Once Again for Thucydides
By Peter Handke
1990
First Published
3.69
Average Rating
96
Number of Pages
Once Again for Thucydides is a collection of seventeen “micro-epics” written by Peter Handke on trips around the world, from the Balkans to the Pyrenees, from Salzburg to the sea of Hokkaido in Japan. In each journal, Handke concentrates on small things he observes, trying to capture their essence, their “simple, unadorned validity.” What results is a work of remarkable precision, in which he uncovers the general appearance of random objects––an ash tree, a shoeshine man, hats in a crowd, a boat loading on a pier––and discovers their inner workings and mystery. Always, his writing hints at the unknown. Describing the snow melting in a garden or falling during a train ride through inland Japan, the glowworms illuminating the plains in Friuli, the tidal waters flowing and receding off the Atlantic coast of Spain, these amazing little “epics” reveal a narrator obsessed with the wonders of detail and marveling, as are we, at the scope and variety of the natural world.
Avg Rating
3.69
Number of Ratings
149
5 STARS
26%
4 STARS
30%
3 STARS
34%
2 STARS
9%
1 STARS
2%
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Author
Peter Handke
Author · 46 books
Peter Handke (* 6. Dezember 1942 in Griffen, Kärnten) ist ein österreichischer Schriftsteller und Übersetzer. Peter Handke is an Avant-garde Austrian novelist and playwright. His body of work has been awarded numerous literary prizes, including the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2019. He has also collaborated with German director Wim Wenders, writing the script for The Wrong Move and co-writing the screenplay for Wings of Desire.
