The Ballad of the Last Guest

A novel about a man who returns home, only to find that home is now unrecognizable, by the Nobel laureate Peter Handke.

A man named Gregor returns to his hometown from another continent. The landscape, formerly dotted with small villages, has been absorbed into the outskirts of a large city, both familiar and foreign at the same time. His father sits playing cards, waiting for him, while his sister holds a new baby. All the while, Gregor carries with him the secret of his younger brother’s death.

No matter his intentions, Gregor is unable to stay put. He is drawn back out into the world, into the streets and alleys of what is now a city, to the cinema, the soccer stadium, the remains of the forest, and above all the old fruit orchard, now overgrown and beyond saving. As he walks, the present and the past intertwine; memories of childhood surface, and inner voices enter into dialogue.

Revisiting many of the settings and themes of the Nobel laureate Peter Handke’s previous works, The Ballad of the Last Guest takes stock of the changes that the twenty-first century has wrought on the land—and on human beings.