The Woodchuck Hunt
Novel by Ulrich Becher —
100. anniversary: January 2, 2010
Read by Wolfram Berger (in German language)
With The Woodchuck Hunt, one of the great novels of German literature is made easily accessible. It is a tour de force of expulsion and exile, of life in emergency situations, of delusion and threat, and includes absurd mistakes and a manhunt. In this work, Ulrich Becher shows his liking for language experiments and demonstrates a preference for unusual charac- ters. The novel is brought to life in a unique way by the unmistakable voice of the well-known prize-winning actor Wolfram Berger. A talking book in a class of its own!
»Berger lotet jedes Detail der mit barocker Sprachfülle und bizarrer Detailverliebtheit geschriebenen Antikriminalgeschichte, die in einer kriminellen Zeit spielt, zum 100. Geburtstag von „Der Bockerer“-Autor Ulrich Becher (2. Januar 1910 bis 15. April 1990) genüsslich aus. Man wird nicht nur nicht müde, ihm zuzuhören, man verfällt ihm förmlich!«
Magazin hörBücher, 04/2010, Auszeichnung “Grandios”
“My idea was to write an anti-crime novel which was set in a time of rampant crime.”
Ulrich Becher
Die Buchausgabe von MURMELJAGD erschien 1969 erstmals bei Rowohlt, und wurde im August 2009 von Schöffling & Co. neu veröffentlicht (Buch-Cover-Abbildung rechts).
a.viso, ORF 2 — Fernsehbericht über “Murmeljagd”, im Februar ’10 auf Platz zwei der ORF-Bestenliste!
Ulrich Becher’s book is both a historical and an exile novel. It is partly taken from his own life, to which historical figures and factual details are added. In essence however the work is the author’s own invention, a grand invention, one must admit. Figures appear that could come out of Knorr or Kant, and tragicomic events are played out in mountainous terrain. In the middle of all this grotesquerie is the deranged and hypochondriac anti-faschist. In the novel, Becher proves himself to be an inventive and extravagant spinner of fantastic tales. Like Heimito von Doderer, he is enamoured of detail. And his work has all the charm of Albert Vigoleis Thelen in his emigration novel The Island of the Second Vision. Becher takes full delight in word play and clever use of language. There are many moments for laughter in this book. But the laughter is of a devilish kind, that which accompanies one on a trip through a haunted house. The grotesque face of organized inhumanity is described as vividly as George Grosz has painted it.
NDR Kultur
Read by Wolfram Berger
Ulrich Becher (1910-1990): MURMELJAGD
MP3-CD 1:
BUCH 0: Zu diesem Buch; Biographie; Werke Ulrich Bechers
BUCH 1: TOTE ZEIT
BUCH 2: LICHT IM SEE
BUCH 3: GEISTERBAHN 1
MP3-CD 2:
BUCH 4: GEISTERBAHN 2
BUCH 5: DIE STRASSE ÜBER SAN GIAN
More then 30 hours of audio.
»»» Detailed informations, texts, photos, etc. inside CD (booklet)
Total recording time: ~ 30 h 30 m | Format: 2 MP3-CDs | RD: 15 Oct 2009
Recording: 2008, Vienna, Austria | Album Conception & Mastering: 2009
German booklet enclosed (28 pages) | Boxing: “MediaBook” (high size)
(p) & (c) SPEKTRAL 2009 | Series SPEKTRAL HÖRART
Order No.: SRL4-09060 | ISBN: 9783942067003 | GTIN (EAN): 4260130380601
