Bees hum through Gerhard Roth's monumental novel from 1984, in which animals, leaves, and stones can speak, and rivers flow through the sky. Its main character is the mute and "crazy" son of a beekeeper, who is gifted with the ability to see the world behind the visible world. "A great monster," called the FAZ this book in the year of its first publication, "an adventure." Now, 33 years later, 'Common Death' is being published for the first time in the originally intended version, expanded and newly revised. A dream and fairy tale book for adults. A magnificent feat of literature.