The Piano Teacher

by Elfriede Jelinek · first published 1983

The Piano Teacher (German: Die Klavierspielerin [diː klaˈviːɐ̯ˌʃpiːləʁɪn]; transl. "The Piano Player [f.]") is a novel by Austrian Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek, first published in 1983 by Rowohlt Verlag. Translated by Joachim Neugroschel, it was the first of Jelinek's novels to be translated into English. The novel follows protagonist Erika Kohut (German: [ˈeːʁika ˈkoːhʊt]), a sexually and emotionally repressed piano teacher, as she enters into a sadomasochistic relationship with her student, Walter Klemmer (German: [ˈvaltɐ ˈklɛmɐ]), the results of which are disastrous. Like much of Jelinek's work, the chronology of the events in the book is interwoven with images of the past and the internal thoughts of characters.

Summary: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Original language:

German

Year page:

1983