Alfredo Traps, a traveling textile salesman, has his car break down in a small Swiss town and finds lodging at the home of a retired judge. The judge and his guests, an old prosecutor, a defense lawyer and a former executioner, spend their evenings staging mock trials with guests as defendants. Traps joins in as a lark, confesses to a few small matters, and slowly lets slip how he got his promotion, including the circumstances of his former boss's death.
Dürrenmatt wrote this as a radio play and then a novella, and it reads quickly, as a dark comedy about guilt and justice. It will suit readers who like short, ironic moral tales, and anyone studying Swiss postwar German-language literature.
Deep and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Deep Diver. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1998
- Publisher
- Diogenes Verlag AG
- ISBN
- 9783257230567
- Language
- DE
