636. Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick

Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick
Peter Handke
1970
Around 125 pages

I knew about Peter Handke, having read a depressing book regarding his mother's suicide in undergrad. It was a positive, if not enjoyable, reading experience. So I was looking forward to this, and was relieved to find out that there wasn't much sport involved in the plot. I know I seem like a jock, but those stories really hold no interest for me.

A goalkeeper spends the night with a cashier and kills her. Then he wanders around. Another man committing violence against women, and we have to brood on his psychology for 125 pages. I know this is all just practice for what Bret Easton Ellis has in store for us. 

Handke doesn't do much to make his novel different in this well-tread genre. He's a glum writer, and portrays a glum Austrian town.There are definitely clever sentences in there, but I had no interest in following our main character around.

Of course, I was grateful it was short but part of the reason it failed to stand out was its brevity. Skippable, but I'm not giving up on Handke yet.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Adapted into a 1972 Wim Wenders film.

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