Country Germany Publication date 8 September 2016 ISBN 978-3-462-04554-3 Publisher Kiepenheuer & Witsch | Language German Pages 224 Originally published 8 September 2016 Page count 224 | |
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Die Toten ("the dead") is a 2016 novel by the Swiss writer Christian Kracht, his fifth to date. It is set in the film industry at the end of the Weimar era, and tells the story of a (fictional) Swiss director, Emil Nägeli, and a Japanese government official (Masahiko Amakasu) who try to create a collaboration between German and Japanese cinema.
Contents
The narrative is structured like a Noh play with three acts. The language is inspired by the works of Thomas Mann, with many archaic words and expressions.
Publication
The book was published on 8 September 2016 through Kiepenheuer & Witsch in Cologne. The cover art for the original German edition features the 1926 painting Night Rain on Shinohashi Bridge by the Japanese print artist Hasui Kawase.
English, Greek, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Russian and French translations are in preparation.
Accolades
The book received the 2016 Swiss Book Prize and the 2016 Hermann-Hesse-Preis. It was nominated for the Bavarian Book Prize.