The Monk's Marriage (Swiss-German Classics) PDF Download
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Author: Conrad Ferdinand Meyer
Publisher: Mondial
ISBN: 1595691383
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 126
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Book Description
Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825-1898) was a poet and novelist, born in Zürich, Switzerland. Meyer was preeminently the artist among German novelists; his style is polished and finely balanced; his scenes are delineated with infinite care, and his subjects always have a certain inner harmony with the spirit of the author's own time. In "The Monk's Marriage" Meyer reached the highest development of the "frame-story." It has been universally admired for the genius and audacity of its invention, for its artistic elaboration, and for the wonderful pen-portrait of Dante, "the wanderer through Hell," whose personality dominates the whole story as he narrates it. This introduction of Dante was a bold stroke, justified only by success. The plot of the tale itself is based upon an account (in Machiavelli's "History of Florence") of a family feud which began the bitter factional strife of the Guelfs and Ghibellines in Florence. The frame is a masterpiece, generally more admired than the story. The tale is characteristically Italian, with its sudden changes of fortune, the breathless development of the plot, the volcanic outburst of passion. The plot, one of the few in Meyer's works in which love is the dominant note, is well developed and told with consummate art. The language is noticeable for its stately dignity, such as befits the character of the narrator, the great Dante. The story has one of "those murderous finales which are Meyer's delight," as Gottfried Keller once wrote to Theodor Storm. And yet, The "Monk's Marriage" ranks as one of the best, if not the best, of Meyer's Novellen.
Author: Conrad Ferdinand Meyer
Publisher: Mondial
ISBN: 1595691383
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 126
Get Book Here
Book Description
Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825-1898) was a poet and novelist, born in Zürich, Switzerland. Meyer was preeminently the artist among German novelists; his style is polished and finely balanced; his scenes are delineated with infinite care, and his subjects always have a certain inner harmony with the spirit of the author's own time. In "The Monk's Marriage" Meyer reached the highest development of the "frame-story." It has been universally admired for the genius and audacity of its invention, for its artistic elaboration, and for the wonderful pen-portrait of Dante, "the wanderer through Hell," whose personality dominates the whole story as he narrates it. This introduction of Dante was a bold stroke, justified only by success. The plot of the tale itself is based upon an account (in Machiavelli's "History of Florence") of a family feud which began the bitter factional strife of the Guelfs and Ghibellines in Florence. The frame is a masterpiece, generally more admired than the story. The tale is characteristically Italian, with its sudden changes of fortune, the breathless development of the plot, the volcanic outburst of passion. The plot, one of the few in Meyer's works in which love is the dominant note, is well developed and told with consummate art. The language is noticeable for its stately dignity, such as befits the character of the narrator, the great Dante. The story has one of "those murderous finales which are Meyer's delight," as Gottfried Keller once wrote to Theodor Storm. And yet, The "Monk's Marriage" ranks as one of the best, if not the best, of Meyer's Novellen.
Author: Gottfried Keller
Publisher: Mondial
ISBN: 1595690832
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 110
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Book Description
From the cycle "Zurich Novellas" by Gottfried Keller: In 1877 Gottfried Keller published his "Zurich Novellas" (Züricher Novellen), a series of short novels dealing with the history of Zurich and Switzerland. "Ursula" is a love story between a Swiss soldier and the daughter of a farmer during the time of the Swiss Reformation lead by Ulrich Zwingli and at the beginning of the Anabaptist movement in Europe in the 16th century. --- "Gottfried Keller was one of the foremost Swiss novelists and one of the most original figures of German literature since Goethe, a master of style worthy to be classed with the great names of all ages." (John Albrecht Walz)
Author: Gottfried Keller
Publisher: Mondial
ISBN: 1595690840
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 110
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Book Description
Gottfried Keller (1819-1890), one of the greatest German authors in Switzerland, was a confirmed bachelor, not by choice but by necessity. He had been in love several times, but all he received in return was friendship and respect. --- In 'The Governor of Greifensee', one of Keller's Zurich Novellas, the hero, Salomon Landolt, the noble and impartial judge and governor, hits upon the grotesque plan of inviting all his former sweethearts to a festival at his castle. The five ladies accept the invitation not knowing that the others would be there. They are sincerely glad to see their old friend again; for it was not he who had deserted or injured any of them, they all for one reason or another had rejected the hand of the worthy suitor. --- It was Keller's own experience. The novel is a fine example of Keller's humor and art of story-telling. The five love affairs of the governor are told with exquisite grace and subtle characterization.
