Graham Swift, The Next Best Thing

Anastasia Logotheti (Deree-The American College of Greece)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Kerry Myler (Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication May 2020

Places

United Kingdom (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Story

Resources

In May 2020 Graham Swift’s short story “The Next Best Thing” was published in the Telegraph. Set in Germany in 1959, the year part of the action of Swift’s most recent novel Here We Are (2020) also takes place, the 5800-word story focuses on the encounter between two strangers: a German public servant, Herr Büchner, and a soldier of the British Army, Private Caan. The soldier, who is “currently residing with the British Army of the Rhine”, is looking for news of his Jewish relatives who lived in Germany before the second World War.

In his early forties Amtsleiter Hans Büchner, who “had been a soldier himself”, works as supervisor of the Records d…

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1182 words

Citation: Logotheti, Anastasia. "The Next Best Thing". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 September 2021 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=40582, accessed 25 November 2024.]

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