Põgenev hobune

Martin Walser (b. 1927), a prolific and acclaimed author and recipient of numerous prestigious literary awards, is known in Estonia for the selection Lennuk maja kohal (The Plane Over the House), a piece from the short story collection Võilill (Dandelion), and two plays, Kõrvalhaak. Toalahing (The Side Hook. The Dining Room Battle). This time, he presents himself to Estonian readers with the novella Põgenev hobune (Runaway Horse), which critics consider one of the highlights of 1970s German-language literature—a nearly perfect literary work with impeccable proportions.

In this story of two married couples on holiday—essentially a tale of a marital quadrangle—Walser reveals himself as a skilled observer and a sharp-eyed psychologist. Within just a few pages, he offers a better depiction of the so-called midlife crisis (and other crises) than many extensive documentary studies filled with statistics and confessions often manage to provide.

With a peculiar blend of irony and compassion, wit and intimacy, concise scenes, laconic sentences, and an apparent ease, Walser describes the two different escape routes from society and self taken by two former schoolmates and university friends, Helmut Halm and Klaus Buch.