Patrick Suskind: The Pigeon

I had never heard of this until I saw it on the shelves of an English colleague..and what a marvellous little find. Only knowing Perfume, it was fascinating to see how S's trademark vied style and bleakly spur view of humanity worked in a small scale. As with Perfume, is is the story of an outsider..an Everyman and yet not an Everyman. The central character is someone who feels he has his life in order and this is a fable (?) about how this can suddenly be disputed..not by an event of cosmic significance but by the most minor event or act possible...in this case a pigeon sitting on the floor outside of an apartment. This baldly stated makes no sense or seems merely bizarre, but what S does with this is remarkable. We are given a picture of a man's entire life, his work, his relationships his sense of self (and this latter is probably one of the most central and important aspects of the novella) The descriptions are as superb as ever often with an Orwellian disgust at the world physical. In many respects there are reflections of Down and Out in Paris and London.

Superb.