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Selected Prose of Heinrich von Kleist by…
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Selected Prose of Heinrich von Kleist (edition 2009)

by Heinrich von Kleist, Peter Wortsman (Translator)

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975277,725 (4)14
This amazing collection of Kleist's short fiction, novellas, essays and fragments gives readers an extraordinary and penetrating overview of the life and work of one of the most influential and unusual writers in the history of German literature. From 'The Earthquake in Chile', a damning invective against moral tyranny, to 'Michael Kohlhaas', an exploration of the violent price of justice, Kleist unrelentingly confronts the dangers of self-deception and the ultimate impossibility of existence in a world bound by absolutes.… (more)
Member:jpporter
Title:Selected Prose of Heinrich von Kleist
Authors:Heinrich von Kleist
Other authors:Peter Wortsman (Translator)
Info:Archipelago Books (2009), Edition: 1, Paperback, 283 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:****
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Selected Prose of Heinrich von Kleist by Heinrich von Kleist

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» See also 14 mentions

Showing 5 of 5
Strange, old book. I might pick it up again someday.
  steve02476 | Jan 3, 2023 |
I am familiar with the name of Heinrich von Kleist since the "Marquise of O" film, but I had never read him. This collection of short stories and novellas is impressive. Kleist's headlong prose in which every new sentence comes as a stimulating surprise is a joy to read. ( )
  JohnJGaynard | Dec 31, 2018 |
Astonishingly modern-feeling stories by someone so renowned and influential that it seems presumptuous to rate it. ( )
  V.V.Harding | Apr 21, 2015 |
Amazing collection of stories. However, I am suspect of this particular translation. There were far too many instances of modern turns-of-phrases especially in the best story of all, Michael Kohlhaas. I have not read anywhere as yet if my suspicion holds water or not, but I would be interested if anyone knows something about this. The book itself, its production value, is exquisite. A very nice edition. ( )
  MSarki | Aug 3, 2013 |
I didn't know much about Kleist when I started reading this. In fact, I felt like reading him after reading the excellent Robert Walser short story "Kleist in Thun", so I had no idea what to expect.

Contained in this volume are almost all of his short stories (missing are "The Foundling" and "The Duel"). Kleist was in his early thirties when he committed suicide, and it is remarkable that what little writing he left behind has inspired Kafka, Mann, Walser, etc. What I didn't expect was that his stories would be such page turners, and so action packed. And his sentences are convoluted, long, and syntactically crazy. Interesting comment about his sentences from a review of this book in Three Percent:

"the complexity of his language serves as a respite for the reader from the tension created by the intricate plotting. Once the reader settles into his prose, the language laden sentences that seemingly turn themselves inside out mesmerize us into a leisurely pace that is comforting in its cadence."


What strikes me about his stories in general is how he tends to put his otherwise rather normal characters in these extremely tumultuous situations, and he shows you how they are almost moved by larger forces into becoming either monsters or angels. Many times his characters acted with such mercilessness and violence that it was hard to stomach, but also hard to turn away from.

I will now talk about each story individually.

Fragments - This is basically just 2 fragments or quotes, both pretty good, but without context it is merely interesting and a good way to start the collection.

Earthquake in Chile - 5 stars - a town passes moral judgement on a couple to a disastrous end

Betrothal in Santo Domingo - 4.5 stars - powerful story of betrayal, race relations, and reminiscent of Romeo & Juliet

St. Cecilia, or the Power of Music - 3.5 stars - simple story, pretty good

Beggar Woman of Locarno - 3 stars - simple ghost story

The Marquise of O... - 5 emphatic stars - one of the best stories I've ever read

Michael Kohlhaas - 2.5 stars - okay this is the longest story in the book, about 100 pages... it probably qualifies as a novella.. it starts out very promisingly as a revenge story, but gets really bogged down in specifics in the middle, and I almost gave up. It was also very confusing with a bunch of names of officials and talk of the different laws and jurisdictions all coupled with Kleist's signature clause-filled sentences; it almost gave me a headache! There were 30 or 40 almost unbearable pages where I had very little understanding of what was going on, but kind of had a vague notion enough to get through to the last 20 pages or so, where things suddenly turn weird... The end is almost like a totally different story about a gypsy woman but it also kind of ties up the beginning revenge story too. I liked the ending, as unpredictable as it was, and I liked the beginning a lot too, but the middle just drags this story down. I wish I liked this more, and it's probably my fault that I can't appreciate it as much.

On the Gradual Formation of Thoughts While Speaking - 4 stars - this is an essay about how sometimes you can think better if you "think aloud" as we now say it. He comes to some interesting conclusions towards the end.

On the Theater of Marionettes - 5 stars - an amazing essay. Kleist talks to a puppetmaster and from the art of puppetry comes a lot of amazing philosophical insights. I wish Kleist wrote philosophy, cause I would read it.

"We see that in the organic world, to the same degree that reflection gets darker and weaker, grace grows ever more radiant and dominant. But just as two lines intersect on one side of a point, and after passing through infinity, suddenly come together again on the other side; or the image in a concave mirror suddenly reappears before us after drawing away into the infinite distance, so too, does grace return once perception, as it were, has traversed the infinite--such that it simultaneously appears the purest in human bodily structures that are either devoid of consciousness or which possess an infinite consciousness, such as in the jointed manikin or the god"
( )
3 vote JimmyChanga | Jul 15, 2010 |
Showing 5 of 5
The Selected Prose of Heinrich von Kleist is a work that surprises, unsettles and engages. His language drowns you and the unfortunate fate of his characters enduring the relentless blows of an unforgiving plot keep you tense. These are classic tales from a talented writer whose work refuses to let literature or history to look away.
 
Wortsman has done a fine job of preserving the sharper points in Kleist’s loquacious paragraphs, and he’s made them funnier.
 
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This amazing collection of Kleist's short fiction, novellas, essays and fragments gives readers an extraordinary and penetrating overview of the life and work of one of the most influential and unusual writers in the history of German literature. From 'The Earthquake in Chile', a damning invective against moral tyranny, to 'Michael Kohlhaas', an exploration of the violent price of justice, Kleist unrelentingly confronts the dangers of self-deception and the ultimate impossibility of existence in a world bound by absolutes.

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Archipelago Books

2 editions of this book were published by Archipelago Books.

Editions: 098195572X, 0982624670

 

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