El peso falso

Like other stories by Joseph Roth (1894-1939), the action of "The False Weight" (1937) takes place in an area very close to the border with the Russian Empire (probable transcript of his native Brody), with its smugglers, his deserters, his Jews ... This story as bleak as it is full of charm, however, revolves around Anselm Eibenschütz, a former military man who is confined by his marriage and his accession to the employment of inspector of weights and measures in this destination remote. Deceived, manipulated, mired in a purposeless existence that only partially redeem love fantasy and alcohol, Eibenschütz will let his days slowly dissolve, forgetting his original military rigidity for the benefit of an inconsistent life ruled by such uncertain values ??and subject to perhaps as the weights and measures that must control.