Thomas Bernhard Quote

Nicolaas Thomas Bernhard (German: [ˈtoːmas ˈbɛʁnhaʁt]; 9 February 1931 – 12 February 1989) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, poet and polemicist who is considered one of the most important German-language authors of the postwar era. He explored themes of death, isolation, obsession and illness in controversial literature that was pessimistic about the human condition and highly critical of post-war Austrian and European culture. He developed a distinctive prose style often featuring multiple perspectives on characters and events, idiosyncratic vocabulary and punctuation, and long monologues by protagonists on the verge of insanity.
His major works include the novels Correction (1975) and Extinction (1986) and his memoirs Gathering Evidence (1975-82). George Steiner called him: "at his best, the foremost craftsman of German prose after Kafka and Musil." He influenced a younger generation of Austrian writers including Elfriede Jelinek.
Bernhard was controversial in Austria for his public polemics against what he saw as his homeland's post-war cultural pretensions, antisemitism, provincialism and denial of its Nazi past. While critics labelled him a Nestbeschmutzer (one who dirties his own nest), he described himself as a Störenfried (troublemaker). The controversy extended beyond his death when it was revealed that his will sought to prohibit the publication or performance of his works in Austria for 70 years.