review
‘Loops’ is Elias Hirschl’s most intellectually ambitious and inventive work to date, and will appeal to readers of Italo Calvino and Ben Lerner.
The novel is a high-concept, absurdist exploration of language, information overload, and the nature of human identity. It is a text that manages to be deeply philosophical while remaining contemporary, witty, and frequently laugh-out-loud funny – a rare feat for a novel that essentially charts the logical self-destruction of humanity.
Protagonist Franziska Denk is born into the heady intellectual circles of early 20th-century Vienna. Franziska suffers from a mysterious, psychosomatic condition in which her body physically manifests any medical symptom she hears or reads about. This literalisation of the power of language sets her on a path towards Otto Mandl, a brilliant mathematician. Together, they embark on a quest to develop a ‘perfect language’, a journey that eventually devolves into the radical movement of ‘non-verbalism’. Seeking to abolish spoken and written words entirely to reach a purer truth, the movement fragments into increasingly violent factions, leading to a surreal, dystopian endgame in the fictional state of Wodot.
The novel’s structure is as mind-bending as its premise. Hirschl uses the Möbius loop as a recurring metaphor, reflecting a world where knowledge is infinite but entirely self-referential. This is mirrored in the book’s fragmented form, which blends traditional prose with letters, emails, fictionalised history, and meta-narratives. The final act introduces a book within the book – also called ‘Loops’ – a living, intelligent autofiction that loops endlessly and adapts its content based on the reader’s perspective. As the world loses its words, humanity begins to collapse into a singular hive mind of individuals all named Jim Blum, serving as a bitingly funny critique of our current era of digital homogeneity.
Hirschl’s background as a slam poet is evident in the rhythmic, engaging flow of his prose, which prevents the sophisticated intellectual references – ranging from medieval theology to advanced mathematics – from ever feeling smug or inaccessible. His bold, visionary voice speaks to the ‘information loops’ of the 21st century. ‘Loops’ is a monumental work that confirms Hirschl as one of the most exciting young authors currently writing in German.
Find out more: https://www.hanser-literaturverlage.de/en/buch/elias-hirschl-schleifen-9783552075887-t-5834
All recommendations from Spring 2026