Robert Seethaler

A Whole Life

In just a few pages the novel spans an entire simple life in the mountains.

💡 Did you know? The book was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize.

The Tobacconist

A young tobacconist’s apprentice in 1930s Vienna befriends Freud.

💡 Did you know? The novel was filmed in 2018 with Bruno Ganz as Freud.

actor

Among other roles he appeared in Paolo Sorrentino’s film „Youth“.

💡 Did you know? Seethaler acted on camera even before his breakthrough as a writer.

The Field

In the cemetery, voice after voice recalls a lived life.

💡 Did you know? From many individual fates the portrait of a whole small town emerges.

Gustav Mahler

The terminally ill composer looks back on his life during a sea voyage.

💡 Did you know? Again Seethaler captures a whole life in a few quiet pages.

Vienna

The city and its history keep surfacing in his books.

💡 Did you know? „The Tobacconist“, for instance, is set in Vienna just before the 1938 „Anschluss“.

they are short and slim

In quiet, clear prose he spans entire lifetimes.

💡 Did you know? It is precisely this brevity that makes his books so haunting.

translated into many languages

The novel was especially celebrated in the English-speaking world.

💡 Did you know? The International Booker Prize shortlisting made it known worldwide.

Robert Seethaler