Paul Heyse (1830–1914)

Paul Heyse, who was awarded the Nobel in 1910 at the age of eighty, was a prolific writer of German short stories, also known for his work in collecting and translating Spanish and Italian lyrics (set by people like Robert Schumann and Hugo Wolf). He was associated with writers like Fontane and Storm in the "Tunnel" group in post-1848 Berlin.

"L'Arrabbiata" (1854) is one of Heyse's most famous early stories, the pared-down tale of a wilful girl from Sorrento who has sworn off men after show more seeing the disaster of her parents' marriage, but who is nonetheless courted by the lovely boatman Antonino, with predictable results. "The girl of Treppi" (1858) is another story about a couple who seem fated never both to be attracted to each other at the same moment: the activist lawyer Filippo, on the run from political oppression, finds himself hiding out in a country inn kept by a woman he had attempted to seduce seven years earlier. She has apparently been pining for him ever since, whilst he has forgotten all about her. Trouble ensues.

Both stories are set in an idealised, operatic kind of Italy, but they have interesting ways of exploring the conflict between our desire to lead independent, self-determined lives and our desire to tie ourselves up in another person's life. The Reclam student edition also comes with a couple of interesting excerpts from essays in which Heyse writes about the history and theory of the short story form. show less

Found this in a used bookstore in Ohio--a wonderful collection of rarely-seen english translations of Romantic-era novellas. The Zschokke novella is absolutely wonderful and made me want to learn German just so I could read more of him, since so little is available in English.

The author is a German Jew who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1910. The ANDREA DELFIN novella is a murder intrigue behind a beautiful and detailed biography of Venice, providing descriptions of its physical and political parts.

JEWS. The Inquisition would use Jews as "informers" and spies. The Jews would receive payment, and of course, could direct the course of the inquiry, and...they were hated anyway? In this story, the spymaster is presented without sympathy or condemnation. show more

IRONY. The whole story is one of chains of irony. Set in the mid-18th century, Venice is still a world power, but in its sun is setting. The gondola running waters and piazas are filled with nobili, commoners, and many foreigners and "others" -- Germans, Turks, Jews.

POLITICS. The Doge wore the robe, but the real power was held by the Council of Ten elected by the Nobili. The Ten in turn would elect a Triumvirate. Another irony, a concession to a form of "Republic" although it soon lost its "law".

LAWYERS. A cheery maiden daughter of a widowed innkeeper disinfects the room, comparing the blood-sucking gnats and flies to "lawyers and doctors". show less

Well written novella by a Nobel laureate in Literature. The first I have read of Heyse.