W.: A Novel

by Steve Sem-Sandberg Narrated by Adam Gold

Overview

A reimagining of Buechner's classic play Woyzeck, the tale of jealousy, love turned to hate, and murder and its consequences propels this internationally acclaimed novel

The novel W. is a literary prequel to one of modern literature's touchstone texts, the play Woyzeck-the basis of films, operas, and numerous translations and adaptations. Considered the first modern drama, Woyzeck tells the story of a loyal foot soldier who, in a fit of jealous rage, kills the woman he loves. In 1836 this true story inspired Georg Buechner to write the play, unfinished at his death at just 23 years old. W., the astonishing new novel by August Prize-winning author Steve Sem-Sandberg, grippingly recounts the lovers' relationship, the murder case, and the solder's execution, while digging deeper into the world and motivations of the characters.

Taking this classic and enduring work as his starting point, in poetic and controlled prose, Sem-Sandberg reveals a ruthless, moving, and unforgettable story of human vulnerability and the abyss that Buechner felt was a part of every person. Larger forces such as the horrors of war and the dehumanizing nature of psychiatry collide with the soldier's own small world, and love devolves into hatred as Woyzeck desperately and humanly struggles to make something of the life given to him.

Editorial Reviews

(on The Emperor of Lies) - Hilary Mantel

This is fiction of true moral force, brilliantly sustained and achieved.”

Svenska Dagbladet

It’s the collaboration and tension between the reader and Woyzeck, rather than the attempts to find more profound motives, that makes this reading experience so strong.”

Wall Street Journal

Cogent and affecting . . . In Mr. Sem-Sandberg’s fine novel, the tragedy is real but much more specific and conditional. It gives us, the readers, just enough of a loophole to evade its reckonings.

Dagens Nyheter

A sharp and hypersensitive novel about abandonment and violence. It’s a fantastic, spellbinding, and terrifying book.”

From the Publisher

It’s the collaboration and tension between the reader and Woyzeck, rather than the attempts to find more profound motives, that makes this reading experience so strong.”

—Svenska Dagbladet

“A sharp and hypersensitive novel about abandonment and violence. It’s a fantastic, spellbinding, and terrifying book.”

—Dagens Nyheter

“This is fiction of true moral force, brilliantly sustained and achieved.”

—Hilary Mantel, (on The Emperor of Lies)

“Cogent and affecting . . . In Mr. Sem-Sandberg’s fine novel, the tragedy is real but much more specific and conditional. It gives us, the readers, just enough of a loophole to evade its reckonings.” —Wall Street Journal

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175786300
Publisher:	Spotify Audiobooks
Publication date:	06/28/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

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