Brecht : a biography /
Völker, Klaus, 1938-
Brecht : a biography / Klaus Völker ; translated by John Nowell. - New York : The Seabury Press, 1978. - 412 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
"Originally published in 1976 under the title Bertolt Brecht, eine Biographie by Carl Hanser Verlag München Wien" -- from the title page verso.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 377-393) and indexes.
Part one, Augsburg and Munich : 1. Childhood and youth -- 2. Augsburg (1) -- 3. Augsburg (2) -- 4. Baal — an analysis -- 5. The lord of the South Sea and the lord of the North Sea -- 6. Towards an epic theatre -- 7. In the jungle of the cities — an analysis. Part two, Marxist studies : 8. I am at home in the asphalt city -- 9. Sociological experiments -- 10. Man is man -- 11. Plays for the theater am Schiffbauerdamm -- 12. Study of Marxism -- 13. Saint Joan of the stockyards -- 14. In praise of dialectics. Part three, Exile : 15. Flight -- 16. Under the Danish thatch -- 17. Moscow 1935 -- 18. London -- 19. But why be afraid of what is new? -- 20. Short digression on the play Round heads and pointed heads -- 21. Let us not speak only for culture -- 22. The realism debate -- 23. On a little island where the people are friendly -- 24. Waiting for passports -- 25. Herr Puntila and his servant Matti -- 26. Hollywood -- 27. New York, 57th Street -- 28. Interrogation. Part four, Before us lie the toils of the plains : 29. Zurich -- 30. Away with the old state, bring on the new! -- 31. My pupils and friends -- 32. The truth unites -- 33. Turandot or The congress of whitewashers -- 34. A great time, wasted.
"Few writers of the twentieth century have voiced the agonies and doubts of the age with imaginative intelligence, the esthetic precision or the dramatic power of Bertolt Brecht. His many plays and poems span the decades between the end of the First World War and the end of the Second — surely the most tragic years in modern history. Taken singly, they reflect a wide, at times enigmatic, spectrum of spirit and idea; taken as a complete oeuvre, however, they communicate the felt truth of their times. Brecht's most mature works, such as Mother Courage, exhibit a blend of tragedy and comedy, drama and philosophy, tenderness and sarcasm which is uniquely his own. And the influence of his theories of drama continues to determine the course of nearly all theatre produced today. Klaus Völker's biography, nearly a decade in preparation, is the definitive study of this central figure of the twentieth century. Where past biographers sacrificed accuracy to their own ideological concerns, Völker follows the objective, methodical, ultimately more telling approach of the sleuth: he unearths countless new facts about Brecht's life and uses them to re-evaluate many stereotypes which often have no basis in history." -- from the dust jacket.
0816493448
78012610
Brecht, Bertolt, 1898-1956.
Authors, German--Biography.--20th century
PT 2603.R397 / Z8896713 1978
832/.9/12 B
Brecht : a biography / Klaus Völker ; translated by John Nowell. - New York : The Seabury Press, 1978. - 412 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
"Originally published in 1976 under the title Bertolt Brecht, eine Biographie by Carl Hanser Verlag München Wien" -- from the title page verso.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 377-393) and indexes.
Part one, Augsburg and Munich : 1. Childhood and youth -- 2. Augsburg (1) -- 3. Augsburg (2) -- 4. Baal — an analysis -- 5. The lord of the South Sea and the lord of the North Sea -- 6. Towards an epic theatre -- 7. In the jungle of the cities — an analysis. Part two, Marxist studies : 8. I am at home in the asphalt city -- 9. Sociological experiments -- 10. Man is man -- 11. Plays for the theater am Schiffbauerdamm -- 12. Study of Marxism -- 13. Saint Joan of the stockyards -- 14. In praise of dialectics. Part three, Exile : 15. Flight -- 16. Under the Danish thatch -- 17. Moscow 1935 -- 18. London -- 19. But why be afraid of what is new? -- 20. Short digression on the play Round heads and pointed heads -- 21. Let us not speak only for culture -- 22. The realism debate -- 23. On a little island where the people are friendly -- 24. Waiting for passports -- 25. Herr Puntila and his servant Matti -- 26. Hollywood -- 27. New York, 57th Street -- 28. Interrogation. Part four, Before us lie the toils of the plains : 29. Zurich -- 30. Away with the old state, bring on the new! -- 31. My pupils and friends -- 32. The truth unites -- 33. Turandot or The congress of whitewashers -- 34. A great time, wasted.
"Few writers of the twentieth century have voiced the agonies and doubts of the age with imaginative intelligence, the esthetic precision or the dramatic power of Bertolt Brecht. His many plays and poems span the decades between the end of the First World War and the end of the Second — surely the most tragic years in modern history. Taken singly, they reflect a wide, at times enigmatic, spectrum of spirit and idea; taken as a complete oeuvre, however, they communicate the felt truth of their times. Brecht's most mature works, such as Mother Courage, exhibit a blend of tragedy and comedy, drama and philosophy, tenderness and sarcasm which is uniquely his own. And the influence of his theories of drama continues to determine the course of nearly all theatre produced today. Klaus Völker's biography, nearly a decade in preparation, is the definitive study of this central figure of the twentieth century. Where past biographers sacrificed accuracy to their own ideological concerns, Völker follows the objective, methodical, ultimately more telling approach of the sleuth: he unearths countless new facts about Brecht's life and uses them to re-evaluate many stereotypes which often have no basis in history." -- from the dust jacket.
0816493448
78012610
Brecht, Bertolt, 1898-1956.
Authors, German--Biography.--20th century
PT 2603.R397 / Z8896713 1978
832/.9/12 B