The Duel
by Heinrich von Kleist
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One of the few novellas written by the master German playwright, The Duel was considered by Thomas Mann and others to be one of the great works of German literature. The story of a virtuous woman slandered by a nobleman, it is a precise study of a subject that fascinated von Kleist: that people are sometimes seemingly punished for their very innocence. This new translation reinvigorates a key work by this revolutionary German writer.Tags
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Every time I get riled up about the many ways our current justice system is a farce, I will have to remind myself that this ridiculousness was once considered justice and reassure myself about how far we've come after all.
A story of murder, deceit, and intrigue set in the fourteenth century. All about who has the power of being believed, and how God works in the world. Remember the kind of logic that said if you attempted to drown a witch and she didn't die, it must be because she was a witch and Satan was protecting her, but if she did die, whoops -- must have been innocent? This is a little less terrible, but still amazing.
The story itself is well told though, and if you aren't rooting for poor Littegarde throughout, well, let's just show more say I have concerns for your soul. show less
A story of murder, deceit, and intrigue set in the fourteenth century. All about who has the power of being believed, and how God works in the world. Remember the kind of logic that said if you attempted to drown a witch and she didn't die, it must be because she was a witch and Satan was protecting her, but if she did die, whoops -- must have been innocent? This is a little less terrible, but still amazing.
The story itself is well told though, and if you aren't rooting for poor Littegarde throughout, well, let's just show more say I have concerns for your soul. show less
I can't remember ever fighting for somebody's honor. It is possible I have, but perhaps too drunk at the time to remember. Of course, that would have been years ago when I was young and dumb and fought for things as if they mattered. In this novella, the truth does matter. Not only is an entire fortune at stake, but the integrity of good people is challenged and mistakes are made contiguous with deceit confounding all in several different ways. Love and jealousy share equal billing, and the battle between these two reaches almost epic proportion. But that is how a good novella is made.
The jacket flap erroneously states the general plot of the novella, but this is still a fine translation and wonderful story. Sad for the fact that the show more editors of Melville House missed this huge mistake on the flap and this is for me beyond belief. It is possible an intern wrote this bit for Heinrich, and that adds insult to injury. It is obvious whoever wrote the jacket blurb had not ever read the book. How important it is to have accuracy and attention to details when producing a book as important as this one could be. Important enough to be included in a series and finally have its own space alone in book form. There is no forgiving this error and for this grievous mistake somebody in these offices needs be held accountable. Melville House is doing the world a favor by keeping these important books in print, but their presentation needs to be of the very first rank. If it were my book, and if I were Kleist, and so appreciative of somebody finally recognizing my genius and giving me my due, and then the house I had trusted and put my faith into had produced an artifact with this type of unforgivable error in it which clearly could have been avoided had the person responsible for writing this copy had read the novella first, I would be beside myself with embarrassment. The publisher should immediately set the record straight with the prompt and judicious removal of this book from the public consumption and move forthwith to repair the copy for proper publication as error free as required by good taste. Of course, the entire premise of the novella is one of credibility or truth and how it questions ones integrity and honor. I am not at all versed in the history of knights and chivalry, and I am also not sure where I got the idea this novella takes place in the 1500's. But it sounds good. Just as it did for the writer of the jacket flap when he or she stated the premise being Littegarde's husband having been murdered by his brother when in fact Littegarde's husband died of some illness and his death and person had nothing to do with the story at all. I kept going back to the flap to find something I surely must have been missing, but to no avail. But I must report that the main text of the book is error free, and wonderful.
