Man in the Holocene by Max Frisch

The parabolic novella Man in the Holocene (1979) is one of Max Frisch’s later works. A distinctive feature of this book’s style are the reprinted cutouts, that the protagonist, Mr. Geiser, cut out of several encyclopedias (on the meta-level). This trick gives us an insight into lonely Mr. Geiser’s world and lets this very atmospheric novella seem even more real (it "proves" fiction). The structure of the sentences is atmospheric, too. There are many breaks that structure the plot. The reader feels the slow sense of time and the mood Geiser has. This way, the silence of this rainy Tessin mountain village is captured very well.

The 2657th greatest fiction book of all time


This book is on the following lists:

  1. - Donald Barthelme’s Reading List (Believer Mag)

Buy This Book

Name Binding Sales Rank Lowest New Lowest Used Published
Man in the Holocene Hardcover 2600139 $251.26 $24.24 1980
Man in the Holocene: A story Paperback 4304958 $46.29 $0.01
Man In The Holocene (Harvest Book) Kindle Edition 356438 $9.99 1994
Man in the Holocene (A Harvest Book) Paperback 763083 $12.01 $1.49 1994
Man in the Holocene Paperback 962123 $8.19 $3.24 2007