Wolf Haas's 'Court-circuit': A Puzzle-Like Novel

Wolf Haas's "Court-circuit" begins with a seemingly ordinary scene: Franz Escher, a man consumed by boredom and a passion for puzzles, awaits an electrician. This mundane setup, however, quickly reveals itself as a significant clue in Haas's intricate literary game. Escher's fascination with puzzles, particularly one depicting M.C. Escher's "drawing hands," foreshadows the novel's structure: two narratives that mirror and draw from each other.

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Franz Escher was still waiting for the electrician, and his puzzle was now complete.

As Escher waits, he reads a book about Elio Russo, a Calabrian mafia informant turned witness, who is also in limbo, awaiting exfiltration from prison. Russo, in turn, is reading a book about Franz Escher, a solitary Viennese man waiting for an electrician. This meta-narrative structure, where characters within a story read about characters in another, forms the core of Haas's playful yet profound exploration of storytelling.

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Wolf Haas thus indicates to us, from the beginning of the novel, the game he himself is going to set up: two novels that draw each other.

Haas, renowned in the German-speaking world for his crime novels, imbues "Court-circuit" with his signature style. Escher, a funeral orator who approaches his work rationally and without sentiment, is portrayed as an amoral, socially detached yet strangely sympathetic figure. His accidental killing of the electrician who finally arrives sets in motion a chain of events as he seeks out the electrician's widow, mirroring the unfolding narrative of Russo's life in hiding.

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The characters are well-drawn and draw us into this constantly surprising story.

The novel masterfully navigates between these two parallel worlds, following Russo's new life, his burgeoning love, the birth of his daughter Ala, and the constant threat that forces them to relocate. Simultaneously, Escher's investigation into the electrician's death progresses. Haas excels at seamless transitions between these storylines, creating a narrative that is both suspenseful and intellectually engaging. The intricate structure and chronology are expertly handled, with the mise en abyme deepening as the plot unfolds, leading the reader through a labyrinth of interconnected lives and secrets.

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Escher is a type of a rather particular kind: he likes puzzles depicting classical paintings, is a funeral orator, a profession that suits his character well because he practices it rationally, without effusion of feelings.