A WHOLE LIFE by Robert Seethaler

 

A master class in concise, compact, beautiful, evocative writing. But oh so sad. It may be a whole life, but it sure isn't fortunate, pleasant, joyful, happy, contented life. I also find it sad that a whole life can be written about in 149 pages, of decent sized font and at least 1.5 spacing. Maybe that is the point - a sad, lonely and painful life briefly told. 

Translated from german, this small novel is set in the mountains of Austria. Bleak, rugged, beautiful, scenic, pure and perfect. Andreas Eggers comes to this place as a small child, orphaned so fostered to a farming couple. Life is brutal, violent for the small boy, no love, affection, tenderness. He works hard, has a perfect work ethic, so despite a lame leg, finds work in the construction of cable cars. His childhood in the mountains gives him great climbing skills so he ends up with much of the dangerous work. He saves enough money for a small patch of land on the mountain side, falls in love, marries. He is happy and well deserving of it. But not for long. War comes, he ends up in a POW camp. War ends, he returns to the mountains. He spends the rest of his life living in the mountains, taking tourists on hikes, slowly ageing, slowly deteriorating, slowly dying. 

The writing is extraordinarily sparse, beautiful, melancholic. I still found the story sad though - a life that this man really had little control over, little say in how it was going to turn out. Probably the life that thousands, millions have endured. Sad but true.