Synopses & Reviews
In an unnamed European village, in the middle of a civil war, one man digs while another watches over him. Slowly, they begin to talk. Over the course of the afternoon, as snow falls and truckloads of villagers are corralled in the next field, we discover why they are there-not just who they are but also how sinister events in the country have led them to be separated by a deepening grave, and why the history of civilization is inseparable from the history of mass violence. Beautifully written, with a poet's eye for detail coupled with a chilling and compelling narrative drive, Schopenhauer's Telescope is current in the best sense no thin allegory of Bosnia or Kosovo but a remarkable attempt to make art out of the brutality of life.
Review
"Schopenhauer's Telescope is an international novel, a new myth for our ages. Gerard Donovan is a timely, inventive, and welcome new voice."
Colum McCann
Review
"Have you read All Quiet on the Western Front lately? You should. Then read Schopenhauer's Telescope. They are in the same league."
Roger Rosenblatt
Review
"Realised with photographic intensity and unremittingly paced, this is a devastatingly good novel." Guardian Unlimited
About the Author
Gerard Donovan was born in Ireland and has lived in Germany and New York. His award-winning poetry has been widely published. A graduate of the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars and the University of Arkansas Writing Program, he teaches English at Southampton College of Long Island University, and lives in Calverton, New York. This is his first novel.