Geschwister Tanner (The Tanner Siblings), published in 1907 and the first of Walser’s three novels, follows the aimless and joyful Simon Tanner as he drifts through jobs, landscapes, and relationships with characteristic lightness and philosophical ease. Written in German, the novel is less a conventional plot-driven narrative than an extended lyrical meditation on freedom, work, beauty, and the value of not quite belonging anywhere.
Walser’s debut announces all the qualities — whimsy, precision, melancholy, and formal originality — that make him one of the most important Swiss writers of the twentieth century. Download this free public-domain EPUB to read the beginning of his singular literary journey.