On The Mountain
Encyclopedia
On The Mountain was Thomas Bernhard
’s first prose work, which he completed in 1959, yet the last of his works to be published, in 1989, the year of his death.
Based on autobiographical elements which constitute a kind of encyclopaedic view of Bernhard's world, this book gives a rare insight into the birth of a remarkable literary oeuvre paralleling that of Kafka and of Beckett
. In fact, Sophie Wilkins, in her interesting Afterword, compares it to Kafka's short story "Description of a Struggle
".
Written as one sentence, it is a monologue delivered by a court reporter who meets a variety of characters, among whom are a secondary school teacher - the only intellectual - an inkeeper and various ladies who afford him favours or bully and humiliate him. His only true attachment is to his filthy dog. The dog is a dirty, smelly body detested by the housekeeper who wants him and his owner out, but it's precisely this indubitable physical reality of him that makes him indispensable; without it, there's no real life in his life, and therewith no ideas, no literature that means anything.
On the Mountain is a special kind of prose: relieved of its function as a carrier of common information,it presents itself as some such medium as poetry, music, painting, sculpture. The seemingly random notes of this book, its disjunct, diffuse mutterings are the vehicle for a dramatic conflict between an embattled life force intent upon self-creation, self-definition, saying "All this is only a preparation for becoming me," and its equally determined opposition, threatening to make nonsense of all that. A real sickness-unto-death is made into a fulcrum for survival in an arena which is the human condition understood as a condition of immitigable deadlock.
tone and desolate humour
do indeed anticipate all his subsequent work. Reviews described it as a "mighty prose poem," a masterly "debut and valedictory in one," an "early testament," full of pessimism and comical bleakness -- Bernhard's case against intellectualised irrelevance, gripping and humane, where the nihilism
of the 20th century found its most uncompromising expression.
The critical importance of this work to Bernhard's development as a writer is precisely captured by Wilkins' moving Afterword: "The new-fledged court reporter of On the Mountain has been writing hundreds of poems but now begins to work on his first book as it comes to him, jotting down notes, splinters of ideas, observations, encounters, characters, feelings, out of these data making a loose net in which to catch the realities of his life. In the process he discovers the power of words, infinite combinations and permutations of words such as the German language, with its many-plied nouns, is uniquely capable of. He discovers words for their own sake. He can't stop for structured paragraphs or sentences, life is literally too short (what with his lung disease being aggravated by bunglers whom he sometimes has to instruct in the procedures, any treatment could mean the end of him). His writing has become synonymous with his breathing: it is his rescue attempt, trying to save his life, even if it is nonsense to keep struggling against the inevitable, nonsense to record the nonsense of life in the face of death."
"...frozen ponds: the dog, the damp bread,
my heart is freezing: my streets, my woods, the things I've left undone: which fling me onto my bed: my restlessness: which drives me outside and into one Gasthaus
after another,
cold and restlessness are working against me and hurting me with their blows,
so that some morning it will collapse, kill me,
time has passed through me and distorted my abilities: devalued this notebook: my sorrow, as though I had said something that presupposes that I know what the soul is: without this discovery something much greater: there are only three: all of them are destroying me..." (p. 113)
~ * ~
"...the city of Salzburg
has a child's face and an old man's face,
so you don't spit in it, you don't spit in the child's face and you don't spit in the old man's face,
senseless seasons, formalities, slanders: these infernal piles of documents against everything,
my dog knows I'm going to kill him, nobody else knows it: nobody's going to have my dog." (p. 116)
Thomas Bernhard
Thomas Bernhard was an Austrian novelist, playwright and poet. Bernhard, whose body of work has been called "the most significant literary achievement since World War II," is widely considered to be one of the most important German-speaking authors of the postwar era.- Life :Thomas Bernhard was...
’s first prose work, which he completed in 1959, yet the last of his works to be published, in 1989, the year of his death.
Based on autobiographical elements which constitute a kind of encyclopaedic view of Bernhard's world, this book gives a rare insight into the birth of a remarkable literary oeuvre paralleling that of Kafka and of Beckett
Beckett
- People :* Arthur William à Beckett , English journalist and man of letters* Barry Beckett , American musician* Billy Beckett , English footballer...