Author: Gottfried Keller
Publisher: Mondial
ISBN: 1595690794
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 114
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Book Description
Love is necessarily an important element in all imaginative literature, but with Gottfried Keller it does not overshadow all other aspects of life. Great passion we do not find in his works. In "A Village Romeo and Juliet", it is not ill-consuming love that makes the two young people seek death, but the bitter realization of life's law, as they understood it, which made it impossible for them ever to be united. The story is a fine illustration of what a great artist may make out of his raw material. Keller had read in a newspaper a report of the suicide of two young people, the sort of tragedy that we may read almost daily in newspapers; he seized upon the possibilities of the situation and the result was this story, perhaps the best he ever wrote. --- Gottfried Keller (1819-1890) was one of the foremost Swiss novelists and one of the most original figures of German literature since Goethe, a master of style worthy to be classed with the great names of all ages. (John Albrecht Walz)
Author: Wilhelm Raabe
Publisher: Mondial
ISBN: 1595690751
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 158
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Book Description
Wilhelm Raabe's novel entitled Der Hungerpastor (1864) is a classic example of the so-called "poetic realism" to which many - primarily bourgeois - German writers were devoted between 1850 and 1890. --- Wilhelm Raabe (1831 - 1910) became famous following the publication of his first novel, Die Chronik der Sperlingsgasse (The Sparrow Lane Chronicle), in 1856. His late works are known for their social criticism, while earlier novels, such as The Hunger Pastor, were intended to be primarily educational. --- With the figure of Hans Unwirrsch in The Hunger Pastor, Raabe completely lives up to his motto - "Look up to the stars. Pay attention to the streets." The budding pastor, who was born into poverty, "hungers" for knowledge and a respected place in society, but he constantly stumbles over obstacles that his own life, as well as the lives of his family and friends, place before him. --- Raabe's rambling style makes his works difficult reading for many contemporary readers. In this version of The Hunger Pastor, several chapters have therefore been summarized by the translator, while the most important ones are published in their original length. --- Despite some anti-Semitic elements, which were commonly found in the works of some 19th century bourgeois writers in Germany, The Hunger Pastor is and remains a German literature classic.
Author: Heinrich Von Kleist
Publisher: Mondial
ISBN: 159569076X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 106
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Book Description
"Michael Kohlhaas" is a novella written by famed writer Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811). The story is based upon the historical figure of Hans Kohlhase, a 16th century merchant who turned violent after being attacked and victimized by the authorities. As a result, he gathered around him a band of criminals and spread terror throughout the whole of Saxony. --- "The novella is a good example of Kleist's excellent narrative art: The action can be summed up in a few words, such as the formula for this story, given expressly on its first page: 'His sense of justice made him a robber and a murderer.' There is no leisurely exposition of time, place, or situation; all the necessary elements are given concisely in the first sentences. The action develops logically, with effective use of retardation and climax, but without disturbing episodes; and the reader is never permitted to forget the central theme. The descriptive element is realistic, with only pertinent details swiftly presented, often in parentheses, while the action moves on. The characterization is skilfully indirect, through unconscious action and speech. The author does not shun the trivial or even the repulsive in detail, nor does he fear the most tragic catastrophes ... The whole work in all its parts is firmly and finely forged by a master workman. --- Kleist has remained a solitary figure in German literature. Owing little to the dominant literary influences of his day, he has also found few imitators. Two generations passed before he began to come into his heritage of legitimate fame. Now ... his place is well assured among the greatest dramatic and narrative authors of Germany." (John S. Nollen)
Author: Theodor Fontane
Publisher: Mondial
ISBN: 1595691251
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 142
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Book Description
The gentle melancholy of two people coming together in a way which can never lead to full satisfaction, the quiet tragedy of a separation not forced by external powers but by the constant pressure of circumstances-this is what sounds through this splendid story. "Trials and Tribulations" is built entirely on this motive. An honest sturdy young officer and a decent pretty girl get to know each other on an excursion. Unconsciously they drift into a relation where heart meets heart, the breaking of which causes the deepest pain. But both see clearly from the beginning that there is no other end. For they know that the world is stronger than the individual, and the many small moments than the one supreme. They know it, for they are, like their creator, resigned realists. They shut their eyes only in order not to see the end too near. (Richard M. Meyer)---The interest of Fontane's novels lies rather in character than in action. While he portrays many types characteristic of Berlin and the surrounding region, and is very successful in rendering local color and the atmosphere of the particular circle described in each book, his penetration into universal human nature is sufficiently deep to raise him far above provincialism. His effort is to represent people vividly and naturally in their normal relations, not to strain after sensational or even dramatic situations. "Trials and Tribulations" ("Irrungen Wirrungen", 1887) gives an excellent idea of his power. In a gently moving story, told without the forcing of emotion or the contriving of exciting scenes, he deals with the pathos of the relation between a man and a woman, alike in an attractive simplicity of character, but forced apart by difference of rank. The situation is laid before us without expressed censure or protest, and is allowed to have its effect by the sober truth of its presentation. Fontane's is an honest and sincere art, none the less great because unpretentious. (W.A.N.)
