num_pages: 156
description: In this exuberantly satirical novel, the tutor Atzbacher has been summoned by his friend Reger to meet him in a Viennese museum. While Reger gazes at a Tintoretto portrait, Atzbacher--who fears Reger's plans to kill himself--gives us a portrait of the musicologist: his wisdom, his devotion to his wife, and his love-hate relationship with art. With characteristically acerbic wit, Bernhard exposes the pretensions and aspirations of humanity in a novel at once pessimistic and strangely exhilarating."Bernhard's . . . most enjoyable novel."--Robert Craft, New York Review of Books"Bernhard is one of the masters of contemporary European fiction."--George Steiner
language: English
title: Old Masters: A Comedy
titlecomplete: Old Masters: A Comedy
characters: Irrsigler, Atzbacher, Reger
genres: Classics, Philosophy, Novels, German Literature, Comics, 20th Century, Literature, Literary Fiction, Fiction, Art
ratings_count: 3254
places: Vienna
awards: awardedAt: 568022400000
name: Prix Médicis Etranger
publisher: Quartet Books