The Eternal Philistine (Neversink)

Many agree that the new Neversink collection is keen and refreshing, and I would further suggest that this title is one of the most intriguing in the series so far. I was not familiar with von Horvath until now; thanks to the inspired up-to-the-moment translation by Benjamin Dorvel, it is possible to enter and scrutinize another era of uncertain outcomes and social upheaval (as opposed to this one!). In this sense "The Eternal Philistine" is consistent with other books from this period written by Doblin, Fallada or Zweig. Here the satire falls on the middle class alone: all the characters are self-interested and aimless offshoots of consumption, unprepared for the manipulations of their new rulers (ca. 1929 Deutschland) and dimly aware of the underclass except as a threat to their stability. 'The Workers' are often invoked as a bogeyman, and the dialogue around this topic is often sublimely comical. von Horvath's rendering of his characters is not exactly multi-dimensional, but he does succeed at putting across some very poignant observations through their offhand remarks. For example:"We German conservatives have got to bring the French conservatives into the country so that they can whip this republic into shape--France has got the military might to put every German worker up against the wall--and apres we should import coolies from China who wouldn't need more than a handful of rice a day". And then he added laughingly, "Of course I'm only joking!"I think a lot of new readers will be won over by the author's deft humor, and lest it seem too dark for those of you looking for a break from pessimism, I can assure you that von Horvath succeeds in providing an oddly (but acceptably) upbeat finale to this capricious novel.