Rebellion

By Joseph Roth
Translated by Michael Hofmann

“Rebellion is reminiscent of Chekhov in its uncluttered, melancholy simplicity, while its sense of the larger, crushing incomprehensibility of things echoes Roth's older contemporary, Frank Kafka.”—Richard Bernstein, The New York Times

“Roth's fictional world is one of terrifying uncertainty and instability, eerily mirroring his own [life]. His is considered by many to be one of the most important Jewish voices in German literature written between the two wars.”—The Forward

“Rebellion puts the last piece of the Roth puzzle in place, leaving readers the gratifying task of exploring the manifold dimensions of this marvelous writer.”—The Boston Globe

From Joseph Roth, an allegorical yet decidedly modern novelist, comes this story of postwar disillusion, the limits of faith, and "personal fate as governed by the blind, casual workings of a machine controlled by no one and for which no one is responsible" (The New York Times).

When Andreas Pum returns from World War I, he has lost a leg but gained a medal. But unlike his fellow sufferers, Pum maintains his unswerving faith in God, Government, and Authority. Ironically, after a dispute, Pum is imprisoned as a rebel, and all that he believed in is now thrown into upheaval. Moving along at a breakneck clip, Rebellion captures the cynicism and upheavals of a postwar society. Its jazz-like cadences mix with social commentary to create a wise parable about justice and society.

Paperback
160 pages
Picador, 2000
Originally Published in 1924
5.5 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches
ISBN 9780312263836 
Fiction, Social Commentary