THOMAS BERNHARD (1931-1989) was an Austrian novelist, playwright and poet. He originally studied music in Salzburg but in 1957 began a second career writing plays, poems, and novels. The winner of the three most distinguished and coveted literary prizes awarded in Germany, he became one of the most widely translated and prominent writers of his generation.
Bernhard explored death, social injustice, and human misery in controversial literature that was deeply pessimistic about modern civilization in general and Austrian culture in particular. His work is most influenced by the feeling of being abandoned (in his childhood and youth) and by his incurable illness, which caused him to see death as the ultimate essence of existence. He continually deals with the isolation and self-destruction of people striving for an unreachable perfection, since this same perfection would mean stagnancy and therefore death.
Bernhard's main protagonists, often scholars or, as he calls them, Geistesmenschen (intellectuals), denounce everything that matters to the Austrian in contumacy-filled tirades against a "stupid populace". He also attacks the state (often called "Catholic-National-Socialist"), generally respected institutions such as Vienna's Burgtheater, and much-loved artists.
The following books are in ePUB format unless otherwise indicated:
== FICTION ==
* Cheap-Eaters, The (Quartet, 1990). Translated by Ewald Osers. -- PDF
* Concrete (Vintage, 2010). Translated by David McLintock.
* Correction (Vintage, 2010). Translated by Sophie Wilkins.
* Extinction (Vintage, 2011). Translated by David McLintock.
* Frost (Knopf, 2006). Translated by Michael Hofmann.
* Gargoyles (Vintage, 2006). Translated by Richard and Clara Winston.
* Lime Works (Vintage, 2010). Translated by Sophie Wilkins.
* Loser, The (Vintage, 2006). Translated by Jack Dawson.
* Old Masters: A Comedy (Chicago, 1992). Translated by Ewald Osers.
* On the Mountain (Quartet, 1993). Translated by Russell Stockman.
* Walking: A Novella (Chicago, 2015). Translated by Kenneth Northcott.
* Wittgenstein's Nephew (Vintage, 2009). Translated by David McLintock.
* Woodcutters (Vintage, 2010). Translated by David McLintock.
* Yes (Chicago, 1992). Translated by Ewald Osers.
== POETRY & PLAYS ==
* Histrionics: Three Plays (Chicago, 1990). Translated by P. Jansen & K. Northcott. -- PDF
* On Earth and in Hell: Early Poems (Three Rooms, 2015). Translated by Peter Waugh.
== NON-FICTION ==
* Gathering Evidence: A Memoir (Knopf, 1985). Translated by David McLintock. -- PDF
* My Prizes: An Accounting (Knopf, 2010). Translated by Carol Brown Janeway.
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