Synopses & Reviews
Heideggers Glasses opens during the end of World War II in a failing Germany coming apart at the seams. The Third Reichs strong reliance on the occult and its obsession with the astral plane has led to the formation of an underground compound of scribestranslators responsible for answering letters written to those eventually killed in the concentration camps.
Into this covert compound comes a letter written by eminent philosopher Martin Heidegger to his optometrist, who is now lost in the dying thralls of Auschwitz. How will the scribes answer this letter? The presence of Heideggers wordsone simple letter in a place filled with letterssparks a series of events that will ultimately threaten the safety and well-being of the entire compound.
Part love story, part thriller, part meditation on how the dead are remembered and history presented, with threads of Heideggers philosophy woven throughout, the novel evocatively illustrates the Holocaust through an almost dreamlike state. Thaisa Frank deftly reconstructs the landscape of Nazi Germany from an entirely original vantage point.
Review
Praise for
Heideggers Glasses"A tour de force whose imagery haunts the reader long after the final page is turned." Jim Moret, author of The Last Day of My Life
This is stunning work, full of mystery and strange tenderness. Thaisa Frank has written one of the most compelling stories of the Nazi regime since D. M. Thomass Pictures at an Exhibition. It is a book that will haunt you.” Dan Chaon, author of Await Your Reply
Franks vision of the Holocaust is original and startling, with compelling characters and a narrative thats both explosive and ponderous.”Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A spellbinding, innovative, intellectually compelling tour-de-force. Thaisa Franks imagination is boundless: she enchants and horrifies and moves us, often on the same page.” Michelle Huneven, author of Blame
Synopsis
Part love story, part thriller, part meditation on how the dead are remembered and history is presented, this novel chronicles the story of a letter written by eminent philosopher Martin Heidegger to his optometrist, who was lost in the dying thralls of Auschwitz.
Synopsis
An occult Nazi program is threatened by a philosopher's letter to a friend in this "stunning work, full of mystery and strange tenderness" (Dan Chaon).
In the waning days of World War II, Nazi Germany is coming apart at the seams. Yet the death machine continues to churn. The Third Reich's obsession with the astral plane has led to the formation of an underground compound of scribes--translators charged with answering letters addressed to concentration camp inmates who are most likely dead.
Into this covert compound comes a letter written by eminent philosopher Martin Heidegger to his optometrist, a prisoner of Auschwitz. Goebbels himself has demanded a response. But the mere presence of Heidegger's words--one simple letter in a place filled with letters--sparks a series of events that will ultimately threaten the safety of the entire compound.
With this debut novel that is part thriller and part meditation on how the dead are remembered--and with threads of Heidegger's philosophy woven throughout--Thaisa Frank deftly reconstructs the landscape of Nazi Germany in "a spellbinding, innovative, intellectually compelling tour-de-force" (Michelle Huneven).
About the Author
Thaisa Frank is the recipient of two PEN awards, and her two most recent story collections were nominated for the Bay Area Book Reviewers Association Award. She has taught writing in the graduate department of San Francisco State University, is on the part-time faculty at the University of San Francisco, and has been Visiting Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California, Berkeley.