Peter Handke is a renowned Austrian novelist and playwright, who was recently awarded the Nobel prize for literature in 2019. Many of his critical proponents describe his prose as poetic and clever. <i>Quiet Places</i> is a translated collection of Handke's creative non-fiction or essays. The essays topics are "Quiet Places," "Mushroom Maniac," "Tiredness," "The Jukebox," and 'The Successful Day."

I was woefully unaware of and am still under-exposed to most Handke's work, which may be why <i>Quiet Places</i> was a bewildering reading experience. This may not be Handke's best work, but the essays felt meandering, confusing, and generally impenetrable. In many ways, these essays felt like exploratory drafts or brainstorming efforts rather than polished pieces. However, I did notice there were likely some interesting things with language going on, and there were also moments of compelling commentary or profiles (e.g. the mushroom maniac). The limitations here may also be a function of translation. It was noted at the end of the work that one of the translators critical to translation of Handke, Ralph Manheim, passed away well before the translation was completed.

Despite the weaknesses of this work, I think even in translation Handke comes through as introspective and discursive in a deliberate way. This could have made for compelling reading, but for the most part <i>Quiet Places</i> failed to be that. Handke's prose asks readers to be patient and meander with him. I wish this ask was paired with something fruitful in <i>Quiet Places</i>.