Patrick Süskind, Die Taube

Jeffrey T. Adams (University of North Carolina, Greensboro)
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After the worldwide success of his novel Perfume (1985), Süskind chose to write his next work of fiction in the form of the traditional German novella, to which he adheres with the ironic zeal of a postmodern parodist. The “unheard-of event” characteristic of the novella is here occasioned by the sudden appearance of a common pigeon at the door of one Jonathan Noel, a fifty-something bank guard who lives in quiet seclusion in contemporary Paris. Noel has arranged his life to achieve a state of “vollkommener Ereignislosigkeit” (complete uneventfulness); He has the utmost concern to avoid disturbances of his perfectly static existence, which consists of living alone in a tiny rented room and going …

916 words

Citation: Adams, Jeffrey T.. "Die Taube". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 July 2005 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16835, accessed 28 March 2024.]

16835 Die Taube 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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