The Old King in His Exile

by Arno Geiger

Other authorsStefan Tobler (Translator)

Paperback, 2017

Status

Available

Call number

362.1989768310092

Genres

Biography & Memoir

Biography

Nonfiction

Collections

Biography/Memoir, Non-Fiction

Publication

And Other Stories (2017)

Description

International Bestseller Shortlisted for the Helen and Kurt Wolff Prize and Schlegel-Tieck Prize What makes us who we are? Arno Geiger's father was never an easy man to know and when he developed Alzheimer's, Arno realised he was not going to ask for help. "As my father can no longer cross the bridge into my world, I have to go over to his." So Arno sets out on a journey to get to know him at last. Born in 1926 in the Austrian Alps, into a farming family who had an orchard, kept three cows, and made schnapps in the cellar, his father was conscripted into World War II as a "schoolboy soldier" - an experience he rarely spoke about, though it marked him. Striking up a new friendship, Arno walks with him in the village and the landscape they both grew up in and listens to his words, which are often full of unexpected poetry. Through his intelligent, moving and often funny account, we begin to see that whatever happens in old age, a human being retains their past and their character. Translated into nearly 30 languages,The Old King in His Exile will offer solace and insight to anyone coping with a loved one's aging.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member MarthaJeanne

A very moving account of the life of Geiger's father as an old man with Alzheimer's. He portrays not only the changes in his father, but also the accomadations the family has to make to deal with the sickness.

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LibraryThing member Beamis12

The author up with his family in Wolford, Austria. His father always had his quirks, his own way of doing things so when he first started exhibiting strange behavior, the author thought it had to do with stress and the fact that his long marriage to his mother had broken. He freely admits the

family was frustrated and sometimes impatient with these new behaviors. It, of course turned out to be much more serious, Alzheimer disease, and the author had to adjust his own thinking, find a new way to have a relationship with his father. He found a way, by entering into his fathers new reality and getting to know and acknowledge the man he now was.

A very heartfelt book, not written at all emotionally, though of course the situation itself provides its own emotion. Often humorous, the disease moved slowly, his father often said insightful, and meaningful, things about his life as it was now. An interesting look at how a family pulled together Inman time of crisis, some more understanding than others. We also learn of his fathers past life, how he was as a father, a husband.

A lovingly written homage from a son to a father.

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