Badenheim 1939 (Penguin Modern Classics)

Badenheim, a resort town near the forests of Vienna, is preparing for the arts festival of the summer season. The hotel workers and local tradespeople rush to prepare the small town for the influx of vacationers. But just as the season is getting into full swing, a small note appears on a municipal notice board: the Sanitation Department is announcing an increase in its jurisdiction. No one knows what the Sanitation Department is, but no matter – the festival carries on.

Soon inspectors are spread all over town, bringing estrangement, suspicion and mistrust wherever they go. Meanwhile, the guests carry on pursuing their pleasures and the townspeople attend to their troubles. Then another announcement appears: all Jews must register with the Sanitation Department.

An allegory, satire and fable all in one, Badenheim 1939 is a story of denial and normalisation, masterfully creating an atmosphere of impending dread and horror. Gripping and unforgettable, this is one of most intriguing and eerie books ever written about the Holocaust.

About the Author

Born in Czernowitz, Bukovina, Aharon Appelfeld (1932–2018) authored more than 45 acclaimed works of fiction and nonfiction and received many international awards including the MLA Commonwealth Award, the Independent Foreign Fiction prize, the prix Médicis étranger, the Israel prize, and the Nelly Sachs prize.

About the Translator

Jeffrey M. Green earned a B.A. in French from Princeton, and a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Harvard. Upon moving to Israel, mastering Hebrew, and giving up on a traditional academic career, he became a translator from Hebrew (and, occasionally, French). He has translated more than a dozen novels by the late Aharon Appelfeld, as well as works by other major Israeli writers. He has also translated many academic books, mainly in the field of Jewish history.

Reviews

"Memory and trauma go hand in hand [in this] horribly effective analogy of the crushing effect of the Holocaust" —John Self, Observer

"Aharon Appelfeld's controlled fiction compresses large themes into small spaces... He is a worthy successor to Kafka" —Jonathan Raban, The New York Times Book Review

"Among us, the writer-survivors, Appelfeld's voice has a unique, unmistakeable tone... I am struck with awe and admiration" —Primo Levi

"A displaced writer of displaced fiction who has made of displacement and disorientation a subject uniquely his own" —Philip Roth

Dimensions: 12.9 x 0.9 x 19.7 cm