Let's be clear from the start: if you're looking for a straightforward story with a beginning, middle, and end, you won't find it here. 'Dithyramben' is a whirlwind. It's a collection of poetic, ecstatic outbursts—the literary equivalent of a Dionysian frenzy. The "plot" is the internal journey of a speaker (or many voices) wrestling with a shattered self. Images of war, exile, love, and myth crash into each other. One moment you're in a modern city, the next in an ancient ritual. The only constant is a deep, aching sense of being torn apart.

Why You Should Read It

This book is a raw nerve. Goll was writing from a place of real personal trauma—a man without a single homeland, watching Europe destroy itself. Reading it, you feel that confusion and longing. It's not always "enjoyable" in a cozy way, but it's powerfully authentic. The language is intense and musical, even in translation. It makes you think about what happens to a person's mind when their world, and their sense of self, is violently pulled in two different directions.

Final Verdict

This is for the moody, patient reader who loves poetry and doesn't mind a little chaos. Perfect for fans of early modernist writers who broke all the rules, or anyone interested in the psychological impact of war and displacement. It's a short, dense book that you'll probably need to read twice. Don't try to 'solve' it—just let the strange, sad, beautiful waves of it wash over you.