Oil

Lukas Bärfuss is a moralist who does not moralise but shows us constellations, inviting us to form an opinion.

For his first novel »Hundert Tage« (One Hundred Days), which was published in 2008, Bärfuss was awarded the Mara-Cassens Prize, the Schiller Prize and the Remarque Special Prize. He was also nominated for the German and Swiss Book Prize.

Eva is bored. She lives in an underdeveloped country where she is a stranger and has nothing to do. She is not consoled by the fact that she lives in the lap of the luxury, her husband being the manager of a petroleum factory.

Even though Eva knows that her husband loves her passionately, he is always out and about taking care of the »progress« of civilisation and - if need be - moving people out of their homes to clear the space required to do so. At least everyday life becomes a little more interesting when Eva`s husband gets a new assistant whose wife, Elsa, listens to classical music, eats organic food, reads poetry and is full of good resolutions. Elsa is »convinced that an exchange between different cultures is possible«, an assumption that truly grates on Eva`s nerves. »You arrived yesterday morning, full of curiosity and enthusiasm. You just don`t want your sense of adventure to be ruined by reality«, counters Eva cynically.

»If the name Bärfuss is on it, there is bound to be turmoil within«
Sonntagszeitung

The Swiss playwright Lukas Bärfuss writes the Greek tragedies of contemporary German theatre.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Rights sold:
France: L'

Arche