Michael (a youth book written for an infantile society)

Author: (Austrian) Elfriede Jelinek (Jelinek, E.), translated by Yu Kuangfu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-01
Features: Reality is always depicted incorrectly; it can only be this way, so wrong that everyone who reads or hears it immediately recognizes its falsity. It is lying! Language, this dog, was supposed to protect me, and that's why I keep it, yet now it bites me. — Elfriede Jelinek
Michael falls in love with beautiful Patricia, only to discover she is the daughter of a wealthy factory owner. TV viewers become increasingly excited as the plot unfolds according to their own expectations. On a bus trip with their company, two female apprentices fight fiercely over a seat, bloodied in the process. Scene after scene, the reality of TV society and the power-driven world is vividly portrayed, full of wit. TV audiences are overjoyed to see this, at least they seem to know more than Mrs. ?ogalska. One TV viewer tells another: "Look, something is about to happen!" When Mrs. ?ogalska rings the doorbell a second time and there's no response inside, four or five other TV viewers—or two or three million others—tell their wives, friends, or children: "Look, something is about to happen!" Yet Mrs. ?ogalska remains completely unsuspecting. We all shout together: "Something is happening, Mrs. ?ogalska!" But she is still oblivious. Mrs. ?ogalska opens the slightly ajar garden gate and walks toward the house. The door is locked. Silence. Now everything is clear, and Mrs. ?ogalska is even stunned (stunned).