Son cuatro los integrantes del grupo de protagonistas de este genial y sobrecogedor relato: Rainer, adolescente inteligente y cultivado, enamorado de Sophie; su hermana Anna, que alberga en su interior un inmenso odio, y que está loca por Hans; Sophie, rubia y bella, enamorada de Hans; y Hans, fuerte y joven obrero, enamorado de Sophie. Con Viena como escenario, los jóvenes cometerán ciertos delitos para sobrevivir, así como para dar cierta emoción a su vida, que no pueden soportar a diario. Las novelas de Sartre y Camus dan un toque de autoridad a los diálogos de los personajes, que fluctúan entre el amor y el odio, el aburguesamiento y el delito, las fiestas de clase alta y las más repugnantes vivencias, todo ello narrado con un tono objetivo, evitando prejuicios.

http://msarki.tumblr.com/post/104918950353/wonderful-wonderful-times-by-elfriede...

It is not surprising that Elfriede Jelinek religiously maintains her exact same tone throughout this fine and caustic work. Covered by molasses would be a fair analogy to the feeling I get as she expresses her cynicism, irony, and sarcasm in her clever use of dialogue and action. She is extremely facetious in all her chronological accountings. Even if most of her words somehow avoid a physical eruption in my body they still live as a drip inside my head. And because of her chosen words and depictions this book then proves to be one of the most violent books I have ever put my eyes to. Cormac McCarthy’s Judge in [b:Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West|394535|Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West|Cormac McCarthy|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335231647s/394535.jpg|1065465] has absolutely nothing over Jelinek the Writer. She is most brutal in her presentation and reasoning. Her justifications on the page are brutally honest attempts to seek the truth behind all behaviors. Sadly, for me, there are few instances, if any, when this book actually becomes a joy to read. It remains always difficult, and Jelinek seems to be challenging the reader to get beyond the typical desire to be suspended from reality and occasionally transported out of one’s life. She instead duly rams her diseased and harsh palpability into the face of every hungry reader looking for a better escape. Elfriede Jelinek is a force to be reckoned with. She is waiting. ( )

Esta historia comienza con la historia de tres estudiantes de bachillerato y un ambicioso muchacho de clase obrera que asaltan a los transeúntes para robarles; todo acaba de manera especialmente violenta y trágica, con terribles consecuencias para la familia del joven Rainer, el ideólogo del grupo A. A la determinaión de una sociedad decidida a olvidar el pasado y en la que el triunfo social se convierte en el valor supremo, los cuatro adolescentes responden con el disgusto y el odio.

Elfriede Jelinek was born in Austria and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2004.

It took me quite a few pages to understand and adapt to her writing style but once I did this book became an interesting but uncomfortable read. A decade and a half after WW2 and ex-Nazis and concentration camp survivors are left in the past with their terrible secrets while their children roam the streets of Vienna carving out a new and oft times more brutal society.

This book reminded me of The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea minus the sailor. Kids can be real bad, and I don’t mean not eating their vegetables bad.

A couple of lines that particularly stuck in my head:

“Because everday life more often tends to destroy sensitivities than create them.”

“Anna hits her forehead with her fist, but nothing comes out and nothing goes in either.”

I’ve noticed that too. Even when I bang my head on my desk my thoughts stay imprisoned; neither being receptive or giving…

I'll probably give this author a bit more attention. This book was crafted differently. The viewpoint roamed from one character to the next. Dialog was written without quotations or breaks in lines and who said what was indicated by name in parentheses. Reading the book, I felt like a little spirit flitting through the thoughts and actions of each character. This technique put me on the street with the players; I was part of their group. But getting that close to the characters was a bit uncomfortable... they were not likeable at all.
( )

En historia som jag inte riktigt begriper. Hm, baksidestexten förklarar ju vad den handlar om, men jag hajjar inte riktigt ändå. Det känns som ett gäng ungdomar som bara jävlas, och de har kassa föräldrar. Som så många gånger förr.
Dock har jag aldrig förr stött på det språk Jelinek använder. Det är oerhört kraftfullt och uttrycksfullt. Det gör att boken blir lite mer intressant ändå.

En kanske ovidkommande kommentar: Typsnittet i boken är inte bra. Det är för tätt mellan bokstäverna, och, framför allt, det är för långt upp till prickarna i ä:na och ö:na. Detta kan låta lite småaktigt, men jag hakar ständigt upp mig och "fastnar" vid detta, vilket gör att flytet i läsningen förtas. ( )