Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0946162549, Paperback)

First English translation in thirty years of Storm's Der Schimmelreiter, one of the masterpieces of nineteenth-century German fiction. The Dykemaster (1888), is the tale of a legendary young dy kemaster at odds with his community. Innovative and creative, he designs a new form of dyke. While supervising his work, he rides his grey horse along the dyke. When he is unwilling to engage in a sacrificial ritual of a dog to celebrate completion of the work, villagers think he is in the hands of evil powers. The passing of time and tides contributes to this misconception and he become s a legend, a phantom riding his grey along the dyke whenever the sea threaten s to break through. Storm's highly sophisticated narrative-within-a narrative structure is far in advance of its time. Denis Jackson's brilliant translation of Der Schimmelreiter recreates the full impact of Theodor Storm's masterpiece, which was totally lacking in previous English versions.