''Man in the Holocene'' (1979) is a novella by Swiss author

Max Frisch Max Rudolf Frisch (; 15 May 1911 – 4 April 1991) was a Swiss playwright and novelist. Frisch's works focused on problems of identity, individuality, responsibility, morality, and political commitment. The use of irony is a significant featur ...

, originally published in German in 1979, and in English in ''The New Yorker'' on May 19, 1980 (trans.

Geoffrey Skelton Geoffrey David Skelton (1916–1998) was a British author and translator. He specialized in German music, writing biographies of Richard Wagner, Cosima Wagner, Wieland Wagner and Paul Hindemith. He also translated numerous plays by leading German ...

). A distinctive feature of this book's style is the use of reprinted cutouts which the protagonist, Mr. Geiser, removes from several encyclopedias, the bible and other books. It contains some autobiographical elements: Frisch at the time of the writing is about the same age as the protagonist, Mr. Geiser, and Frisch also had a house in the Tessin valley where the story is set.

Plot summary

The 74-year-old Mr. Geiser is bored in his Ticinese house during torrential rains. He is so bored that he tries to make a

pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

out of crispbread and categorizes thunder types into a taxonomy (rolling thunders, banging thunders etc.). His sole companion is his cat as his wife had died not long ago. There is a report of a landslide caused by the deluge, cutting off the valley. Fearing a large slide that would bury the village and man's knowledge, Geiser reads in his encyclopedia, the Bible, and history books. At first he makes notes and tacks them to the walls; later he cuts paragraphs from the books and tapes them instead, noting sadly that the front sides of the encyclopedia's pages are visible, but the back sides unfortunately are dissected and destroyed. Despite the weather, he hikes outdoors along diverging paths. While wandering, he notes his physical limits, and the limits of man's knowledge and importance. He notes man's insignificance and meaninglessness (man's appearance in the

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

era is a very recent event in evolutionary terms). The old man is exposed to the cycle of life and his mortality. Geiser has to admit that „der Mensch bleibt ein Laie“ (man remains an amateur). He slowly loses his memory. He wonders if memory was necessary – "the rocks do not need my memory or not". Towards the end, Geiser suffers cerebral apoplexy that attacks his memory.

Critical reception

The ''

New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'' included ''Man in the Holocene'' in its list of Best Books of 1980. The principal review was written by

George Stade George Stade (November 25, 1933 - February 26, 2019) was an American literary scholar, critic, novelist and professor at Columbia University. According to Stade's obituary in '' The Washington Post,'' he was "probably best known for helping to s ...

and appeared June 22, 1980. The review concluded "I should also mention that, as far as I can tell, this luminous parable of indeterminate purport is also a masterpiece." Novelist Michael Magras said: :Frisch’s philosophical masterwork, a chillingly beautiful portrait of a man who is surrounded by erosion, nature’s and his own, and who struggles for one last moment of clarity in which to make sense of himself and of civilization. ''Holocene'' reminds you of the extraordinary cruelty of human existence, and of its stubborn durability. Life may be as fragile and ridiculous as a pagoda made of crispbread, yet it’s also strong enough to withstand epochs of extinction. No matter how hard we try otherwise, we’re still here. ''Man in the Holocene'' was voted into the 20-volume "Schweizer Bibliothek" ('Swiss Library') of the weekly Swiss magazine ''

Das Magazin ''Tages-Anzeiger'' (), also abbreviated ''Tagi'' or ''TA'', is a Swiss German-language national daily newspaper published in Zurich, Switzerland. History and profile The paper was first published under the name ''Tages-Anzeiger für Stadt und ...

'' in 2005, representing the 20 best Swiss titles of the 20th century."20 best Swiss?"
'' complete review'', 12 December 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Man In The Holocene 1979 novels Novels by Max Frisch Swiss novels Mariner Books books