Insane (novel)
| Author | Rainald Goetz |
|---|---|
| Original title | Irre |
| Translator | Adrian Nathan West |
| Language | German |
| Publisher | Suhrkamp Verlag |
Publication date | 1983 |
| Publication place | West Germany |
Published in English | 18 October 2017 |
| Pages | 330 |
| ISBN | 3518377248 |
Insane (German: Irre) is a 1983 novel by the German writer Rainald Goetz.
Plot
Insane is about mental health and psychiatric institutions. It is divided into three parts: "Away", which is about the treatment of mental illness from a variety of perspectives, "Inside", which follows the experiences in a psychiatric hospital of a young doctor named Raspe, and "Order", which follows Raspe's personal struggles after he stops working in psychiatry.[1]
Publication
Published by Suhrkamp Verlag in 1983, Insane was Goetz' debut novel. It received significant attention in West Germany upon publication, both because of its content and because Goetz, during a public reading from the book ahead of its release, cut his forehead with a razor and let his blood drip onto the manuscript. The stunt made Der Spiegel refuse to review the book. Other periodicals praised Goetz as a new star of pop literature.[2] Insane was published in English translation by Adrian Nathan West in 2017.[3]
References
- ^ "Insane". Publishers Weekly. 11 June 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ Dege, Stefan (10 August 2018). "Rainald Goetz: 'Insane'". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ "A German novel of insanity as seen from the inside". The Economist. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2025.