. In fact, Sophie Wilkins, in her interesting Afterword, compares it to Kafka's short story "Description of a Struggle
Description of a Struggle
"Description of a Struggle" is a short story by Franz Kafka.-Origins:"Description of a Struggle" is one of Kafka's earliest stories that was not destroyed and is usually the earliest included in collections of his work...
".
Written as one sentence, it is a monologue delivered by a court reporter who meets a variety of characters, among whom are a secondary school teacher - the only intellectual - an inkeeper and various ladies who afford him favours or bully and humiliate him. His only true attachment is to his filthy dog. The dog is a dirty, smelly body detested by the housekeeper who wants him and his owner out, but it's precisely this indubitable physical reality of him that makes him indispensable; without it, there's no real life in his life, and therewith no ideas, no literature that means anything.
On the Mountain is a special kind of prose: relieved of its function as a carrier of common information,it presents itself as some such medium as poetry, music, painting, sculpture. The seemingly random notes of this book, its disjunct, diffuse mutterings are the vehicle for a dramatic conflict between an embattled life force intent upon self-creation, self-definition, saying "All this is only a preparation for becoming me," and its equally determined opposition, threatening to make nonsense of all that. A real sickness-unto-death is made into a fulcrum for survival in an arena which is the human condition understood as a condition of immitigable deadlock.
Criticism
On its publication soon after Bernhard's death, On the Mountain was hailed as a "self-portrait of the artist as a young man" cast in the Schopenhauerian vein, and its high misanthropicMisanthropy
Misanthropy is generalized dislike, distrust, disgust, contempt or hatred of the human species or human nature. A misanthrope, or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings...
tone and desolate humour
Humour
Humour or humor is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement...
do indeed anticipate all his subsequent work. Reviews described it as a "mighty prose poem," a masterly "debut and valedictory in one," an "early testament," full of pessimism and comical bleakness -- Bernhard's case against intellectualised irrelevance, gripping and humane, where the nihilism
Nihilism
Nihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putatively meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value...
of the 20th century found its most uncompromising expression.
The critical importance of this work to Bernhard's development as a writer is precisely captured by Wilkins' moving Afterword: "The new-fledged court reporter of On the Mountain has been writing hundreds of poems but now begins to work on his first book as it comes to him, jotting down notes, splinters of ideas, observations, encounters, characters, feelings, out of these data making a loose net in which to catch the realities of his life. In the process he discovers the power of words, infinite combinations and permutations of words such as the German language, with its many-plied nouns, is uniquely capable of. He discovers words for their own sake. He can't stop for structured paragraphs or sentences, life is literally too short (what with his lung disease being aggravated by bunglers whom he sometimes has to instruct in the procedures, any treatment could mean the end of him). His writing has become synonymous with his breathing: it is his rescue attempt, trying to save his life, even if it is nonsense to keep struggling against the inevitable, nonsense to record the nonsense of life in the face of death."
Excerpt
(punctuation and linebreaks as per original)"...frozen ponds: the dog, the damp bread,
my heart is freezing: my streets, my woods, the things I've left undone: which fling me onto my bed: my restlessness: which drives me outside and into one Gasthaus
Gasthaus
A Gasthaus is a German-style inn or tavern with a bar, a restaurant, banquet facilities and hotel rooms for rent.Gasthäuser are typically found in smaller towns and are often family-owned...
after another,
cold and restlessness are working against me and hurting me with their blows,
so that some morning it will collapse, kill me,
time has passed through me and distorted my abilities: devalued this notebook: my sorrow, as though I had said something that presupposes that I know what the soul is: without this discovery something much greater: there are only three: all of them are destroying me..." (p. 113)
~ * ~
"...the city of Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
has a child's face and an old man's face,
so you don't spit in it, you don't spit in the child's face and you don't spit in the old man's face,
senseless seasons, formalities, slanders: these infernal piles of documents against everything,
my dog knows I'm going to kill him, nobody else knows it: nobody's going to have my dog." (p. 116)