The novel “The Lost” (Der Untergeher, 1983; the title is difficult to translate into Russian: “Doomed”, “Descent”, “To the Bottom”) is one of Bernhard’s most famous texts, closest to his “basic” style of writing , and to the problem-thematic palette. The nameless I-narrator (who calls himself a “philosopher”), “entering the hotel,” reflects, remembers, retells, resonates - in an endless flow of speech, set at the beginning by three short paragraphs that open the book, like an aria in a piece of music, and then, until its end, without stopping its flow. The narrator retells and interprets the story of three friends, three fellow pianists, connected by one common theme with its endless repetitions: the brilliant “Goldberg Variations” of Bach, once performed by one of the friends, the great pianist Glenn Gould, and played in such a way that it is unattainable the level of this game suppresses his other two comrades in the Mozarteum, depriving them of any opportunity to remain in the musical profession. (A.Belobratov. Thomas Bernhard: Twenty years later)