Summary of Repetition
Filib Kobal is an Austrian teenager from Slovenian descent who travels to Yugoslavia (modern-day Slovenia) in 1960 to trace the last steps of his older brother Gregor, who went missing while fighting for the Partisans during the Second World War. He takes with him two of Gregor’s books: a notebook from agricultural school and a dictionary in which Gregor has marked certain words. Upon entering Yugoslavia, Filib discovers the joy of being an outsider in a strange land and the transformative power of language.
Reasons to read Repetition
“Repetition” is considered one of the major works of Austrian writer Peter Handke. This book will be most appreciated by readers interested in linguistics and self-discovery. Peter Handke has won many literary awards, including the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2019 and the Georg Büchner Prize in 1973. Other notable works by Peter Handke include his plays “Offending the Audience” and “Kaspar”, his novella “A Sorrow Beyond Dreams”, and his novel “Crossing the Sierra de Gredos”.
Setting: Lake Bohinj (Slovenia)
Original title: Die Wiederholung
Year of publication: 1986
Nr of pages: 256
