Sad Strains of a Gay Waltz: A Novel Tapa dura - 1997

Información de la editorial

With "Sad Strains of a Gay Waltz", Irene Dische turns her satiric brilliance on the most improbable of love stories. Benedikt von Wallerstein, an ascetic mathematician, had always eschewed human company, preferring calculations to emotions. But with the onset of a debilitating illness, Benedikt suddenly longs for a child. His advertisement seeking a boy for adoption is answered by Valery, an impoverished Russian refugee, and Marja, his mother, an unkempt, energetic pianist. With this unlikely pair, Benedikt undergoes a hilarious, agonizing sentimental education. Against the background of a Germany swollen by reunification and corrupted by its economic miracle, Maria learns the Teutonic virtues of cleanliness and order, but teaches Benedikt the seductive disorder of love, jealousy, and loss.

The clashing chords and quiet refrains that accompany Benedikt von Wallerstein's path to redemption confirm Dische's reputation as a dazzling original.