500. I'm Not Stiller

I'm Not Stiller
Max Frisch
1954
Around 390 pages

500. Well, I'm not going to lie to you, it hasn't been easy. Some of the older books have gone into the literary equivalent of the Witness Protection Program, while others take 4,391 words to complete a single sentence. But in all the muck, I have found some really special treasures. It's like in Trainspotting when Mark Renton reaches into the filthy toilet to retrieve his drugs. We can look forward to encountering that scene, and I'm sure many other disgusting moments, during the latter half of this List. I can't wait!

Anyway, I'm Not Stiller kind of fumbled the ball for holding the honor of the big five hundo. Our narrator, James Larkin White, is arrested upon arriving to Switzerland. The authorities claim he is a missing sculptor, Anatol Ludwig Stiller, a claim corroborated by Stiller's wife and friends as well.

I find stories about mistaken identity rather tedious; it's frustrating to have our main character have to keep denying/claiming the same thing again and again, without getting anywhere. I suppose that's the point, and Frisch does lean into the Kakfa-esque nightmarish aspect of being entombed alive by crushing bureaucracy. But that's not the fun kind of horror, where body parts are flying and mad axe men are on the loose. 

I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I do find it interesting that two books lately (this and Self-Condemned) have featured characters who regret their lack of action during the war. It's a different kind of sadness than the kind we read from authors with combat experience. So I guess you are doomed to guilt, no matter what you do.

Here's to the next 500! And fuck that last one.

 

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

There have been attempts to adapt this into film but none have been successful.

UP NEXT: The Ragazzi by Pier Paulo Pasolini