Homo Faber by Max Frisch

[Wolf]

This book has actually grown on me. I had to read it at school and really hated it. I reread it in my twenties when I was compared to the narrator/main protagonist by a girlfriend. So I was either too young or took the book to personal to appreciate the writing. Faber is still... well, I don't know what to call him in polite words... but he's so well drawn in all his flaws and prejudices, and so helpless against them that I actually pitied him this time. I also discovered some brilliant details and have to think some more about the overall structure and the irony, that a man who so strongly rejects the idea of fate or destiny should encounter so many "coincidences". In short, I think it is one of those books you have to read sveral times to really appreciate. Oh, and I still don't think I have anything in common with that man. What a relief.

[Diane]

Rating: 4 Stars

This is the story of a Swiss engineer who travels the world for UNESCO, assisting underdeveloped countries with technology. He sees things from a scientific standpoint and rejects the idea of chance, coincidence, or fatalism. A series of odd coincidences happen to him in his travels around the world that make him question how much control he truly has of his own destiny.

Overall, a well-written and thought-provoking book.

[Liz M]

Why it is on the 1001 list: "{It} is a tragicomic tale of the alienation of modern man and the dangers of rationalism.... Max Frisch is a master of irony, used to full effect, to produce a troubling, ambivalent work that leaves you torn between feelings of sympathy and contempt for his perfectly realized but flawed creation."

This is an odd book, in plot and tone. I am sure there was a fair amount symbolism and irony that I overlooked. The Homo Faber (man the maker) of the title is Walter, an engineer working for UNESCO. As someone who lives his life rationally, everything is in its place -- a moderately successful career, a mistress whom he likes, but is not attached to, and so on.

Then, on a work trip to Mexico things go queer. At first it seems as though it is Walter that has a breakdown. But the novel embarks on a series of coincidences and improbable events that will completely disrupt Walter's stasis taking him from the an emergency landing in a Mexican dessert, to a trip into the Guatemalan jungle, then back to the overbearing mistress in New York whom he flees by taking an impromptu trans-Atlantic cruise followed by a road trip through Europe with a young passenger met on the boat, ending in a tragedy of Sophocles-proportions (fitting since the book ends in Greece).

Throughout this all, there is a curious disconnect between the reader and Walter. Although he is narrating the events, he never seems real; there is a flatness there. On the other hand, some of the descriptions of the jungle and European sunsets are captivating. I just never settled into this book, was never sure what I was reading.

[Patrick]

Pre-2016 review:

*** 1/2

Walter Faber, an engineer working for UNESCO, makes a couple of unforeseen decisions during a work trip which will affect hos won fate and those of three women closely linked to him. To say more would probably reveal too much of the plot and interesting twists in this story. Written almost as a journal, with several jumps in time backwards and forwards, in order to explain or postpone the explanation of some events. Very readable story about a modern man who ends up the victim of fate despite being in control of his own decisions.