773. Extinction

Extinction
Thomas Bernhard
1986
Around 325 pages

Every time we've had a Thomas Bernhard novel on this List, I've thought "oh, there's still another one?" Well, we've finally reached his final entry. Here's my official ranking of this cranky bastard.

1. Concrete

2. Wittgenstein's Nephew

3. Correction

4. Old Masters

5. Yes

6. Extinction

As you can see, this is the bottom of the List, which might be because of Bernhard fatigue. 

Franz-Josef Murau is the intellectual black sheep of a powerful Austrian land-owning family. Murau lives in Rome in self-exile, obsessed and angry with his identity as an Austrian, and resolves never to return to Wolfsegg, the family estate. When he hears of his parents' deaths, he finds himself master of Wolfsegg and must decide its fate.

Man, Bernhard is not happy to be Austrian. And he's made that abundantly clear in all his novels. He's kind of a Negative Nancy in general, so a little of him goes a long way. Of course, I can be a Negative Nancy too, but I don't share the same contempt for art. 

Definitely belongs on Bernhard's B-side.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Bernhard never met his father.

UP NEXT: An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro