Homo Faber
About the book
Engineer Walter Faber discovers that technical rationality cannot protect him from chance or his own past.
Original title: Homo faber
Europe · A READING GUIDE
Switzerland
Dürrenmatt offers an opening through crime fiction or a play that puts a community’s morality to the test. Frisch questions rational control, while Walser explores the wish to become insignificant. Heidi offers a children’s classic; The Black Spider offers horror. This selection covers German-language Swiss writing and does not claim to represent all of the country’s languages.
WHERE TO START
- Homo FaberMax Frisch
- Jakob von GuntenRobert Walser
- The VisitFriedrich Dürrenmatt
Books to begin with
An editorial selection · not rankedNo matches. Try another language or search term.
Jakob von Gunten
About the book
Young Jakob records his experiences at a school preparing its pupils for service.
The Visit
About the book
Wealthy Claire offers her hometown financial salvation in return for her former lover’s murder.
Original title: Der Besuch der alten Dame
The Judge and His Hangman
About the book
Inspector Bärlach investigates a policeman’s murder while confronting an old adversary.
Original title: Der Richter und sein Henker
Heidi
About the book
A girl raised in the Alps is sent to Frankfurt, where she longs for her mountain home.
Original title: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre; Heidi kann brauchen, was es gelernt hat
The Black Spider
About the book
A tale of a pact with the devil reveals horror buried in a Swiss village’s history.
Original title: Die schwarze Spinne
The Tanners
About the book
The Tanner siblings find their paths through work, unemployment, encounters and separations.
The Assistant
About the book
An inventor’s assistant seeks his place in a household approaching financial ruin.
Context and sources
Sources on authors and their connections to this country. Specific edition details appear beside each book. Polish and English originals are not labelled as translations.
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