''The Demons'' () is a 1956 novel by the Austrian writer Heimito von Doderer. It follows a large number of characters in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

of the late 1920s.

Background

Heimito von Doderer began to work on ''The Demons'' in 1930. He worked meticulously to recreate

of the 1920s and used

architectural drawing An architectural drawing or architect's drawing is a technical drawing of a building (or building project) that falls within the definition of architecture. Architectural drawings are used by architects and others for a number of purposes: to deve ...

s and similar documents to describe locations in detail. Together with his novels ''The Lighted Windows'' (1950) and '' The Strudlhof Steps'' (1951), ''The Demons'' portrays Viennese social life in the 1910s and 1920s, with the fall of the

Austrian monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ( composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it ...

and its impact as backdrop. The German edition has the subtitle ''Nach der Chronik des Sektionsrates Geyrenhoff'' (). This is a nod to the novel ''

Demons A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in media including fiction, comics, film, t ...

'' by

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influent ...

, which features a chronicler named "G...ff".

Plot

The novel has a narrator who looks back from the 1950s to events that took place in Vienna of the late 1920s. The book portrays a large gallery of people, drawn from different urban locations and social groups. The narrative contains many branches and follows around 50 people as they go through developments. Among the more prominent characters are a man who half-jokingly is obsessed with fat women, a woman who laments not being a musician, a weaver who studies Latin, and a rich boy who is fascinated by the study of history. The novel concludes with the riot and fire at the Palace of Justice on 15 July 1927.

Reception

The book was a major critical success in the German-speaking world. Critics compared it to the works of Dostoevsky,

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

and

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly ; ; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'', which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is ...

. The critic Klaus Nüchtern described its scale and structure as a development of the architecture of

Gothic cathedrals Gothic cathedrals and churches are religious buildings constructed in Europe in Gothic style between the mid-12th century and the beginning of the 16th century. The cathedrals are notable particularly for their great height and their extensive u ...

. When it was published in English in 1961, ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' wrote that the book reconstructs "the whole texture and detail of a society" where the components "are welded together by astonishing, lucid perceptions of the most peripheral insights and relations". The critic called it "a complex and brilliant reading experience".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demons 1956 novels 20th-century Austrian novels Novels by Heimito von Doderer Novels set in Vienna Novels set in the 1920s