atzbacher has been summoned to meet him, and through his eyes we learn more about Reger - the tragic death of his wife, his thoughts of suicide and, eventually, the true purpose of their appointment. At once pessimistic and exuberant, rancorous and hilarious, Old Masters is a richly satirical portrait of culture, genius, nationhood, class, the value of art and the pretensions of humanity.

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