E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776–1822)

The Sandman is a nightmarish figure from the childhood memories of the main character, Nathanael, and to what degree the characters Coppelius and Coppola are actually daemonic creatures or projections of Nathanael's fears, Hoffmann leaves to the reader to decide. The most horrifying element for me was Nathanael's extreme narcissism, in which he was very much a pitiable victim as well as, ultimately, an abuser. There's lots of psychology to unpack, which Freud did, badly, in my show more opinion.

Freud's analysis of Hoffman's "The Sandman" in his essay The Uncanny focuses on Nathanael's "castration complex" as a means of resolving the 'good' and 'bad' father figures in his psyche. Freud consistently misapprehended the accounts of childhood abuse his clients told him of, because how could the respectable burghers of Vienna who brought to him their wives, daughters and sons, be the same monsters who plagued their dreams, or the same men who paid his fees?

Consequently, Freud developed a psychological theory based on his inability to face the horrifying truth of patriarchal violence and abuse, presenting the world with the victim-blaming concepts of a feminine predisposition to neurosis and of childhood sexual fantasizing over parents, ideas which, sadly, continue to give cover to paedophiles and abusers, especially when the perpetrators are people of "good (or royal) character". show less

This is not just a hackneyed version of "The Nutcracker" dressed up by the magnificent illustrations of Maurice Sendak. On the contrary, this book (beautifully printed and bound) features the original story written by E.T.A. Hoffmann, later watered down for the famous ballet. While I have always loved the ballet in any form, this story is far superior to the traditional one, and captured my attention from the very start. As Sendak wrote in his preface about the version familiar to audiences show more today:

"[It] is smoothed out, bland, and utterly devoid not only of difficulties but of the weird, dark qualities that make it something of a masterpiece.”

Kent Stowell, the artistic director of the Pacific Northwest Ballet, invited Sendak to collaborate on a new production, and they agreed to adapt the Hoffman version. The translation used in this book by Ralph Manheim is superb – there is nothing dated or stodgy about it, and I found myself unable to quit reading until I had finished the entire story. And as admirers of Sendak know, as an illustrator he is particularly well-suited to capture “weird, dark qualities” and render them as not at all scary but full of whimsy and fascinating detail.

My favorite parts? The character known as the Giant Sweettooth of Candytown (since he is obviously one of my progenitors) and the very last sentiment, which concludes:

"…Marie is believed to be still the queen of a country where sparkling Christmas woods, transparent marzipan castles, in short, the most wonderful things, can be seen if you have the right sort of eyes for it.”

“The right sort of eyes” …. What a marvelous concept! show less

Nutcracker and Mouse King:
I've seen the Nutcracker ballet several times, but this was my first experience with the novella that originates the tale. Iiii think I'll stick with the ballet. What a load of tedious nonsense. And the translation so often fell with a clang, especially in the dialogue. According to some supplementary matter (by Jack Zipes) I have, the story is "all about igniting the imagination of Marie* so that she can act and realize her inner dreams and desires in opposition to show more a conventional and prescriptive upbringing." I can see that, I suppose, but boy did I mostly just feel like I was crawling through molasses for not much payoff. This is one of the very rare instances when I wish I had read introductory matter before reading the text.

*Clara in many US versions of the ballet

The Tale of the Nutcracker:

Dumas's retelling (or at times just a translation? he does change some things, but other bits are clearly just rewordings of the original--apparently the circumstances under which Dumas produced his version are lost) of Hoffmann's tale. I enjoyed this version much more, primarily because it read better. I was much more drawn into the tale, and nothing hit my ear with a clang (as in the Hoffmann). To what degree this is a function of the respective translations into English, I could not say. show less

Hoffmann, hayatının son yıllarında yazmış olduğu bu eserde Rabelais ve Sterne’ün muzip edebiyatına olan vefa borcunu ortaya koyduğu gibi, Kafka’dan Poe’ya, Bulgakov’dan Marquez’e gerçekliğimizi anlatmak için doğaüstü anlara başvurmuş olan çağdaş yazarların da izleyeceği bir yol tutturmuştur. Hastalık hastası, insansevmez besteci Johannes
Kreisler’in anılarını yazdığı kâğıtları kendi anıları için müsvedde olarak kullanan sıradan bir kedinin show more hayat hikâyesini anlatmaya koyulan Hoffmann’ın bu ikili anlatısı öylesine moderndir ki, okurlar onun zevkine ve hicvine ancak 20. yüzyılda yetişebilmiştir. Her bir sayfasında Hoffmann’ın ustalığını ve öngörüsünü sezdiğimiz bu roman, şüphesiz yayımlandığı yüzyılın en tuhaf kitaplarından bir tanesi.

“Hoffmann gibi parlak, ehlileştirilmemiş ve benzersiz bir aklın bıraktığı ürünlerin hatırası ilelebet merak nesneleri olarak zihinlerde kalmalı.”
THOMAS CARLYLE show less