Comments on: What is this grotesque, possibly German short story?

Question: What is this grotesque, possibly German short story?

bubukaba — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 17:53:30 -0800

Help me remember the name and author of this short story. The pathetic male main character is abused and humiliated by an abusive female character (his wife, I think). The culmination involves some sort of grotesque and humiliating performance by the main character at a party, arranged by the wife. I vaguely remember the author being German (though I could be wrong), and I read it in an anthology, so it's probably by someone pretty well known.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 18:38:33 -0800

sounds a bit like *who's afraid of virginia woolf?* - a play, not a short story

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 18:41:38 -0800

(oh - the author of that one is Edward Albee)

By: Lucinda

Lucinda — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:44:33 -0800

It sounds a *little* like The October Game by Ray Bradbury, but that's probably not it.

By: Lucinda

Lucinda — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:45:54 -0800

Sorry for the double post, but here is a link to that story...

By: arha

arha — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 20:05:32 -0800

Could it be "My lady love, my dove" by Roald Dahl, from "Tales of the Unexpected"?

Link to a synopsis here.

By: Jandasmo

Jandasmo — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 20:20:49 -0800

How about, "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover"?

By: limeonaire

limeonaire — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 20:21:09 -0800

Definitely sounds like "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" to me, despite that not being a story.

By: bubukaba

bubukaba — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 20:55:13 -0800

This was definitely a short story, or maybe a novella. Keep throwing things out there. This is really driving me crazy.

That said, I'm pretty much bound to like anything that fits the description I provided - so thanks for all the suggestions so far!

By: ormondsacker

ormondsacker — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 22:44:38 -0800

Dead end alert - that's pretty much the plot of the classic Josef von Sternberg/Marlene Deitrich film The Blue Angel, which was based on a novel by Thomas Mann's older brother. Buut... I double-checked online, and Professor Unrat, or The End of a Tyrant seems to have had a completely different ending from the film and therefore wouldn't be what you're looking for. Sorry.

By: scratch

scratch — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 06:40:05 -0800

Sounds like Patricia Highsmith's kind of nastiness, though she wasn't German.

By: WyoWhy

WyoWhy — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 07:18:57 -0800

This is kind of obscure, but it could be "Titus Alone," the third book in the Gormenghast series by Mervyn Peake. You can buy all three books in one volume, and it is the shortest of the books.

By: bubukaba

bubukaba — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 01:21:16 -0800

Ah hah! I finally found it myself - it's "Little Lizzy" by Thomas Mann.