Two Erzählungen by Fontane (Books, Literature & Reading) Language Learning Forum

Two Erzählungen by Fontane
Tags: Literature \| Book \| German
Language Learning Forum : Books, Literature & Reading

montmorency
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Message 1 of 7

03 October 2012 at 3:55pm | IP Logged

This is copied from my log, but I put it there with a view to posting it here as well:

Quote:

Received the last 2 Fontane books I was expecting. Delivery time was "leisurely", but worth waiting for: "Grete Minde" and "Unterm Birnbaum". They seem to be brand new and in perfect condition, which considering the very cheap price I paid for them, is very good. They are really "Erzählungen", rather than "Novellen" or "Romans". They were written in around 1878-9 and 1885 (I think) respectively, before he started writing what became the classic novels he is famous for. The language doesn't seem too difficult, and they are not long. It occurs to me that they would be good as a follow on for any beginners who want to read some native material, and have gone through some "Easy Readers", and want a fully fledged real book, so long as they are happy to read a "classic" and don't insist only on modern, everyday German. (You can read that, as well, of course).

I bought those via abebooks.co.uk from the DEA store in Italy. Very cheap + postage free. But expect a long delivery time. They have the usual notes and a page by page guide (fairly brief). Published by Hamburger Leseheft Verlag. An excellent buy, though I say so myself.

And if one were only going to read one "classic" German author, (not of course that one should be so restrictive!), then let it be Fontane. (Just as if one were only going to read one "classic" English author, then (for prose) it probably should be Dickens.

I know that "Unterm Birmbaum" is on Gutenberg (so you'd be able to get it free via Kindle as well if you so wished); not sure about "Grete Minde", but anyway, for me, there is nothing quite like a real book, although I often use e-books as well (but only on the computer for the time being, as I have no e-reader).

Edited by montmorency on 03 October 2012 at 3:55pm
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Mani
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Message 2 of 7

03 October 2012 at 4:53pm | IP Logged

"Grete Minde" is on Gutenberg.de. Most of Fontane's works are also listed on German Wikisource including Google(-USA) links, but I'm afraid you can only use these scanned books if you can read Fraktur.
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Josquin
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Message 3 of 7

03 October 2012 at 4:55pm | IP Logged

montmorency wrote:

And if one were only going to read one "classic" German author, (not of course that one should be so restrictive!), then let it be Fontane.

It seems you have never read Thomas Mann. He's my favourite German author, although (or because?) his language is feared even by native Germans.

Edited by Josquin on 03 October 2012 at 4:56pm
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montmorency
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Message 4 of 7

03 October 2012 at 9:18pm | IP Logged

Josquin wrote:

montmorency wrote:

And if one were only going to read one "classic" German author, (not of course that one should be so restrictive!), then let it be Fontane.

It seems you have never read Thomas Mann. He's my favourite German author, although (or because?) his language is feared even by native Germans.

I have read Thomas Mann, and that's why I said "let it be Fontane"! :)

I found "Buddenbrooks" to be far less impenetrable than "Der Tod in Venedig", although it's a bit on the long side. I did have the help of a translation and an audiobook though.

I ended up with about 3 or 4 translations of "Der Tod in Venedig" (not including the ancient one by Helen Lowe-Porter which is roundly criticised by subsequent translators, although it is good from a literary point of view - not much good for the German learner though). And after reading all those plus the original at least wice, I was heartily sick of it.

But you are right of course. One should read Mann. And Fontane. :)

I'll go back to Mann one of these days, although not "Der Tod in Venedig".
(I also want to read Heinrich Mann one day).

Edited by montmorency on 03 October 2012 at 9:20pm
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Josquin
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Message 5 of 7

03 October 2012 at 9:50pm | IP Logged

"Buddenbrooks" is my favourite novel of all times! But Fontane isn't bad either. :)

I guess you struggled a bit with the Low German passages in "Buddenbrooks"? "Der Tod in Venedig" is of course a bit aloof compared to other works by Mann. "Der Zauberberg" is also rather opaque, but "Buddenbrooks" is just a heart-warming family saga IMHO.

I can recommend "Der Untertan" by Heinrich Mann. I laughed myself to tears reading it! :)
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montmorency
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Message 6 of 7

04 October 2012 at 1:41am | IP Logged

Josquin wrote:

It helped that I had seen a film version the previous year or so as well. Low German: yes, perhaps a bit, but I quite enjoy those little "excursions" really.

Quote:

I can recommend "Der Untertan" by Heinrich Mann. I laughed myself to tears reading it! :)

Thanks. Good to have a recommendation. I wouldn't have known where to start. I gather that Heinrich was the successful one, originally, but Thomas is the one we all remember.

I recently borrowed a DVD of "Der Blaue Engel", and in the extras, it explained (IIRC) that H.Mann had written the screenplay (or maybe only the 1st draft or something....). Anyway, his career in the movie industry wasn't all that successful, I gather, which was a bit of a disappointment for him.

Edit: Thinking further, I think the movie credits say it was based on one of his short stories, and in the extras, it says he was brought in to write the screenplay, but there was some disagreement, and his version wasn't used ... or something like that.

I think authors of books that get filmed often have a hard time. The director (or director and producer) rule(s) the roost!

Edited by montmorency on 04 October 2012 at 1:48am
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Josquin
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Message 7 of 7

04 October 2012 at 9:17am | IP Logged

Yes, "Der blaue Engel" is based on Heinrich Mann's nover "Professor Unrat". But I have neither watched the film nor have I read the book, so I can't comment on that.

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