![Schopenhauer's Telescope](/sites/default/files/styles/2_3_media_tiny/public/images/schopenhauers_telescope.jpg?itok=skOySwDV 98w, /sites/default/files/styles/2_3_media_small/public/images/schopenhauers_telescope.jpg?itok=QSVpWcPI 121w, /sites/default/files/styles/2_3_media_medium/public/images/schopenhauers_telescope.jpg?itok=9Csoww-s 157w, /sites/default/files/styles/2_3_media_large/public/images/schopenhauers_telescope.jpg?itok=aD6awHGU 171w, /sites/default/files/styles/2_3_media_x_large/public/images/schopenhauers_telescope.jpg?itok=2ZYreLc4 216w, /sites/default/files/styles/2_3_media_huge/public/images/schopenhauers_telescope.jpg?itok=_JwYYE3l 283w)
Gerald Donovan’s chilling narrative about civil war. In a field in Europe, two men are separated by a deepening grave. But only one of them is digging.
The Irish writer Gerard Donovan was longlisted for his debut novel, Schopenhauer's Telescope, a history-infused philosophical tale of stoicism, death and inhumanity.
The book takes the form of a conversation between two characters - the Baker and the History Teacher - as the Baker digs a hole. Their talk ranges across historical bleak points, from the Battle of Little Big Horn to the bombing of Dresden. The dialogue may be sprightly but the ever-growing hole gives a gnawing sense of menace. Donovan, who now lives in upstate New York where he teaches creative writing, has defined a story as being ‘Something we enter after it has begun and leave before it has finished.’ He once played the guitar professionally.