''Once a Greek'' is a 1955 novel by the Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt. Its original German title is ''Grieche sucht Griechin'', which means "Greek man seeks Greek woman". It tells the story of a shy, middle-aged book-keeping assistant, who becomes popular and successful overnight when he decides to get married.

Reception

Kurt Vonnegut reviewed the book for '' The New York Times'' in 1965. Vonnegut compared Dürrenmatt's stories to Swiss clockworks, and wrote that the author "is a fascinating, endearing maker of clocks. He chooses to write this way, invented this way of writing. The puzzle is: He seems to be attacking something brilliantly, but what is it?" Vonnegut wrote: "His jokes are Jungian jokes, it seems to me--private, Kraut, mythological. And, while he seems to protest against the absurdities of modern times, he doesn't care enough about them to learn much about them. What we have here is an elegant exploration of a Jungian dream."

Film adaptation

In 1966 it was turned into a West German film ''

Once a Greek ''Once a Greek'' is a 1955 novel by the Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt. Its original German title is ''Grieche sucht Griechin'', which means "Greek man seeks Greek woman". It tells the story of a shy, middle-aged book-keeping assistant, who bec ...

'' directed by

Rolf Thiele Rolf Thiele (7 March 1918 – 9 October 1994) was a German film director, film producer, producer and screenwriter. He directed 42 films between 1951 and 1977. He was born in Ústí nad Labem, Prödlitz, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. ...

and starring the comedian Heinz Rühmann.

References

1955 novels German-language novels Swiss novels Novels by Friedrich Dürrenmatt {{1950s-novel-stub

Reception

Film adaptation

See also

References