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A Novel
by Hans Keilson
Paperback. Written while Hans Keilson was in hiding during World War II, The Death of the Adversary is the self-portrait of a young man helplessly fascinated by an unnamed "adversary" whom he watches rise to power in 1930s Germany. It is a tale of horror, not only in its evocation of Hitler’s gathering menace but also in its hero’s desperate attempt to discover logic where none exists. A psychological fable as wry and haunting as Badenheim 1939, The Death of the Adversary is a lost classic of modern fiction.
"Starred Review. A novel of psychological devastation, where the unthinkable and unspeakable exist offstage." - Kirkus Reviews
This information about The Death of the Adversary was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Born in Berlin in 1909, Hans Keilson published his first novel in 1934. During World War II he joined the Dutch resistance. Later, as a psychoanalyst, he pioneered the treatment of war trauma in children. In 2008 he received the Die Welt Literature Prize. He lives with his wife in Bussum, near Amsterdam.
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