Novel
Schweizerspiegel
Not translated into English
Meinrad Inglin · 1938
Synopsis
Zurich, 1912: the great manoeuvres attended by the German emperor open the chronicle. Alfred Ammann, a liberal member of the National Council and senior officer, runs his household with the assurance of an order that goes without saying. War breaks out, the army guards the frontiers, and his children each go their own way: Severin, a conservative journalist turned towards Germany, Paul, won over to socialism, Fred, the youngest, drawn to the land; their sister Gertrud lives an unhappy marriage. The country divides, between language regions as between classes, as the years of war go by.
Context
Inglin conceived the novel during the First World War and wrote it from 1931 to 1938, with War and Peace in mind. It was published in 1938 by Staackmann, in Leipzig, and was read in the climate of spiritual defence of the late thirties, notably at the national exhibition of 1939. In 1955 the author produced an abridged version, about a quarter shorter, which Adolf Muschg criticised for having removed part of the book's political and erotic material. Michel Mamboury translated it into French, in Lausanne, in 1985.
Who it is for
A long family novel, in German, in which the whole political history of those years passes through a house in Zurich; it takes time.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as its author's principal work; hailed on publication by Karl Schmid and by Albin Zollinger.