Brother of Sleep
1997 Nominated

Brother of Sleep

Translated from the German
artwork-image

ABOUT
THE BOOK

Could the greatest musician of all time live his life in a remote peasant village and never be discovered by the world? Set against the backdrop of an Alpine village in the nineteenth century, this astounding novel tells the story of Elias Johannes Alder, a musical genius with supernatural hearing who develops his talent in secret midnight sessions at the church organ.

A spiritual descendant of Patrick Süskind’s Perfume and translated into twenty-four languages, Brother of Sleep moves inexorably toward tragedy as Elias is undone by his intense feeling for Elsbeth, the woman he loves. In this shocking and beguiling novel, Robert Schneider has created a world that is utterly seductive and wholly original.

Original title in German Schlafes Bruder published by Reclam-Verlag (1992)

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Robert
Schneider

Robert Schneider is the Austrian author of the internationally acclaimed 1992 novel Brother of Sleep (Schlafes Bruder), a tragic story about a 19th-century Alpine musical genius, Elias Alder, who develops supernatural hearing and talent but is destroyed by his unrequited love and inability to be understood, becoming a major success despite initial rejections and inspiring film, opera, and play adaptations
Robert Schneider is the Austrian author of the internationally acclaimed 1992 novel Brother of Sleep (Schlafes Bruder), a tragic story about a 19th-century Alpine musical genius, Elias Alder, who develops supernatural hearing and talent but is destroyed by his unrequited love and inability to be understood, becoming a major success despite initial rejections and inspiring film, opera, and play adaptations

ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Shaun
Whiteside

Shaun Whiteside is a literary translator. Originally from Northern Ireland, he graduated with a First in Modern Languages from King’s College, Cambridge, and translates from German, French, Italian and Dutch, having previously worked as a business journalist and television producer.

Shaun Whiteside is a literary translator. Originally from Northern Ireland, he graduated with a First in Modern Languages from King’s College, Cambridge, and translates from German, French, Italian and Dutch, having previously worked as a business journalist and television producer.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Country
Austria
Original Language
German
Publisher
Overlook Press
Translator
Shaun Whiteside
Translation
Translated from the German

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