Nobodaddy's Children: Scenes from the Life of a Faun, Brand's Heath, Dark Mirrors (Collected Early Fiction, 1949-1964 / Arno Schmidt (2))

"Nobodaddy's Children is a trilogy of novels that traces life in Germany from the Nazi era through the postwar years and into an apocalyptic future. Scenes from the Life of a Faun recounts the dreary life of a government worker who escapes the banality of war by researching the exploits of a deserter from the Napoleonic Wars nicknamed The Faun. Brand's Heath deals with the chaos of the immediate postwar period as a writer joins a small community of "survivors" to try to forge a new life, and Dark Mirrors is set in a future where civilization has been virtually destroyed. Dark Mirrors' narrator fears he may be the last man on earth until the discovery of another creates new fears. All three novels are characterized by Schmidt's unique combination of sharply observed details, sarcastic asides, and wide erudition."--BOOK JACKET. Three novellas on Germany from the Nazi era through the postwar years. In Scenes from the Life of a Faun, a civil servant tries to forget the war by researching the exploits of a deserter during the Napoleonic Wars, Brand's Heath is on a returning prisoner-of-war, and in Dark Mirrors the lone survivor of atomic warfare discovers he is not alone, but instead of bringing joy this brings fear. The usual sharply observed detail and sarcastic asides from an erudite writer (1914-1979). By the author of Collected Novellas The first in a four-volume collection of one of the most influential writers of post-World War II Germany, often called the German James Joyce. In Lake Scenery with Pocahontas, he writes: "Think. Don't be content with belief: go further. Once more through the circles of knowledge friends! And foes. Don't interpret: learn and describe. Don't futurize: be. And die without ambitions: you were. At best full of curiosity." Scenes From The Life Of A Faun -- Brand's Heath -- Dark Mirrors. Arno Schmidt ; Translated By John E. Woods. v. 1. Collected novellas v. 2. Nobodaddy's children v. 3. Collected stories v. 4. Two novels.