The Second Sword: A Tale From the Merry Month of May, and My Day in the Other Land: A Tale of Demons

“The Second Sword” first picks up the story where Handke's last work of fiction, “The Fruit Thief” left off. Here a man has returned to his home in the suburbs of Paris, only to soon set out again. Why? We learn, over the course of a story redolent of Handke's harrowing “A Sorrow Beyond Dreams”, that he is seeking to avenge his mother, who has been unjustly denounced in the pages of a newspaper. “The Second Sword” is a suspenseful work of self-examination: Will the narrator's journey end in him throwing down the gauntlet?

“My Day in the Other Land” is Handke's most recently published work. Evoking imagery from the Bible and classical mythology, it portrays a man who has been possessed by demons, causing him to rage endlessly against the inhabitants of his rural village. Aided by his sister, he embarks on a journey to a lake on whose opposite shore lies the "other land." What ensues is an exorcism of sorts—and one of Handke's most evocative and original endings.

Together, “The Second Sword” and “My Day in the Other Land” are essential new entries in a body of work like no other.