Author: Romain Rolland
Publisher: Mondial
ISBN: 1595691332
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 154
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Book Description
"Colas Breugnon" is a charming romance of life in Burgundy three hundred years ago. It is an "autobiographical" novel, the story being told in the first person by Colas, who reviews his fifty years of life, and describes all its joys and sorrows. The story is gay and humorous, and full of wise observations about life. --- "Colas Breugnon is the jovial Burgundian, the lusty wood-carver, the practical joker always fond of his glass, the droll fellow. Before everything, Colas Breugnon is a free man. He loves his king, but only so long as the king leaves him his liberty; he loves his wife, but follows his own bent; he is on excellent terms with the priest of a neighboring parish, but never goes to church; he idolizes his children, but his vigorous individuality makes him unwilling to live with them. He is friendly with all, but subject to none; he is freer than the king; he has that sense of humor characteristic of the free spirit to whom the whole world belongs. From the artistic point of view, 'Colas Breugnon' may perhaps be regarded as Rolland's most successful work. This is because it is woven in one piece, because it flows with a continuous rhythm, because its progress is never arrested by the discussion of thorny problems. It is written throughout in the same key. The first sentence gives the note like a tuning fork, and thence the entire book takes its pitch. Throughout, the same lively melody is sustained. The writer employs a peculiarly happy form. His style is poetic without being actually versified; it has a melodious measure without being strictly metrical. This work is unlike any of Rolland's other writings. It is not an historic study, a critical appreciation, a philosophic essay, nor yet even, in the strictest sense of the word, a novel. It is rather a volume of reminiscences as told by a man of fifty; and the very aimlessness with which this man talks is in itself a pleasure; for Breugnon is himself the one subject of the book, holding our attention by the display of a wayward, sympathetic, and aggressive personality." (Stefan Zweig)
Author: Victor Hugo
Publisher: Mondial
ISBN: 1595690956
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 142
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Book Description
"Bug-Jargal" (1826; first published as a short story in 1819) is an early novel by French writer Victor Hugo (1802-1885). It describes the friendship between the enslaved African prince Bug-Jargal and Leopold D'Auverney, a French military officer, during the slave revolt in Santo Domingo of August, 1791, that would eventually lead to the creation of the republic of Haiti in 1804. --- Bug-Jargal, black slave and son of a king, is a man "of the noblest moral and intellectual character, passionately in love with a white woman, yet tempering the wildest passion with the deepest respect... There is no reader of the tale, who can forget the entrancing interest of the scenes in the camp of the insurgent chief Biassou, or the death-struggle between Habibrah and D'Auverney, upon the brink of the cataract. The latter, in particular, is drawn with such intense force, that the reader seems almost to be a witness of the changing fortunes of the fight, and can hardly breathe freely till he comes to the close." (The Edinburgh Review)
Author: Edmond De Goncourt
Publisher: Mondial
ISBN: 1595690670
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 190
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Book Description
In his will, Edmond de Goncourt (1822-1896) left a bequest in honor of his brother Jules de Goncourt (1830-1870) to establish and support a French literary salon, the Academie Goncourt, and later the famous Prix Goncourt, an award that to this day remains France's most significant literary prize. --- The Goncourt brothers, who co-authored a series of novels on social themes, were among the founders of literary "Naturalism" in France. Emile Zola would emerge as this movement's most important representative in his cycle of novels "Les Rougon- Macquart". --- Among the novels co-written by the Goncourt brothers, "Germinie Lacerteux" (1865) is especially noteworthy. The double-live of the novel's Parisian domestic servant, who is ground down and destroyed by the conditions she lives in, but who for decades keeps these conditions hidden from her employer, continues to captivate book-lovers in France and the rest of the world to this day.
