[1] He is largely unknown to a wider public but has been praised by several well-known authors for his writing and his radical thinking about life and literature.
From 1924 to 1937 he lived outside of Switzerland, first in Paris and Marseille (1924–1930),[4] then in Vienna (1930/31) and the Hague (1931–1937), due to a falling out with his parents after which he went into this self-imposed exile.
He was married five times, including to the painter Hanny Fries [de], and had one daughter, Adele (born 1949), with his third wife Heidi Antoine.
Hohl won – which, according to some sources, substantially improved the position of authors versus publishers in Swiss jurisdiction – but the second volume sold equally badly.
Many regard Die Notizen oder Von der unvoreiligen Versöhnung as Hohl's opus magnum (translated as Notes, or: On Non-Premature Reconciliation).
Hohl wrote it in 1934–36; problems with his publisher (see above) delayed the publication until 1954; it was re-published, with some additions and in one volume, in 1981, a few months after his death.
The volume is divided into twelve parts (with titles like 'On Working', 'On Writing', 'On Death') which consist of hundreds of numbered 'notes' in the form of short essays, aphorisms, quotations, poems, outlines for stories etc.
Hohl's opinion was that many good things had already been said, and that he would not be able to improve on the way in which those thinkers had said them, but that it was important to re-think them for oneself.
Among the few writers he praised are Honoré de Balzac, Marcel Proust, Karl Kraus, and Katherine Mansfield.