''The Dog King'' is a 1995 novel by the Austrian writer

Christoph Ransmayr Christoph Ransmayr (born 20 March 1954) is an Austrian writer. Life Born in Wels, Upper Austria, Ransmayr grew up in Roitham near Gmunden and the Traunsee. From 1972 to 1978 he studied philosophy and ethnology in Vienna. He worked there as c ...

. Its original title is ''Morbus Kitahara''. A work of

alternative history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, alte ...

, it is set in Central Europe after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the implementation of the

Morgenthau Plan The Morgenthau Plan was a proposal to eliminate Germany following World War II and eliminating its arms industry and removing or destroying other key industries basic to military strength. This included the removal or destruction of all industri ...

, which has deindustrialized the region and created a ruthless post-apocalyptic-esque society. The main character is the son of a blacksmith who becomes the bodyguard of the only man in the area who owns a car. An English translation by John E. Woods was published in 1997. The book received the 1996

Aristeion Prize The Aristeion Prize was a European literary annual prize. It was given to authors for significant contributions to contemporary European literature, and to translators for exceptional translations of contemporary European literary works. The priz ...

Reception

Curt Fields wrote in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'': "The themes are grand, but the writing is far from pompous. Ransmayr's story (and John E. Woods' translation from the original German) is elegant, incisive and never labored." In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'',

Gabriele Annan Gabriele Annan, Baroness Annan (née Ullstein, 1921–2013), was a German-born British author and literary and film critic, and the wife of the military intelligence officer, author, and academic Noel Annan, Baron Annan. Early life She was born ...

wrote about the book's use of allegory: "Whatever it symbolizes, the narrative is wildly arbitrary; but there is something so powerful, committed and solemn about Ransmayr's tone that it seems like a command to interpret his message". The critic continued: "This can have the opposite effect, of course, and Ransmayr has affectations that can be irritating. All the same, he is a marvelous writer, though, unlike most novelists, he writes more about sensations than feelings." ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' wrote: "Ably translated by Woods, this novel paints a convincing postapocalyptic world sent back into a nearly pre-civilized state. But Ransmayr (''

The Terrors of Ice and Darkness ''The Terrors of Ice and Darkness'' () is a 1984 novel by the Austrian writer Christoph Ransmayr. It tells the stories of the 1872–74 Austro-Hungarian North Pole expedition, of a young Italian man who disappeared in 1981 while researching the exp ...

''), though clearly probing the question of how Germany is to view itself in the wake of the Holocaust and WWII, never pulls his story out of his dark, expressionist atmospherics into the clear light of an answer."

References

External links

German publicity page
1995 science fiction novels 1995 novels 20th-century Austrian novels Austrian alternate history novels Dystopian novels German-language novels Novels by Christoph Ransmayr Post-apocalyptic novels S. Fischer Verlag books {{1990s-ah-novel-stub