Eumeswil
 Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Ernst Jünger |
|---|---|
| Translator | Joachim Neugroschel |
| Cover artist | Heinz Edelmann |
| Country | West Germany |
| Language | German |
| Publisher | Klett-Cotta |
Publication date | 1977 |
Published in English | 1993 |
| Pages | 434 |
| ISBN | 9783129041703 |
Eumeswil is a 1977 novel by the German author Ernst Jünger. The narrative is set in an undatable post-apocalyptic world, somewhere in present-day Morocco. It follows the inner and outer life of Manuel Venator, an historian in the city-state of Eumeswil who also holds a part-time job in the night bar of Eumeswil's ruling tyrant, the Condor.[1] The book was published in English in 1993, translated by Joachim Neugroschel.[2]
Themes
The key theme in the novel is the figure of the anarch, the inwardly-free individual who lives quietly and dispassionately within but not of society and the world. As Jünger says in the book, the anarch is the positive counterpart of the insurrectional anarchist. The concept of the anarch is developed explicitly and implicitly throughout the novel through the reflections and actions of Manuel Venator. Venator and the anarch may be considered as autobiographical reflections of the author himself.
Reception
Publishers Weekly reviewed the book in 1994: "In this acute if labyrinthine study of a compromised individual, [Jünger] telescopes past and present, playing over the sweep of Western history and culture with a dazzling range of allusions from Homer and Nero to Poe and Lenin, displaying his erudition but failing to ignite the reader's engaged interest."[3]
References
- ↑ Booklist, John Schreffler
- ↑ "Eumeswil". WorldCat. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
- ↑ Publisher's Weekly Review 1994-05-09 http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-941419-97-0
External links
- Blog discussing and exploring Jünger´s anarch through excerpts from Eumeswil
- Association Eumeswil, a Florentine cultural association dedicated to the study of Ernst Jünger´s life and works.