devendra k mishra

Peter Handke: The Goalie’s Anxiety at Penalty Kick The Goalie’s Anxiety at Penalty Kick is a short but very powerful novel by Nobel Laureate Austrian author Peter Handke. It got published in 1970 in German and became the first of his novels to be published in English in 1972. Technically speaking it is more a story than a novel but the charm lies in its treatment of narration that makes it a superb novel. It dives deep into human psyche. It tells a tale of a very unfortunate man named Joseph Bloch who was once a soccer player and later on a construction worker and ultimately a murderer. The aimless wondering, utter confusions, anxiety and hopelessness of Bloch keep the readers exceptionally engrossed. The author’s choice for lyrical and fractured prose in narration of the mental state of his protagonist gives a magical touch and simply transforms it into a rare modern classic. The horror and gloominess of modern world’s life begin opening up along with the progress of the story and finally the novel becomes the saga of disintegrating world of our time.

Nobel Laureate Peter Handke’s A Sorrow Beyond Dreams is considered as a semi - autobiographical novella originally written in German language and published in 1972. It narrates the life of a mother from the perspective of a son: who is also the author of of the book. The author’s honesty and frankness in his form gives a naive realism and firmness to the narrative and simultaneously provides a prodigious credibility to him. In spite of its autobiographical nature, the very first chapter unfolds in an unanticipated way referring to a news item in the Sunday edition in regard to the suicide of a fifty - one year old house wife by taking an overdose of sleeping pills. She was none other than the mother of the author. Then the journey of his mother’s life is narrated in the flashback technique. Mr. Handke’s skill as screen writer and film director gives him an advantageous edge in utilizing such technique so successfully in his writing. The sociopolitical issues have a natural flow in the tale. The love and bitterness in a conjugal life go side by side but the invincible courage to lead a different life makes his mother a quite different woman. The journey of his mother crosses over her individuality and transforms into universality. Its a sad story of author’s mother but it never remains merely a story of his mother. It becomes a story of the entire society and humanity. All the dreams, ugly realities, useless vanities and desires come up in the structure of narrative in a very convincing way and give the book a universal appeal.