Der Weltverbesserer

by Thomas Bernhard

Dieser Privatgelehrte und Philosoph ist ein unverbesserlicher Misanthrop. Selbstgefällig, voller Kritik und erbarmungsloser Ironie für seine Umwelt, macht er, kommt er in Fahrt, nicht einmal vor seinen Nächsten halt. Aber der Weltverbesserer ist kein überzeugter Einzelgänger, im Gegenteil, er ist von seiner Partnerin und den Streitgesprächen mit ihr regelrecht abhängig. Nur im Austausch mit der Lebensgefährtin, seinem »notwendigen Übel«, kann er sich noch Tag für Tag neu definieren. Nur im Austausch mit ihr kann er noch um eine kleine Veränderung der Dinge ringen, nachdem ihm eine grundsätzliche Verbesserung der Welt versagt geblieben ist. Gefangen in einem ganzen Kosmos von Gedanken, Ansprüchen und Forderungen ziehen die beiden Bilanz. Ein Endspiel beginnt …

Genres: Drama, Plays, German Literature

117 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Thomas Bernhard was an Austrian writer who ranks among the most distinguished German-speaking writers of the second half of the 20th century.

Although internationally he’s most acclaimed because of his novels, he was also a prolific playwright. His characters are often at work on a lifetime and never-ending major project while they deal with themes such as suicide, madness and obsession, and, as Bernhard did, a love-hate relationship with Austria. His prose is tumultuous but sober at the same time, philosophic by turns, with a musical cadence and plenty of black humor.

He started publishing in the year 1963 with the novel Frost. His last published work, appearing in the year 1986, was Extinction. Some of his best-known works include The Loser (about a student’s fictionalized relationship with the pianist Glenn Gould), Wittgenstein’s Nephew, and Woodcutters.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Thomas Bernhard were to write a play (and he certainly did), this undoubtledly would be the play he would write. Essentially a caustic monologue interrupted, only occasionally, by stage directions and snippets of conversation, The World-fixer is an expression of profound contempt. But is it Bernhard's contempt for the world, given voice in the title character, or is it Bernhard's contempt for the title character—who is so absurdly mercurial and misanthropic that he is either an unlikely or an unconvincing surrogate? Or maybe it's both at once—a calculated tension between the celebration and the mockery of curmudgeonliness?

The title character, known only as the World-fixer, is roughly based on the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein; that is, he mirrors the accomplishments and elusiveness of Wittgenstein, but his temperament, less so. The World-fixer spends most of his time shut up in a house—secluded, theatrically—berating, insulting, and ordering around his companion, the Woman. When he is not absorbed in these more practical activities, he is talking to himself (or ostensibly to the Woman, but really to himself) about his neurotic predilections and the ignorant public's tragic misunderstanding of his opus The Tractate. (Compare to Wittgenstein's only published book-length work, the ever-challenging Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.)

Of course, this makes The World-fixer sound like a dry, academic affair, doesn't it? But that's not at all the case. The play is pretty much wall-to-wall comic absurdism. The World-fixer is a wise buffoon, scatter-brained, dictatorial, delusional, malingering, and—once in a great while—melodramatically sensitive. He is oppressed by many unnamed physical ailments. Or is he? He spends all of the play in a chair, demanding the Woman's help to stand or to walk, but on one occasion, he seems to forget he is incapacitated and stands easily on his own. He also wears a wig for exceptional events, like the informal ceremony (being held in his home, by his request) awarding him an honorary doctorate. But he also freely informs everyone that he's wearing a wig. He conceals but reveals his concealment. He is overly concerned with the preparation of food, drafts from open windows, and the placement of furniture. He is cruel. At times, his relationship with the Woman might be aptly classified as terrorism. But he is also pathetic—a learned man, perhaps, but at the same time, childish and idiotic. But he is somehow unthreatening, if only because his viciousness and arrogance are tempered by our realization that all of his wisdom and insight has brought him only misery. Or what he believes is misery, anyway. Which amounts to the same thing, doesn't it?

