The Play Of The Eyes

Description

The third volume of Canetti's autobiography is set in Vienna between 1931 and 1937: years when the European catastrophe, already clear to anyone with eyes to see, was approaching its horrifying climax. To this great intellectual and spiritual self-portrait Canetti adds wonderful portraits of his friends and rivals: Herman Broch, Robert Musil, Fritz Wortruba, Alban Berg and Alma Mahler. Canetti brings these legends to life for modern readers as never before. Central to the book is Canetti's account of his friendship with the mysterious Doctor Sonne, a mentor whose effect on his life and work was enormous.

Elias Canetti (1905-1994), winner of the 1981 Nobel Prize for Literature, was one of the major intellectual figures and polymaths of the twentieth century. A master of many genres, he is known especially for his novel, Auto Da Fe, and his great work of social theory, Crowds and Power. But Canetti's genius is perhaps nowhere more evident that in the three volumes of his autobiography, now reissued by Granta Books - The Tongue Set Free, The Torch in My Ear and The Play of the Eyes.