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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Barely any
Minimal violence; a death is central but not graphically depicted
Language
Barely any
Mild language in the literary register
Sexual Content
A lot
The romance between Walter and his unknown daughter becomes sexual before the truth is known; an unintentional incest relationship is central to the novel
Substance Use
Barely any
Some social drinking in the European literary tradition
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The psychological devastation of discovering the truth about the relationship, and Walter's inability to process it through his rationalist framework, creates profound tragedy
What this book is about
Max Frisch's 1957 Swiss novel follows Walter Faber, a UNESCO engineer and committed rationalist, whose chance encounters lead him to fall in love with a young woman who, he discovers too late, is his own daughter. The novel is a meditation on reason, fate, and the limits of the technological worldview. Frisch writes with extraordinary precision about a man unable to acknowledge what his rationalism refuses to see. The incest revelation — discovered after the relationship has become romantic — is the novel's devastating climax.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Unintentional incest discovered mid-relationship
Devastating psychological revelation
Reader Verification
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