Status
Available
Genres
Collections
Publication
Kiepenheuer & Witsch GmbH (2005)
Description
"Andreas Pum, having lost his leg in the war, is rewarded with a permit to support himself by playing a barrel organ in the streets. At first the simple-minded veteran is entirely satisfied with his lot, and he even finds a widow to marry. But then a qurrel on a tram turns Andreas's life onto a rapid downward trajectory. As he loses first his beggar's permit, then his new wife, and even his freedom, he is finally provoked into rejecting his blind faith in the benevolence of the powers that govern his life"--Inside jacket.
User reviews
LibraryThing member jwhenderson
Having recently read Joseph Roth's fine short novel, Job (1930), I decided to turn to an even earlier work by him, Rebellion (Die Rebellion), from 1924. It was originally serialized in the German Socialist newspaper "Vorwarts" (Forward), and published in the same year, 1924. This novel along with
Rebellion is the story of young Andreas Pum, a veteran of the Great War who lost a leg but gained a medal for his service. He is a simple man who lives with his friend Willi and plays a hurdy-gurdy. He soon marries the recently widowed Fraulein Blumlich, who, in a scene of melodramatic pathos, deftly elicits his request for her hand in marriage. It is a marriage for which they must wait four weeks to avoid appearing improper; a portent of future disappointments for Andreas. His fortunes take a sudden turn for the worse, set off by a chance altercation with a typical bourgeoisie, Herr Arnold. Andreas soon finds himself facing time in jail. His wife reacts to this by leaving him; he loses his license to perform music, and he even loses his friendly mule(sold by his wife). In jail he experiences a quixotic desire to feed the birds outside his window, but the State, to whom he makes a formal request, will not allow this exception to the rules. The prison doctor who examines him tells him that he should not philosophize: "You should have faith, my friend!"
Things change for the better for his friend Willi whose entrepreneurial instincts awaken and lead him out of poverty; but Andreas is doomed for a bad end. In one of its best moments, the story ends with a dream-like sequence where we experience Andreas' last feelings. He is facing the confusion of the after-life and the wonderment expressed: "Andreas began to cry. He didn't know if he was in Heaven or Hell."
The novel suggests a more radical thinker than Roth would become in his great novels, Job and The Radetzky March. Yet, there are signs of the later Roth, and having recently read Job I see suggestions of the musings of Mendel Singer in the thoughts of young Andreas. Both men have seemingly been betrayed by their God and are trying to deal with their life in his apparent absence. In Andreas' case the rebellion has a resonance with the rebellion so finely depicted in Dostoevsky (esp. The Brothers Karamazov). The result for the reader is a short novel that is long on provocative ideas that linger in the mind.
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The Spider's Web and Hotel Savoy make up what is considered Roth's early period.Rebellion is the story of young Andreas Pum, a veteran of the Great War who lost a leg but gained a medal for his service. He is a simple man who lives with his friend Willi and plays a hurdy-gurdy. He soon marries the recently widowed Fraulein Blumlich, who, in a scene of melodramatic pathos, deftly elicits his request for her hand in marriage. It is a marriage for which they must wait four weeks to avoid appearing improper; a portent of future disappointments for Andreas. His fortunes take a sudden turn for the worse, set off by a chance altercation with a typical bourgeoisie, Herr Arnold. Andreas soon finds himself facing time in jail. His wife reacts to this by leaving him; he loses his license to perform music, and he even loses his friendly mule(sold by his wife). In jail he experiences a quixotic desire to feed the birds outside his window, but the State, to whom he makes a formal request, will not allow this exception to the rules. The prison doctor who examines him tells him that he should not philosophize: "You should have faith, my friend!"
Things change for the better for his friend Willi whose entrepreneurial instincts awaken and lead him out of poverty; but Andreas is doomed for a bad end. In one of its best moments, the story ends with a dream-like sequence where we experience Andreas' last feelings. He is facing the confusion of the after-life and the wonderment expressed: "Andreas began to cry. He didn't know if he was in Heaven or Hell."
The novel suggests a more radical thinker than Roth would become in his great novels, Job and The Radetzky March. Yet, there are signs of the later Roth, and having recently read Job I see suggestions of the musings of Mendel Singer in the thoughts of young Andreas. Both men have seemingly been betrayed by their God and are trying to deal with their life in his apparent absence. In Andreas' case the rebellion has a resonance with the rebellion so finely depicted in Dostoevsky (esp. The Brothers Karamazov). The result for the reader is a short novel that is long on provocative ideas that linger in the mind.
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LibraryThing member vaellus
World War veteran's self-righteous peg-leggedness propels the drama. The protagonist is not a sage, but he does play a barrel organ while he finds out about the other side of the coin. This novel is somewhat akin to Kafka's Trial in its theme but it is more mundanely anchored as a story. It is also
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more sympathetic. Rebellion is not the masterpiece that is Roth's Radetzky March, but nevertheless it hints at the author's ability to write that masterpiece eight years later. Roth's writing is self-effacingly elegant as always. Show Less
LibraryThing member PaulDalton
This is the 11th book by Joseph Roth I have read, not counting the short stories and feuilletons. Here they are ranked -loosely - from 1 to 11:
The Radetzky March
Job
Weights and Measures
The String of Pearls
Rebellion
The Legend of the Holy Drinker
Hotel Savoy
Zipper and his Father
The Silent Prophet
The
The Spiders Web
Roth is always worth reading. Even in the less successful books, the ones that he dashed off in a hurry when he was short of cash, there are the most surprising insights and beautiful turns of phrase waiting around every corner.
The Radetzky March
Job
Weights and Measures
The String of Pearls
Rebellion
The Legend of the Holy Drinker
Hotel Savoy
Zipper and his Father
The Silent Prophet
The
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Emperor's TombThe Spiders Web
Roth is always worth reading. Even in the less successful books, the ones that he dashed off in a hurry when he was short of cash, there are the most surprising insights and beautiful turns of phrase waiting around every corner.
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Subjects
Awards
Language
Original language
German
Original publication date
1924 (original German)
ISBN
346203636X / 9783462036367