Publication
New Directions (1995), Edition: Paper edition, 182 pages
Original publication date
1938
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Description
During his long and distinguished career, the Croatian writer Miroslav Krleza (1893-1981) battled against many forms of tyranny. In On the Edge of Reason, his protagonist is a middle-aged lawyer whose life and career have been eminently respectable and respected. One evening, at a party attended by the local elite, he inadvertently blurts out an honest thought. From this moment, all hell breaks loose.... On the Edge of Reason reveals the fundamental chasm between conformity and individuality. As folly piles on folly, hypocrisy on hypocrisy, reason itself begins to give way, and the edge between reality and unreality disappears.
User reviews
LibraryThing member arubabookwoman
"As far as I could gather until I was fifty-two, no one ever heard a discouraging or malicious statement about me. I was, in fact, quite nameless and invisible, so discreet that nobody ever took notice of my existence."
Then the protagonist of this short novel speaks the truth about an important
This novel is a Kafkaesque attack on conformity. While the protagonist has opportunities to recant what he said, and slip back into polite society, he chooses not to, although his comfortable life falls apart.
On an intellectual level, this book was an interesting read. However, on an emotional level I never connected with the main character or with the book as a whole. The plot and characters took second place to "the point" of the story. I need more than a "lesson" from a novel.
Then the protagonist of this short novel speaks the truth about an important
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industrialist--that he is a murderer. His utterance becomes the "fatal experience" that turns his life upside down.This novel is a Kafkaesque attack on conformity. While the protagonist has opportunities to recant what he said, and slip back into polite society, he chooses not to, although his comfortable life falls apart.
On an intellectual level, this book was an interesting read. However, on an emotional level I never connected with the main character or with the book as a whole. The plot and characters took second place to "the point" of the story. I need more than a "lesson" from a novel.
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Language
Original language
Croatian
ISBN
0811213064 / 9780811213066
Physical description
182 p.; 5.2 inches
Pages
182