Heinrich von Kleist writes in an easy and flowing manner. He tells a good story. However, this novella could go down as a myth or moral and be closer to the truth than claiming it a masterpiece. Though the gifted translation proves the book to be well-written, the Kleistian idea that God has something or other to do with proving guilt or innocence in a duel to the death is preposterous. As much as I do enjoy the culture of knights and honor and chivalric fights to the death does not in any way align me to the creed of a just god ultimately deciding our fate. Skill and luck and intelligence prevail in most of our endeavors, both good and bad, and it would take more than a supposed miracle by God's hand to move me off my stalwart position for my consistent stance in denouncing gods. show less
The jacket flap erroneously states the general plot of the novella, but this is still a fine translation and wonderful story. Sad for the fact that the show more editors of Melville House missed this huge mistake on the flap and this is for me beyond belief. It is possible an intern wrote this bit for Heinrich, and that adds insult to injury. It is obvious whoever wrote the jacket blurb had not ever read the book. How important it is to have accuracy and attention to details when producing a book as important as this one could be. Important enough to be included in a series and finally have its own space alone in book form. There is no forgiving this error and for this grievous mistake somebody in these offices needs be held accountable. Melville House is doing the world a favor by keeping these important books in print, but their presentation needs to be of the very first rank. If it were my book, and if I were Kleist, and so appreciative of somebody finally recognizing my genius and giving me my due, and then the house I had trusted and put my faith into had produced an artifact with this type of unforgivable error in it which clearly could have been avoided had the person responsible for writing this copy had read the novella first, I would be beside myself with embarrassment. The publisher should immediately set the record straight with the prompt and judicious removal of this book from the public consumption and move forthwith to repair the copy for proper publication as error free as required by good taste. Of course, the entire premise of the novella is one of credibility or truth and how it questions ones integrity and honor. I am not at all versed in the history of knights and chivalry, and I am also not sure where I got the idea this novella takes place in the 1500's. But it sounds good. Just as it did for the writer of the jacket flap when he or she stated the premise being Littegarde's husband having been murdered by his brother when in fact Littegarde's husband died of some illness and his death and person had nothing to do with the story at all. I kept going back to the flap to find something I surely must have been missing, but to no avail. But I must report that the main text of the book is error free, and wonderful.
Heinrich von Kleist writes in an easy and flowing manner. He tells a good story. However, this novella could go down as a myth or moral and be closer to the truth than claiming it a masterpiece. Though the gifted translation proves the book to be well-written, the Kleistian idea that God has something or other to do with proving guilt or innocence in a duel to the death is preposterous. As much as I do enjoy the culture of knights and honor and chivalric fights to the death does not in any way align me to the creed of a just god ultimately deciding our fate. Skill and luck and intelligence prevail in most of our endeavors, both good and bad, and it would take more than a supposed miracle by God's hand to move me off my stalwart position for my consistent stance in denouncing gods. show less
This novella was originally published in German in 1810. It is a delightful story which is both suspenseful and thought-provoking. It is set 'toward the end of the fourteenth century,' and it does a fabulous job of demonstrating how little humans have changed since then. The outward trappings may have changed, but our basic concerns and motivations remain the same. The translation is excellent.
Nothing special. Writing is serviceable, characters are forgettable, the idea of a duel as a conduit for divine justice is interesting but never much explored, and swept under the rug by the final lines of the story: "unless it be God's will." Way to make the issue circular while not actually saying anything substantive about it Kleist!
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Duel
- Original title
- Der Zweikampf
- Original publication date
- 1810
- First words
- Towards the end of the fourteenth century, as night was falling on the feastday of St. Remigius, Duke Wilhelm von Breysach -- who had been living in enmity with his half-brother, Count Jakob Rotbart, ever since the Duke's cla... (show all)ndestine marriage to a countess reputedly below his social rank, Katharina von Heersbruck of the family Alt-Huningen -- returned from a meeting with the German Kaiser in Worms, at which the Duke persuaded the Kaiser to legitimize as his one natural son, Count Philip von Huningen, who had been conceived before marriage, the Duke's other children born in wedlock having died.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Upon his return to Worms he had the statutes governing divine trial by duel amended to state that the revelation of guilt shall not be immediately presumed "...unless it be God's will."
- Original language*
- Deutsch
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 838.609 — Literature & rhetoric German & related literatures German miscellaneous writings 1750–1832 : 18th century; classical period; romantic period Individual authors not limited to one specific form : description; critical appraisal; biography; collected works
- LCC
- PT2378 .Z913 — Language and Literature German, Dutch and Scandinavian literatures German literature Individual authors or works 1700-ca. 1860/70
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 89
- Popularity
- 358,843
- Reviews
- 6
- Rating
- (3.59)
- Languages
- English, French, German, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 2
