On a Dark Night I Left My Silent House

A short powerful new novel by one of the greatest writers in the German language.On a Dark Night I Left My Silent House is Nobel Prize-winning author Peter Handke''s evocative moving often fantastic novel about one man''s conflict with himself and his journey toward resolution. During one night shift an unnamed middle-aged pharmacist in Taxham an isolated suburb of Salzburg tells his story to a narrator. The pharmacist is known and well-respected but lonely and estranged from his wife. He feels most comfortable wandering about in nature collecting and eating hallucinogenic mushrooms. One day he receives a blow to the head that leaves him unable to speak and the narrative is transformed from ironic description into a collection of sensual impressions observations and reflections. The pharmacist who is now called the driver sets out on a quest travelling into the Alps with two companions--a former Olympic skiing champion and a formerly famous poet--where he is beaten and later stalked by a woman. He drives through a tunnel and has a premonition of death then finds himself in a surreal foreign land. In a final series of bizarre cathartic events the driver regains his speech and is taken back to his pharmacy--back to his former life but forever changed.A powerful poetic exploration of language longing and dislocation in the human experience On a Dark Night I Left My Silent House reveals Handke at his magical best.