Fontane, Theodor
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- Effi Briest, a more realist book than Madame Bovary
- Sensitive, nuanced tragedy
- Pleasantly Complex
- critical
- HONEY, I'M BORED
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Effi Briest (Penguin Classics)
Theodor Fontane
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0140447660
Release Date: 2001-07-03 |
Book Description
In 1919 Thomas Mann hailed Effi Briest (1895) as one of "the six most significant novels ever written." Set in Bismarck's Germany, Fontane's luminous tale of a socially suitable but emotionally disastrous match between the enchanting seventeen-year-old Effi and an austere, workaholic civil servant twice her age, is at once touching and unsettling. Fontane's taut, ironic narrative depicts a world where sexuality and the enjoyment of life are stifled by narrow-mindedness and circumstance. Considered by many to be the pinnacle of the nineteenth-century German novel, Effi Briest is a tale of adultery that ranks with Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina and brilliantly demonstrates the truth of the author's comment and "women's stories are generally far more interesting."
Customer Reviews:
Effi Briest, a more realist book than Madame Bovary.......2007-05-13
A very good book which confronts many issues about gender roles and the roles that youth plays in relationships. The characters are more realistic than many of those in such novels as Madame Bovary, which has been declared the prime example of European Realism. Overall a great read.
Sensitive, nuanced tragedy.......2006-07-24
Theodor Fontane's novel Effi Briest is one of the finest that I have read. The most famous example of German realism, the novel tells the story of Effi, a teenage girl who is still acting like a child when she is married off to Baron von Innstetten, a man nearly twice her age and a former suitor of her mother's. Effi moves off to the Baltic coast to live with Innstetten, and there faces fear, loneliness, and finally adultery.
What I like about Effi Briest is that Fontane avoids the usual pitfalls of this kind of story: lionizing the young woman's lover, placing the blame at the feet of the cuckolded spouse, etc. Innstetten really is a good man, and Crampas, Effi's lover, is a manipulative lady's man who Effi, despite their affair, is uncomfortable around. Effi is simply too young and immature to have made good decisions, and so the fault, sadly, is her own. In the end, her decisions come back to haunt her years after the fact, changing the lives of all involved.
It's dark, it's depressing in places, but it's a great novel.
The characters are all well-drawn and psychologically deep, and this is true not only of the three primary characters but also of the numerous supporting ones. Each of them bring vigor and flavor to what could have been just another closet drama.
This translation from Penguin Classics is very good, the best way to read it if you have to read it in English. The translation is very faithful to the German, conveying all the nuance and subtlety that was the hallmark of Fontane's writing. All in all, a very good book.
Highly recommended.
Pleasantly Complex.......2006-07-15
"Effie Briest" is an 1895 German novel that is a fine example of artful thinking and worth reading if one can appreciate leisurely detail. Like all good stories, it not only presents an interesting set of events, but comments on life and thrills the reader a little with the mystery of things. The main character is a pleasure-loving and secretive girl who is briefly unfaithful to her gentle but neglectful husband with sad consequences for everyone around her. The entire course of her marriage is described, from her acceptance of the marriage proposal to the misery of her separation from her child and death, but sensational moments (such as her liaison with her lover) are skipped over and attention is given instead to psychological matters that explain the events. The author had read Shakespeare and, like him, presents a theme that keeps appearing in a variety of forms, which makes the thought pleasantly complex.
critical.......2006-04-04
One book is not enough to judge the vitorian society. Fontane in his unhappy and passive relationship to his wife offers a very negativ view on this times. It might be helpful to read a short biography about Theodor Fontane to see things clearly.
HONEY, I'M BORED.......2006-03-28
Effi Briest is a 17 year old girl who has just begun to think about her future in the waning years of 19th century Prussia, unaware that her parents have already decided to push Effi's destiny upon her. They've already set her up with Baron von Innstetten, a 38 year old provincial governor who thinks he is on the rise. While wide-eyed Effi respects the man, she does not love him, and pretty much marries him for lack of a better idea and the promise of material reward. Remember, at the time, women still did not enjoy equal rights, and they didn't have a lot of prospects outside of marrying well. But money and reputation are not everything and when Effi is brought to live in a town she sees as Hicksville, the lack of mental stimulation and the fact that her husband is not very "affectionate" drives her youthful energies to seeking another companion, with terrible repercussions.
Effi Briest is a study of what happens when you marry too young, and on top of that, when you marry to gain your spouse's assets instead of their love. It's true enough that Instetten loved her, but he seems to be too much controlled by what others think of him. Instead of seeking prestige and power for himself, it's almost as if he seeks political favor merely because that's what others believe he should do. Effi is the complete opposite. She seeks out fun where she can find it, but like Instetten, she seems to be fumbling in the dark and not very self-aware. If she had her way, she probably would have stayed at home and lived with her parents her whole life. She was not mature enough or had not suffered enough to see through the deceits of life and lovers. Fontane does a good job of showing how people produce tragedies when they allow their lives to be dictated by society instead of quelling the thirst in their souls and what happens to childish spirits stuck in the adult world.
Product Description
A fiction novel. Text completely in German.
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Effi Briest
Theodor Fontane
Manufacturer: Ullstein-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Zweigniederlassung de
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 3548234178 |
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Jenseits des Tweed. Bilder und Briefe aus Schottland.
Theodor Fontane , Gotthard Erler , and Therese Erler
Manufacturer: Aufbau Tb
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 3746652863 |
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Frau Jenny Treibel.
Theodor Fontane
Manufacturer: Diogenes Verlag
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 3257230826 |
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Trials And Tribulations
Theodor Fontane
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 141919111X |
Book Description
Meanwhile Lena had drawn up a wooden chair near her old mother, because she knew that this was Baron Botho's favorite place; but Frau Dörr, who was fully impressed with the idea that a Baron must occupy the seat of honor, had meanwhile risen, and with the blue fleecy mass trailing after her, she called out to her stepson: "Will you get up! I say, now. If there is nothing in him, it's no use to expect anything from him." The poor boy stood up, all stupid and sleepy and was going to give up his seat, but the Baron would not allow it. "For heaven's sake, dear Frau Dörr, leave the poor boy alone. I would far rather sit on a bench, like my friend Dörr here."
Download Description
Meanwhile Lena had drawn up a wooden chair near her old mother, because she knew that this was Baron Botho's favorite place; but Frau Dörr, who was fully impressed with the idea that a Baron must occupy the seat of honor, had meanwhile risen, and with the blue fleecy mass trailing after her, she called out to her stepson: "Will you get up! I say, now. If there is nothing in him, it's no use to expect anything from him." The poor boy stood up, all stupid and sleepy and was going to give up his seat, but the Baron would not allow it. "For heaven's sake, dear Frau Dörr, leave the poor boy alone. I would far rather sit on a bench, like my friend Dörr here."
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Jenny Treibel
Theodor Fontane
Manufacturer: Ungar Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0804461546 |
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Macribbeck of Ribbeck
Theodor Fontane
Manufacturer: Fairmount Books Ltd Remainders
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: 1856180131 |
Authors:
- Carolyn Forché
- Forché, Carolyn
- Ford, John
- Ford, Richard
- Forester, C.S.
- Forster, E. M.
- Forster, Margaret
- Forsyth, Frederick
- Forward, Robert L.
- Foxx, Nina
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