Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47007 in Books
• Published on: 1978-09-28
• Original language: German
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Language Notes
Text: English, German (translation)

Customer Reviews

A TIME CAPSULE FROM THE 19TH CENTURY
Because of the intricacy of speech in the days before our short-order transient/on-the- run culture, with all today's media distractions and clashes of civilizations, life in the 17- and 1800's was seen much closer. Little details were magnified, concepts got more-deeply probed; people made a big deal out of nuance. And abstracts like honor and integrity and reputation, too.

Kliest's more-complex and often really-long paragraphs dissect his subjects. So they grow vivid and more keenly felt. Of course moral values back in those times were strict and unyielding. Most everything in The Marquise of O- turns on manners
and mores. They contrast so sharply with ours today as to make us think of ours today.

In our time it's our appetites and ambitions. Suddenly reading about people driven by morality and tradition is quite a comparison to our times. Maybe we have it better, maybe not.

Even though the writing as well as the values are from centuries ago, Kleist's clarity and detailing bring it alive and make it relevant to our here and now. I was entertained and edified. Can't ask for more.

(Of interest, maybe: I got to this title via Francine Prose's READING LIKE A WRITER, which helpfully listed books to read to help make one a better writer. Ms. Prose is right to show us what once was. By contrasting writing styles 'back then to our media-influenced style of today, it helps us maybe understand our here and now. Another kibitz: read ATLANTIC Magazine's 'Is Google Making Us Stupid?' (July/August 2008). Whatever google does, reading Kleist does just the opposite.)

Some of the best short stories of all time - KLEISTIAN
These stories by Heinrich Von Kleist give great meaning to the adjective "Kleistian".

His prose is almost poetry and every sentence can be a roller coaster of intensity: from the Duke who in the matter of a line or two, goes from being on top of the world, to an arrow "pierc[ing] him just below the breastbone"; from Jeronimo Rugera who is a just about to hang himself in a Chilean prison until a whole city shakes in an earthquake and his fate changes forever. From the Justice of Michael Kohlhaas, to the thieves and miscreants who conspire against the church of St. Cecilia, who are brought to their knees by the power of the organ- these are stories of fate.

And that fate comes swiftly and blindsides the reader with confounding emotions and a new insight into a world turned upside down. This work was probably a product of Heinrich Von Kleist's own life of highs and lows, and the brilliance in between.

Buy the book, read these stories, you will come away spinning... but enlightened.

From the Dark Horse of German Literature
Kleist is the great, dark shadow of the German literary world. Born into a military Prussian family, he chose a literary career over the glory, order and ritual of his ancestors. He became a poet instead of an officer. He wandered from city to city, in search of a home, of solitude, a place to cultivate himself and his literary talents. He worried his friends with his demonic thoughts on suicide. He had a morose character and yet he was equally passionate. Stefan Zweig suggested he suffered from being continually extreme in everything he did, "always the superlative".

This collection of stories is not to be dismissed. "Michael Kohlhaas" is perhaps the quintessential piece; a tale of revenge and the price of vengeance, it is a universal story, appealing to our earthly desire for an "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth". Kleist creates a world of corruption of conflict. The reader wants revenge for the protagonist but how far can one man go to attain justice? What does he lose, what does he gain?

"The Earthquake in Chile" is another disturbing tale. In the wake of a natural disaster, we learn nothing changes the minds and mindsets of people. The earth shakes but the evil of humankind remains deeply rooted.

"The Betrothal in Santo Domingo" - One could see it as the companion piece to the above. In a world of war and rebellion, who can one trust?

"The Beggarwoman of Locarno" is perhaps the most subtle and haunting of ghost stories. Not only does it revel in the mysterious but it is a morality tale revealing the foibles and flaws of a darkened human spirit.

Kleist never became a high ranking officer in the Prussian military but he saw the world falling apart all around him. His stories are a reflection of the dark times he witnessed within his time and within his psyche.