A short novel in translation from German, this book has apparently been highly successful in Germany. It's a very powerful, sparsely written novel about an ordinary man leading an ordinary life. Set in the mid-Twentieth Century, A Whole Life is just that. The prose is simple and spare, the lead character, Andreas Egger, works hard, endures suffering and bereavement, and has a deep relationship with the harsh but beautiful landscape so lovingly portrayed in the book. An antidote to all the very long novels that seem to be around at the moment - an epic in miniature.