Night Work | |
Author: | Thomas Glavinic |
Title Orig: | Die Arbeit der Nacht |
Translator: | John Brownjohn |
Country: | Austria |
Language: | German |
Genre: | Literary fiction |
Publisher: | Hanser (Germany) Canongate (UK) |
Pub Date: | 2006 |
English Pub Date: | 2008 |
Media Type: | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
Pages: | 400 (Germany) 386 (UK) |
Isbn: | 978-1-84767-051-9 |
Oclc: | 442553734 |
Preceded By: | Wie man leben soll |
Followed By: | Das bin doch ich |
Night Work (German: '''Die Arbeit der Nacht''') is a 2006 novel by Austrian writer Thomas Glavinic. The book was translated into English in 2008 by John Brownjohn for Edinburgh-based publisher Canongate.
The novel, set in modern-day Vienna, is a post-apocalyptic exploration around themes of solitude and existential philosophy.
The plot concerns a central character, Jonas, who wakes up one day to discover that everyone else has vanished from the city, perhaps the world, without trace; he appears to be the only person left.
As he attempts to discover what could possibly explain such a situation, the days pass and he begins to realise that he is performing strange activities when asleep. A struggle ensues as Jonas tries to control his unconscious actions while he continues to search in vain for other human life.
The UK edition received a generally positive reception from critics. The Guardian referred to the book as being “at times genuinely horrific” because of the author’s skill in manipulating the “reader's constant anxiety that [he] won't, indeed can't, deliver a solution to his own mystery”.[1] The Independent claimed that the novel, “functions both as an outstanding fictionalisation of Freud's essay The Uncanny, and as a superior literary thriller packed with invention and suspense”.[2] The Scotland on Sunday said it was “strong on intrigue” and “seriously frightening”.[3]