Ere the Cock Crows
Jens Bjørneboe; translated by Esther Greenleaf Mürer
Ere the Cock Crows
Price: $30.00 pbk. World Literature, Translation 6x9; 275 p. ISBN: 9781642510294 |
"...a thoughtful and affecting novel about the psychological impacts of Nazism."--Clarion 5-star review, Foreword Reviews
"Ere the Cock Crows is of interest not just to scholars, but to any reader interested in the struggle between good and evil in every human soul."--Write Now Philly “…the material is relevant for an America that has recently passed through a traumatizing period—one that has provided a warning of how the strategies of fascist and racist regimes of the past can be introduced like a contagion into a democratic culture. Ere the Cock Crows is an artistic rendering of a worst-case scenario, of the institutionalization of cruelty under the auspices of the state. It’s a danger alive in the present.”—from the Foreword by Joe Martin, Johns Hopkins University Norwegian author Jens Bjørneboe's chilling novel follows the ethical quandaries--or not--of Germans involved in Nazi concentration camps and human medical experiments in World War II. Dr. Reynhardt rejects Nazi ideology, while compartmentalizing his life as a loving family man and his work on horrific medical experiments performed on prisoners of war. Head of camp Heidenbrand is more self-aware of his Nazi complicity and his reasons for doing so--his own drive for power and wealth. The situation is complicated by the arrival at the camp of Samuel, a Jewish prisoner and childhood friend of both Reynhardt and Heidenbrand. Themes of man's inhumanity to man, the ethics of modern science, and the responsibilities inherent in free will are explored, presaging concerns that continue throughout Bjørneboe's body of work. Originally written as a play but eventually published as a novel, this first English-language edition includes a re-creation of the original play by the translator. About the Author
Jens Bjørneboe (1920-1976) was a Norwegian poet, playwright, essayist, and novelist who was arguably one of the most important writers of the mid-twentieth century. He was also a visual artist, a Waldorf School teacher, and a renowned social critic. Although little known in the English-speaking world, his work has been translated into a number of European and world languages and remains highly regarded in Scandinavia. His last major work was The Sharks (Haiene, 1974) and his most critically acclaimed were the three volumes making up The History of Bestiality trilogy; all have been translated into English by Esther Greenleaf Mürer. About the Translator Esther Greenleaf Mürer is a poet and translator who resides in Philadelphia. She has previously translated Bjørneboe’s novels The Sharks (Norvik, 1992), Moment of Freedom (Norvik/Dufour, 1999), Powerhouse (Norvik/Dufour, 2000), and The Silence (Norvik/Dufour, 2000) as well as a number of his essays and poems. She was responsible for the “Jens Bjørneboe in English” website, which was the premiere source of information about Jens Bjørneboe written in English and included translations of his poetry, essays, and excerpts of other works. |
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