Inventory of Losses

Now longlisted for the International Booker Prize, a cabinet of curiosities exploring notions of loss and disappearance by one of Europe's finest and most original voices "A fine example of everyone's favourite genre: the genre-defying book, inspired by history, filtered through imagination and finished with a jeweller's eye for detail" JOHN SELF, Guardian"As we deal with the consequences, emotional and material, of a pandemic, it is hard to imagine a better guide to the resources of hope than Schalansky's deeply engaging inventory" MICHAEL CRONIN, Irish Times"Weaving fiction, autobiography and history, this sumptuous collection of texts offers meditations on the diverse phenomena of decomposition and destruction" Financial Times "Books of the Year"Following the conventions of a different genre, each of the pieces in Schalansky's Inventory considers something that is irretrievably lost to the world, from the paradisal island of Tuanaki, the Caspian Tiger or the Villa Sacchetti in Rome, to Sappho's love poems, Greta Garbo's fading beauty or a painting by Caspar David Friedrich.As a child of the former East Germany, it's not surprising that "loss" and its aftermath should haunt Schalansky's writing, but what is extraordinary and exhilarating is the engaging mixture of intellectual curiosity, ironic humour, stylistic elegance, intensity of feeling and grasp of life's pitiless vitality, that combine to make this one of the most original literary works of recent times.Translated from the German by Jackie Smith Review A cabinet of curiosities that can be dipped into with pleasure and profit -- Rupert Christiansen ― Daily TelegraphWith this collection of illuminating meditations on fact and fiction, Schalansky cements her reputation as a peerless chronicler of the fabulous, the faraway, and the forgotten ― Publishers WeeklyPure gold storytelling -- SjonWeaving fiction, autobiography and history, this sumptuous collection of texts offers meditations on "the diverse phenomena of decomposition and destruction" -- Angel Gurria-Quintana ― Financial Times "Books of the Year"The collection often reads like a disguised and rather ingenious form of memoir, in which vanished landmarks act as foils for the author's own excavations of lost time . . . with a crackling vigour that is well served by Jackie Smith's supple translation . . . Schalansky is at her strongest when she has least need to compromise. But there is no doubt that at these times, her work is very strong indeed. -- Lorien Kite ― Financial TimesSchalansky's meticulously researched stories are poignant reminders of the extent of our impact on the natural world and a call to honor the animals, objects, and places that, due to our own negligence, have ceased to exist ― Kirkus ReviewTwelve fictional essays comprise this stunning work depicting animals, places, objects, and buildings that are lost forever. [...] In this smooth and expert translation, internationally best-selling author Schalansky (The Giraffe's Neck) illuminates these "lost" inventoried gems with thorough research and details, making us ponder their transitory quality ― Library JournalA collection of twelve pieces, some essays, some short fiction, some pitched in between, on various things that have been lost . . . most stimulating -- David Mills ― The Sunday TimesA fine example of everyone's favourite genre: the genre-defying book, inspired by history, filtered through imagination and finished with a jeweller's eye for detail. -- John Self ― GuardianAs we deal with the consequences, emotional and material, of a pandemic, it is hard to imagine a better guide to the resources of hope than Schalansky's deeply engaging inventory -- Michael Cronin ― Irish TimesThis genre-defying catalog of things that no longer exist takes on a variety of styles, from researched histories to richly imagined narratives. A vanished island, the Caspian tiger, Sappho's lost poems: Each gives rise to a fascinating study of disappearance. ― New York Times About the Author Judith Schalansky was born in Greifswald in former East Germany in 1980 and studied art history and communication design. Her international best-seller, Atlas of Remote Islands, won the Stiftung Buchkunst (the Art Book Award) for "the most beautifully designed book of the year", while her novel The Giraffe's Neck in the English translation by Shaun Whiteside won a special commendation of the Schlegel-Tieck Prize for the best translation from German in 2015. Both books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Schalansky works as a freelance writer and book designer in Berlin, where she is also publisher of a prestigious natural history list at Matthes und Seitz. JACKIE SMITH studied German and French at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and then undertook a post-graduate diploma in translation and interpreting at the University of Bradford. In2015 she was selected for the New Books in German Emerging Translators Programme and in 2017 won the Austrian Cultural Forum London Translation Prize. An Inventory of Losses is her firstliterary translation, for which she is the winner of the 2021 Helen & Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize.