Daniel Kehlmann, Mahlers Zeit [Mahler’s Time]

Patricia Simpson (Montana State University Bozeman)
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In his second novel,

Mahlers Zeit

[

Mahler’s Time

, 1999], Daniel Kehlmann portrays a young physicist, David Mahler, whose genius blurs with madness. Reviewers generally praise Kehlmann’s accomplished, precise prose and the strength of story in his works. Kehlmann’s novels, including his best-known

Die Vermessung der Welt

[

Measuring the World

, 2005], explore the psyches of ambitious minds that try to impose scientific understanding on the natural world; or, conversely, attempt to unlock and appropriate the secrets of nature with occult attempts to overcome nature’s laws, as in

Beerholms Vorstellung

[

Beerholm’s Performance

, 1997]. In

Mahlers Zeit

, Kehlmann introduces the reader to his version of a compulsive physicist who experiences a flash of inspiration; this moment is both his…

1073 words

Citation: Simpson, Patricia. "Mahlers Zeit". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 June 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=21935, accessed 28 March 2024.]

21935 Mahlers Zeit 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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