Thomas Bernhard is one of the greatest twentieth-century writers in the German language. "Extinction, " his last novel, takes the form of the autobiographical testimony of Franz-Josef Murau. The intellectual black sheep of a powerful Austrian land-owning family, Murau lives in Rome in self-exile. Obsessed and angry with his identity as an Austrian, he resolves never to return to the family estate of Wolfsegg. But when news comes of his parents' deaths, he finds himself master of Wolfsegg and must decide its fate.Written in Bernhard's seamless style, "Extinction" is the ultimate proof of his extraordinary literary genius.
"Strangely gripping. The glue that holds his remarkable novel together is the unique virtuosity of his imaginative prose, a highly original kind of writing that resembles musical patterns of theme, variations and recapitulation." --Steve Dowden, "Washington Times"
"With a breathtaking sustained intensity . . . Bernhard assaults through the voice of Murau the modern world as exemplified by his birthplace, Austria." --Thomas McGonigle, "Chicago Tribune Books"
"Perfectly balanced and continually interesting. . . . The particular fineness of Extinction lies in its depiction of a consciousness in action." --Michael Dirda, "Washington Post Book World"
- ISBN10 0140186824
- ISBN13 9780140186826
- Publish Date 26 September 1996 (first published 1 September 1995)
- Publish Status Unknown
- Out of Print 4 January 2002
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
- Edition New edition
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 352
- Language English