Schopenhauer's Telescope

by Gerard Donovan

Book Overview

Digging a grave during a European civil war, two men share their experiences and draw conclusions about why the history of civilization is inseparable from the history of mass violence. In an unnamed European village, in the middle of a civil war, one man digs while another watches over him. Slowly, they begin to talk. Over the course of the afternoon, as the snow falls and truckloads of villagers are corralled in the next field, we discover why they...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1582433100
• ISBN13: 9781582433103
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: Counterpoint LLC
• Length: 306 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful, yet different

I bought this book over a year ago and didn't get around to reading it until this Thanksgiving. I'm glad I did! What a great novel! Donovan draws you in from the first page and doesn't let go. The story is so much more than a tale of a war-stricken country. It dives deep into the complex nature of humans. The concept of Schopenhauer's Telescope is new to me (you dont' find out what Schopenhauer's Telescope is until 2/3 into the book), but is something that will not escape me anytime soon. This book will make you think about, reflect upon, and thoughtfullly consider many topics that don't come up in day to day conversation. The book itself is like a diary, with the author revealing a dark secret every few pages. Highly recommended to all.

Evil in history from both ends of the telescope

Gerard Donovan's debut novel "Schopenhauer's Telescope (ST)" is an impressive literary work of fiction that was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Set somewhere unidentified in Eastern Europe, the smell of death, destruction and ethnic cleansing permeates the air from its opening pages. You know something evil is about to happen and shortly - the chapters are structured by the hours of a day - but you don't know why and to whom. Donovan keeps you guessing till the very end. The novel pans out as a stagy two man dialogue about the history of evil in world civilisation. Throughout the ages, evil has been perpetrated and justified in the name of religion, trade, even progress, but what remains are the ashes of human suffering and destruction that gets lost in the annals of recorded history. The telescope of the book's title, a metaphor of great power and resonance, peered into from back to front gives a totally different view of the living truth of history. The baker and the schoolteacher. One commands the other to dig a trench in the icy winds out in the wintry open. Who's doing what to whom. We can only guess. The baker's knowledge of life is defined and circumscribed by his craft and his instinct to survive . He has no soul. The schoolteacher is a learned man but he has experienced love and suffers for it. As the hours lapse and time inevitably runs out, something does happen and we will know why.ST is an incredibly moving piece of work of surprising depth and maturity. It is a thinking man's novel that raises many thought provoking issues about evil, life and love. One of best new novels I have read this year.

Turn the Telescope on yourself

While never leaving the field, the snow and the ever growing hole, we the reader are taken on a journey through time and minds. Using the words of the Teacher and the Baker, we are transported to different times and different settings. Not just narratives of days gone by, but 'scenes' generated by a combination of facts from history and imaginative deliveries. From acted out documentaries, to plays, to a trial where the the the judge, plaintiff, witnesses and defendant are all wonderfully portrayed by the baker and the Teacher. Different ways of presenting the philosophies and events that have lead to the discussion of why the history of civilization is inseparable from the history of mass violence. The novel is spoken through the eyes of the Baker. We see the tensions and philosophical differences between himself and the Teacher. We experience each others struggles to enlighten the other on the ways of life as they see it. The stylization of Donovan's writing is simply beautiful. While reading this book I wanted to post numerous excerpts for all to see. I refrained from doing so simply because I would have recreated the novel and by breaking up the passages, would have done a great injustice to the prose that is found within these pages. Ok, so I will post one passage here:Hardly a day for momentous events, and anything written in the book of history about today would be erased by fat grey clouds that shed cold crystals everywhere and anywhere, on the pine trees, on the lights and spires of the town visible a mile away in the dim morning light. This was a day to hide things in. The gusty wind found every footprint and filled it in, along with its direction, and our presence in the field would leave little impression and even less evidence. In fact, that November 25th offered nothing to the senses to distinguish it from any other winter day in earth's rotation and the rotation of air through every pair of lungs or under every pair of wings. But it's well known that all events have to occur in a day of some kind.I dare not give any hints on the ending of such a novel for it would ruin the excitement of turning each page while in your hands. Because of this I will stop my discussion here.

Focus Your Telescope

There are no hero's in this brilliant and inciteful debut novel, only survivors. But who survives - the living or the dead? That is just one of the many thought-provoking issues raised in the course of one day in a remote snowbound village, in a fictional country too real to be discounted. How strong is the instinct for survival? Can a random moment ignite absolute love? What is knowledge? Is wisdom accrued? How does the unimaginable occur? Who participates? What do we live for? What forms us? Informs us? When they come and knock on your door, how will you answer? Do we ever really know? I completely understand the American Publishing Industry's need to stand back, once again, and allow an important piece of writing to grow on its own. After all, the last thing this culture needs is a lot of people standing around indulging in spontaneous bouts of deep-thinking! Who has the time? Still, taking that into consideration, I respectfully request that this novel be read, processed and discussed by as many people as possible. Just for the hell of it.

A Super Intelligent Thriller

Donovan's first novel easily lives up to the promise of his three award-winning books of poetry. The novel is supremely intelligent, funny, surreal, and a first-rate page-turner. It's not full of huge action set-pieces, but the mystery at the heart of the story is so fraught with tension and dread that I couldn't wait to find out what happens. The constant philosophical banterings between the two main charcters are cleverly presented and never wear out their welcome. This book reminded me of a more readable, meanly humorous Umberto Eco. Donovan is a brainy writer, no doubt, but he knows just when to pull back and let the story flow. Entertaining and thought-provoking, this book deserves to be on anyone's summer reading list.