Jelinek's characters are agents of ideology, more caricatures than personalities. (...) Greed inverts the storybook picture of an alpine paradise." - Ben Naparstek, Financial Times Despite being married, both father and son Janisch: "pay court to women", but it is Kurt who is the real ladies' man and lady-killer, (ab)using his position to ensnare vulnerable older women.

Book and accompanying guidance and documents The Green Book and accompanying guidance and documents

Peu importent donc les aléas de l'intrigue, les personnages n'intéressent que dans la mesure où leurs comportements sont typiques d'une couche sociale ou d'une mentalité, d'un sexe ou d'une opinion. A partir de l'observation circonstanciée de détails et de faits multiples, l'attention se fixe d'abord sur le désastreux état du monde et ses affligeants modes d'existence." - Wilfred Schiltknecht, Le Temps Die Handlung des Buches war klischeebeladen, zog sich ewig hin und schien mir nur als Rahmen für den Wortwitz zu dienen, aber auch für allerlei sarkastische Bemerkungen über Österreich und Politik. Teilweise handelten die Personen völlig unlogisch. Warum ließ sich der Besitz liebende und Frauen verachtende Protagonist mit einem besitzlosen jungen Mädchen ein? Was sollte der halbe Kriminalfall in dem Buch? Ich fürchte, ich habe es nicht verstanden. Es gab reichlich detaillert und vulgär geschilderte Sexszenen, denen eine furchbares Frauenbild zugrunde lag. Hier bemerkte ich den Sarkasmus hinter der klischeehaften Beziehung, aber es machte die ganze Handlung noch absurder. I am lead to believe Elfriede Jelinek has always had a love/hate relationship with her native Austria, and that becomes apparent as the novel moves slowly through some menacing and lighter passages of writing that you feel were written with Jelinek having a laugh in the dark. I can also confirm that with Greed, she has an unhealthy obsession with genitals, with the male form being unfairly used as an aggressive weapon. She was described to me recently as writing from 'somewhere else'. That I can concur with, but being different doesn't always result in a decent book. This is a daredevil, risk-taking novel that may have a minority praising her bold and unflinching look at country life in the mountains and small towns of Austria. Sie wissen im Grunde nichts. Sie wissen nicht, daß Gabi auf dem Grunde des Sees ruht, was nicht sehr tief ist. Ja, die Gedanken sind manchmal tief, aber die Gründe, die einen zur Tat schreiten lassen, sinds oft nicht. Der Gendarm ist etwas wie ein Fremdenführer, nur daß er als einziger niemals einen Fremden führen würde, wenn nichts für ihn dabei herausspringt.Janisch's interest in these women mostly isn't primarily sexual; what he's really after is their real estate holdings. This is quite a challenging book to read and it's the author's style that I feel would put most readers off finishing it - it almost made me abandon it. It's told in the third person, but it's unclear exactly who the narrator is, or if it is the same narrator throughout the book. Everything is clouded in mystery and many sentences are quite cryptic, we get the narrator's views on a variety of subjects, some relevant to the novel, whilst some are not. At times the narrative style reminded me of Louis-Ferdinand Céline, in that the narrator struggles to tell the story coherently as they get distracted by other thoughts, then circle around several times only slowly revealing the main narrative that we, the reader, is eager to hear. Céline does it brilliantly, but I'm not sure about Jelinek.

The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed

They pay court to women. Both of them actually. But mainly Janisch senior, the country policeman. That's so easily said, but he has already made so many people in this town and in this part of the country unhappy. Well, would you have guessed it? Preferably women who own houses or apartments in the nearby small town. It's a good thing if one gets around in one's job and the hours are a bit flexible, so that one can go for a wee drive in between. The husbands of these wives should be deceased if possible or never have existed in the first place. There should never have been children present either. He does have dreams, the man, they are, however, nailed to one or more houses or owner-occupied apartments and so not at all times freely disposable. Well, one house, a little house, he already has, his wife brought it into the marriage, that's also why he keeps the wife who belongs to it, despite the cost. Gabi isn't entirely as submissive as the usual women Janisch beds -- and she does hold some cards the older women can't play: "I'm telling mommy, I'm not quite sixteen yet", she threatens him. despre inimile femeilor: "Adesea inimile femeilor sunt senine si incapatoare, asa incat ai si loc de intors in ele, in caz ca vrei sa pleci."A bit more suspense comes from the fact that Gerti could, if she wanted to, put two and two together, as she knows (all too well) of Janisch's relationship with Gabi, and that he drove off with her.

Greed: A Pulse-Pounding Thriller (An Amber Monroe Crime

Another interesting thing, while I was reading the book, I thought the style reminded me a lot of a book I read by another German author, Crossing the Sierra Gredos by Peter Handke. He was the 2019 Nobel Prize winner. He also was a controversial choice due to his politics (again you can see all that on Wiki). Imagine my surprise when I see that Jelinek said when she won the prize that it should have gone to Handke! She also caused controversy by not attending the ceremony when she won the prize but she sent a video acceptance speech – she’s agoraphobic. There's little depth or history to the characters, save some at the end, as Janisch is left behind and we follow Gerti to Vienna, the focus here more tightly on the doomed woman. Inspired by Last Man in Tower, we’ve put together a list of exciting, discussion-worthy books about greed and the human condition. Certainly not for everyone -- but there's enough to it (as there is arguably too much to it ...) to thoroughly engage the reader willing to go on this long and bumpy ride. Der Durchschnittsleser nennt dies aber sicherlich eher „das blöde Ösigeschwurbel“. Der Brite dagegen „stream of consciousness“. Oder wie der Schwede sagen würde: „Literatur-Nobelpreis 2004“.The man can't bear to hear anymore, he's already had to hear so much, for him the whole thing is a process without any adornment.