THE STONE BRIDAL BED

by Harry Mulisch ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 1963

In translation from the Dutch, this cryptic, chimerical small novel is certainly clearest in its larger theme- the generic war guilt which survives in all who were involved and the question of individual responsibility and reparations. The events at hand are certainly more confusing as Dresden is revisited by Norman orinth, from Baltimore, whose scarred face is the external evidence of other traumata. He had bombed this city during the war. Now he meets Hella, a former concentration camp victim (or is she?) and Schneiderhahn, a West German Communist and former concentration camp commandant (or was he?). There are insects which return to the past; symbols- Corinth is a dentist; Hella wears a man's tooth around her neck; and these characters seem to be no more than specters in this present day, postwar no man's land. Both their actions and the author's intentions are obscure.

Pub Date: March 15, 1963

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Abelard-Schuman

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1963

Categories: FICTION