Dr. Fischer from Geneva or The Bomb Party
Dr. Fischer von Geneva or Die Bomben-Party (Original title: Dr Fischer of Geneva or The Bomb Party ) is a novel by Graham Greene , which was published in 1980. The German edition was published by Paul Zsolnay in the same year.
content
Alfred Jones, the narrator of the story, is a British citizen, the son of a diplomat who learned several foreign languages in the course of his childhood in the various professional positions of his father and thus earned a living: He works as a foreign language correspondent at a Swiss candy factory in Vevey , what ensures him a modest livelihood. During World War II he lost his left hand in an air raid; later he lost his wife and daughter in a difficult birth. At the beginning of the story he is already over fifty years old.
One day he happened to meet Anna-Luise Fischer, the daughter of Dr. Fischer, a very wealthy Geneva citizen with the reputation of a misanthrope, who made his living by inventing a toothpaste called "Dentophil-Duft". He soon falls in love with Dr. Fischer's daughter, and to his surprise, the feeling is mutual, even if Anna-Luise is not yet twenty-one. The two decide to get married and Anna-Luise moves in with Jones without further ado. However, this is plagued by his sense of decency, since he thinks that one must at least inform the father of these future plans. Anna-Luise emphatically warns him not to get involved with her father in any way, calls him a "Satan" and tells him about the living conditions in the Fischer house.
Dr. Fischer has no friends, but regularly gathers a group of acquaintances (whom Anna-Luise only calls "the reptiles") for parties in his house. However, the point of these parties for Dr. Fischer exclusively in humiliating his guests as much as possible. They - although each of them has a large fortune of their own - put up with all of this in order to receive a very valuable gift at the end of a party. Jones has heard of these parties, and it is from them that Dr. Fischers in public. Anna-Luise goes even further and reports on the fate of her mother, who was led by Dr. Fischer was driven to his death: her mother was a lover of classical music, her husband, on the other hand, was completely unmusical and could not help gossiping about music at every opportunity. The mother made friends with another classical music lover, a simple clerk in the office of a "reptile" with whom she met regularly to listen to music. When Dr. Fischer found out about this, he made sure that the man lost his job, and then made the mother's life hell until she died.
Despite the warnings, Jones visits the father, and at that first meeting, Dr. Fischer is not directly malicious towards him, but simply extremely indifferent. On the day of the wedding, however, one of the "reptiles" appears with an invitation for Jones to the next party from Dr. Fisherman. Anna-Luise repeats her warnings; nevertheless he accepts the invitation. On the evening of the party, he discovered that all the rumors were true: After a greeting that was dominated by poisonous exchanges, Dr. Fischer serve his guests cold porridge while he eats caviar himself. All other guests start to eat so as not to endanger their gift, but Jones rejects the porridge with the words "I'm not that hungry" .
After this unpleasant experience, the couple decided to put every thought of Dr. Avoiding Fischer in the future, but they do not succeed: During a visit to the music store in Vevey, one of the salespeople - an older man named Steiner - collapses unconscious when she sees Anna-Luise. It turns out he was his mother's music-loving friend that Dr. Fischer ruined, and for a moment thought he saw the daughter in the daughter.
A few weeks later, Jones and Anna-Luise go on a day trip to ski in the mountains; Although he cannot ski because of his war injury, he allows his wife to enjoy the sport very much. This time, however, she is brought back by mountain rescue after a serious accident and dies a few hours later in the hospital.
Jones is devastated. He barely manages to organize the funeral (to which the father does not appear, although he has been informed of what has happened), then he tries to kill himself with a quarter liter of whiskey. The attempt fails, and in this mood Dr. Fischer and asks for an interview.
When Jones visits him, Dr. Fischer remains unchanged and initially talks about his daughter's small fortune, which according to the legal situation would accrue to him, but which he does not want - just as little as Jones in his suicidal mood. Then finally Fischer invites him to another party, which should be the last one he wants to give. Jones finally accepts.
When he arrives on the evening of the appointed day, he finds a much more elaborate decor than last time: The table for everyone is set outside on the shores of Lake Geneva , regardless of the winter and frost, but large fires ensure sufficient warmth and lavish fires electric lighting for brightness. An excellent, multi-course menu is served; and after the port wine , Dr. Fischer the system of his current party gifts: In a small keg with bran, a little way away from the fire, six crackers are waiting. Five of them, he says, each contained a check for two million Swiss francs - but the last one contained a load of explosives. One of the guests is outraged by this arrangement and disappears without further words - the other "reptiles" and Jones stay, and everyone draws their crackers. When three of the "reptiles" found the checks in their respective candy, Jones also pulls on the fuse of his - and also finds a check. Dr. Fischer is already making nasty jokes about the last guest, whose crackers are still unopened. Jones exchanges the crackers with this guest for his check and pulls the string again - and again he receives a check. Outraged by Dr. Fischer's disgusting game and finally in the mood for suicide, he grabs the last cracker, which was intended for the prematurely missing guest, and which must contain the explosives, and runs away into the darkness on the lakeshore. There he pulls on the string - but this cracker does not contain a bomb either. He feels terribly disappointed and humiliated, but then he realizes that he is not alone: Mr. Steiner is standing on the lakeshore. He heard of Anna-Luise's death and this event upset him so much that he has now come to see Dr. To humiliate Fischer by trying to spit on him. No sooner has he explained his plan to Jones than Dr. Fishermen also on the lake shore. But his mood is completely changed; A melancholic has taken the place of the host, who sprayed poison and bile, and in a conversation with the other two men it became clear for the first time what he was suffering from: namely self-contempt. He finally walks off into the darkness, and Steiner expresses his pity for him. Jones is surprised, believing Steiner should have Dr. Hate Fischer as much as he does himself, but Steiner explains to him: “But hate - that is not important. Hatred is not contagious. Hatred does not spread. You can hate a person, and that's that. But when you start to despise someone like Dr. Fischer, then soon the whole world will be despised. "
At that moment they hear a lonely bang on the lake shore. When they look, they find the body of Dr. Fischers who shot himself in the head.