Rudolf Erich Raspe (1737–1794)
Author of The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen
About the Author
Works by Rudolf Erich Raspe
Associated Works
Oeuvres philosophiques latines & françoises de feu M. de Leibnitz, tirées de ses manuscrits qui se conservent dans la… — Editor, some editions — 2 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- von Münchhausen, Karl Friedrich Hieronymus
- Birthdate
- 1737-03
- Date of death
- 1794-11
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- Germany
- Birthplace
- Hannover, Germany
- Place of death
- Muckross, Kerry, Ireland
- Places of residence
- Camborne, Cornwall, England
Killarney, Ireland
Caithness, Scotland
London, England
Cassel, Germany
Leipzig, Germany (show all 7)
Göttingen, Germany - Occupations
- librarian
copper-smelter
chemist
writer - Organizations
- University of Göttingen
- Awards and honors
- Royal Society (1769)
Members
Reviews
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.… (more)
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.… (more)
Working largely with the illustrations, a most excellent experience.
One of my very favorite books, both for the illustrations and the text.
Lists
Tall tales (1)
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 33
- Also by
- 3
- Members
- 1,211
- Popularity
- #21,207
- Rating
- 3.6
- Reviews
- 16
- ISBNs
- 166
- Languages
- 16
- Favorited
- 1
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.