Jakob Von Gunten

Originally published in 1909, this is the journal of a boy attending a school for butlers. It is, to some extent, a parody of the monumental novel about education for "life." Walser's concern is for all small and ephemeral feelings, and his prose displays the essential naivete of an artist who creates as if self-reflection were not a barred door but a bridge of light to the real. Like many writers who have followed him, he is an explorer of the youthful mind as an unspoiled source of wit and wisdom.