Rebellion

From Joseph Roth, an allegorical yet decidedly modern novelist, comes this story of postwar disillusion, the limits of faith, and "personal fate as governed by the blind, casual workings of a machine controlled by no one and for which no one is responsible" (The New York Times).

When Andreas Pum returns from World War I, he has lost a leg but gained a medal. But unlike his fellow sufferers, Pum maintains his unswerving faith in God, Government, and Authority. Ironically, after a dispute, Pum is imprisoned as a rebel, and all that he believed in is now thrown into upheaval. Moving along at a breakneck clip, Rebellion captures the cynicism and upheavals of a postwar society. Its jazz-like cadences mix with social commentary to create a wise parable about justice and society.

From Joseph Roth, an allegorical yet decidedly modern novelist, comes this story of postwar disillusion, the limits of faith, and "personal fate as governed by the blind, casual workings of a machine controlled by no one and for which no one is responsible" (The New York Times).

When Andreas Pum returns from World War I, he has lost a leg but gained a medal. But unlike his fellow sufferers, Pum maintains his unswerving faith in God, Government, and Authority. Ironically, after a dispute, Pum is imprisoned as a rebel, and all that he believed in is now thrown into upheaval. Moving along at a breakneck clip, Rebellion captures the cynicism and upheavals of a postwar society. Its jazz-like cadences mix with social commentary to create a wise parable about justice and society.

Library Journal

Roth, author of Hotel Savoy and The Radetzky March, is perhaps the least known of the important Jewish writers of this century. This is the third of his 11 novels; its publication, according to the translator, brings all of Roth's oeuvre into print in English. Rebellion is the story of war casualty Andreas Pum, whose loss of a leg is rewarded only with a medal and a permit to play the hurdy-gurdy in the street. At first, all goes well, but one day he crosses a prominent burgher and is arrested. His permit is revoked, his new wife rejects him, and after a stint in jail his life deteriorates, ending in death. First published in 1924, Roth's book is full of pathos, charm, and stock but still ridiculous characters; it is essential for those who enjoy Jewish, German, and Eastern European literature of the early part of the century. Highly recommended.--Harold Augenbraum, Mercantile Lib. of New York Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Joseph Roth was born in Galicia in 1894. He worked as a journalist in Vienna and Berlin until Hitler's rise to power. In 1933, he fled to Paris, where he joined a growing community of exiled intellectuals. He died there in 1939.

Michael Hofmann is a poet and frequent contributor to The New York Times Book Review, and is widely regarded as one of the world's foremost translators of works from German to English. He lives in London.