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The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1785)

by Rudolf Erich Raspe

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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1,1581616,984 (3.52)30
Classic Literature. Fiction. HTML:

Sail off on a fantastical journey with Baron Munchausen, the jocular title character of this whimsical tale from Rudolf Erich Raspe. The book is based on the exploits of a real-life German baron whose stories about the battles in which he fought as a member of the Russian army included details such as riding on a cannonball and flying to the moon. The book was also the basis of a 1988 film adaptation.

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» See also 30 mentions

English (11)  Dutch (1)  Portuguese (Brazil) (1)  Catalan (1)  Finnish (1)  Spanish (1)  All languages (16)
Showing 1-5 of 11 (next | show all)
A classic, but oddly disappointing. Indeed "the movie was better".

This is just so fast-paced that there's no room for any depth or "texture" to it. Each escapade is only a page or two, so there's hardly room for an adjective. Those that are are mostly implausible superlatives. So it's a fascinating narrative and skeleton for a tale, but there's no meat on these bones. ( )
  Andy_Dingley | Dec 19, 2021 |
Tall tales of the unbelievable exploits of Munchausen, i wonder if the Donald Trump character is based on this guy :) .
This isn't great but is better than i expected. Random nonsense of this sort tends to really bore me but every time i started to lose interest something would occur to coax at least a wry smile from me.
Usually stories like this are done as satires like [b: Voyage to Cacklogallina|21940544|A Voyage to Cacklogallinia With a Description of the Religion, Policy, Customs and Manners of That Country|Samuel Brunt|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397709263s/21940544.jpg|41245541] , [b: Gulliver's Travels|7733|Gulliver's Travels|Jonathan Swift|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1427829692s/7733.jpg|2394716], [b: Niel's Klims Journey Under Ground|9741432|Niels Klim's Journey Under the Ground|Ludvig Holberg|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|2932724] etc. But this bares more in common with [a: Rabelais|11029|François Rabelais|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1223897787p2/11029.jpg] or [b: Lucian's True History|10856060|Lucian's True History;|Lucian of Samosata|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348898221s/10856060.jpg|3593172]. Its just absurd for the sake of being absurd.
Some of the tales are definitely influenced by older works, for example his description of his entourage is clearly stolen from the grimms fairytale [b: The Six Servants|1072135|The Six Servants|Jacob Grimm|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1180741962s/1072135.jpg|1058827], which makes me wonder how many other elements are borrowed.
Overall, mildly entertaining, maybe a little gross for kids, a lot of incidents involve things going in or out (or both) of people or animals.

The version on gutenberg i tried seemed a very chopped down translation, i eventually settled on a version illustrated by Gustave Doré who's drawings did add a little something extra to the reading experience. ( )
  wreade1872 | Nov 28, 2021 |
Working largely with the illustrations, a most excellent experience. ( )
  wetdryvac | Mar 2, 2021 |
One of my very favorite books, both for the illustrations and the text. ( )
  wetdryvac | Mar 2, 2021 |
The movie was better. ( )
1 vote Chica3000 | Dec 11, 2020 |
Showing 1-5 of 11 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (30 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Rudolf Erich Raspeprimary authorall editionscalculated
Agosti Castellani, Maria LuisaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Öman, V. E.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bürger, Gottfried Augustsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bomans, GodfriedTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Carswell, JohnEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Cruikshank, GeorgeIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Doré, GustaveIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Floethe, RichardIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Held, John, Jr.Illustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hoorn, Henri vanTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kredel, FritzIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Villarino, M.I.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Wood, LeslieIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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This is the original work by Rudolf Erich Raspe; please don't combine it with the rewrites by Gottfried August Bürger and Erich Kästner.
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Classic Literature. Fiction. HTML:

Sail off on a fantastical journey with Baron Munchausen, the jocular title character of this whimsical tale from Rudolf Erich Raspe. The book is based on the exploits of a real-life German baron whose stories about the battles in which he fought as a member of the Russian army included details such as riding on a cannonball and flying to the moon. The book was also the basis of a 1988 film adaptation.

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