This short, tightly-written novella is pervaded by a dark intensity. Süskind has been admired for his exploration of psychological themes and possesses a skill for closely drawing society’s outsider individuals and their peculiarities. Jonathan Noel, a somewhat eccentric everyman, is a bank guard in his fifties who leads an almost automated existence of monotonous uniformity. He has withdrawn from all but the most perfunctory necessities of social interaction. Instead of depending upon people, who in his youth had consistently let him down or disappeared, Noel relies for stability on the simplicity of uneventfulness and the security of familiar surroundings and routines. The novella takes place over twenty-four hours, beginning with an early morning encounter with a pigeon outside the studio apartment Noel has occupied for over thirty years. Looking into the bird’s eye, which seems devoid of life, Noel is precipitated into what is commonly and crudely known as a midlife crisis. The event is to disrupt and deeply disturb not only his regimen but also his carefully maintained internal equilibrium. For the first time in his life he finds himself inattentive at work and unable to return home; for the first time he questions the meaningfulness of the existence he has built for himself. Powerful for its potential universality, this short tale is also a persuasive examination of how an apparently trivial if unusual occurrence can force the self into new perspectives. — Jennifer Cooke in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

Thanks so much for your donation Vasha!

This book is now part of the 1001-library. If you want to take this book from the library but don't know how to proceed, please refer to the 1001-library bookshelf.

I am adopting this 1001-Library book for storage. It is available for check-out!

This book is now back on the 1001 library bookshelf and can be borrowed by PMing svoight:)

If you want to take this book from the library but don't know how to proceed, please refer to the library bookshelf.

Released to a fellow 1001-Library Member, enjoy!

And another! A great little book, I have read quite a few tomes recently from the list, so enjoyed one that I could read in an hour.
Thanks for sending!

I read, and thoroughly enjoyed, Perfume a few years ago, so was eager to find more by this German author.

The Pigeon is a day in the life of a 50-something-year-old man. His monotonous existance, one of his own choosing and making, is thrown out of kilter by the appearance of a pigeon outside his room. The pigeon disrupts his routine, causing him to consider leaving his sanctuary forever.

The author seems to invite the reader to work why the man has this absurd reaction. How can a loner be so touched by the intrusion of a bird? Perhaps the bird is the straw that breaks the camel's back, forcing him to come to terms with his own past, the difficulties he has overcome are alluded to or briefly described throughout the book.

For me, the pigeon forces him to stop sleepwalking through his life, to actually look at those around him.

A quick read, but one that'll stop and make you think.

This book is now back on the 1001 library bookshelf and can be borrowed by PMing soffitta1:)

If you want to take this book from the library but don't know how to proceed, please refer to the library bookshelf.

Reserved for VictoriaWagtail who chose it from the Euro 1001-Library VBB.

Requested from the 1001-Library VBB.

Thanks Soffitta for sending me this book :) I recieved the other book you sent me from the VBB too ("Three Lives" by Gertrude Stein) but I managed to missplace it before I got to register it here on BC. But don't worry, the book is here at home somewhere, I just have to find it...

Released at the booksharing shelf in Hammarbyhöjden

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