[Gorkem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Klasik bir Thomas Bernard Metni. Vahşet tiyatrosu örneği olan "Dünya Düzelticisi" Absurd ama zor bir metin.

İronik
Rahatsız edici.
Edici evet
Vaat edici mi
Aslında değil ama edici
Umut dolu aslında
Hayır değil
Evet aslında insan eleştirisi var
Hayır sıçanlar, erişteler var
Delilik var
Mantık var
Var
Yok..
Hiç
bir
Şey

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of the six plays by Bernhard translated into English I have read, this is by far the best. (What a horrible sentence.) Luckily I am not reviewing my own writing. This play is no departure from the others, being mostly an anguished monologue spat at the audience by the spiteful titular character. The introduction notes that 90% of the spoken words belong to him. I wish I could see something like this actually performed. How can an actor recall such a glut of words, not mix shit up or fumble over lines? There are barely any words spoken by anyone else to act as cues in the event the "protagonist" gets lost. Are Bernhard's plays EVER performed ANYWHERE in the United States? Certainly not in Kentucky, so I better give up this little dream like I've given up all the rest.

[albin james · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recognize this?
Dreamer
There are lots of strings
Dream on
We can solve everything in science
Naturally
Science
It's a picture of how to get what you want out of life

Recognize this?
I love it
Dreamer
Isn't there some other way?
Who cares!

[Burak Taşcı · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kötürüm, çaresizlik içinde yüzen, acı içinde kıvranırken yine de yaşama arzusu içinden eksilmemiş bir karakterin kafasının içine sokuyor bizi Dünya Düzelticisi. Kulaklıksız duyamayan, yürüyemeyen, vücudunu yaralar sarmış bu kendisine bile hayrı kalmamış adamın Dünya Düzelticisi olması kadar ironik ve absürt bir eser. Kitap Dünya Düzelticisinin monologlarıya ilerliyor. Dünya Düzelticisi dağınık zihinli ve manik depresif belirtiler gösteren bir karakter. Anlatıma bilinç akışı hakim. Bu da eseri biraz kapalı yapıyor. Ama kesinlikle dozunda bir muğlaklık var. Thomas Bernhard sıkışmışlık hissini öfke duygusu ile bezeyerek bize çelişkiyi anlatıyor. Kapana yakalanmış fareyi özgür bırakmanın odanın içindeki kadını korkutup kaçırmasının çelişkisini..

[Nowosolow · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5
Definitiv einer der Thomas Bernhard Monologe jemals.

[Fernando · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dieses Werk zeigt wie der Weltverbesser, ein Mann mit einem Überlegenheitsgefühl gegenüber allem, seine Eisamkeit und Abeneigung gegen alle Lebensformen allmählich leidet, oblgeich er stets von seiner Frau begleitet wird. Was sehr auffällig ist, dass Bernhanrd dieses Theaterstückt nicht durch die Ermordung oder Sterbern seines Hauptdarsteller endet, wie dieses Autor in "der Untergehr" dargestellt hatte und wie das Ende, teilweise, auf sich warte liesst; im Gegensatz dazu, der Protagonist bleibt in der Welt die er hasst. Im Grunde genommen, es haldelt sich hierbei um ein empfelehntswertes Buch.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Bernhard's novels, the single-voiced rants that can carry on for over 200 pages. His plays feature angry men, too, but they seem reduced, pettier, the comedy more pratfall than ironic. Still, for Bernhard fans who want a sense of his range, a familiarity with his plays is important.

[Mihai · Rating 4 out of 5]

"DEKAN: Meine Nichte hat mir aus Rumänien geschrieben, daß sie Ihren Traktat übersetzt.
REKTOR: Gerade Rumänien ist empfänglich für derartiges Gedankengut. Es ist zu wünschen, daß Ihr Traktat nicht nur gelesen, sondern tatsächlich studiert wird."
Jaja :)

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious. Masterful. Pure poetry. I would love to see this performed.

[Merih · Rating 3 out of 5]

The answer is in the mice!