Couples, Passersby

Botho Strauss is a German writer and social conservative, displeased with what he sees as the cultural drift of his country and disinterested in the manner of life in the new Germany. Translated by Roslyn Theobold, this collection of Botho Strauss's short stories depicts a people losing their humanity under the pressures of history and technology. His stories describe robot-like characters with holes in their souls, who carry out the tasks of their daily lives--working, talking, sinning--amid spiritually void and intellectually desolate surroundings. By sketching the limpid lifelessness of his modern Germany, Strauss attempts to point toward a truer, more authentic mode of life and expression. That he writes in the shadow of Germany's history in this century adds an obvious edge to his work and heightens the interested reader's attention toward his aesthetic vision.