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Bezig met laden... De zwarte spin (1842)door Jeremias Gotthelf
Bezig met laden...
Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. This sort was of reminds me of Selma Lagerlöf but with spiders. I’m not generally a fan of the horror genre, but this is different, although in its way a horror story. Written around the late 1830s, Wikipedia’s summary is accurate: “a semi-allegorical tale of a plague…that devastates a Swiss valley community; first as a result of a pact with the devil born out of need and a second time due to the moral decay that releases the monster from its prison again.” Really quite well done. This review applies to the NYRB version translated by Susan Bernofsky. Published in 1842, Gotthelf's The Black Spider, though clearly written by a devout man as a warning to Christians to take their faith seriously and not neglect their worship of god, turns out to be a great horror tale due to its author's vivid imagination. Peasants, under the rule of a cruel master, are faced with the impossible task of transferring 100 full grown trees to the lane leading up to the castle the same peasants have just broken their backs building. It is an impossible task--until a mysterious green man appears. Of course, we all know who he is, and so did the peasants, who were terrified. But faced with ruin at the hands of their evil master or immediate relief of their problem by the green man, perhaps there is room to consider. It is left to a woman to actually take the initiative....and that is about all you need to know. The story is told many years later in a nice framing device concerning the baptism of a new baby. You'll be lulled into this peaceful world, notable for the baptism feast, which the author describes lovingly and at great length. But then--the horror, the horror! It certainly isn't necessary to be religious to enjoy this tale--I'm not. The descriptions of the horrible black spider and its rampage are quite graphic and very well done. Translator Susan Bernofsky has done a great job. Before buying this version, I read a comparison of this translation with another one, and this came out on top. It's a quick and worthwhile read. Unusally, for an NYRB published book, there is no foreword, no afterword, no supplementary material at all. Since such material often gives away the entire plot, and this book really doesn't require explanation, I'll count that as a plus. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
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"It is a sunny summer Sunday in a remote Swiss village, and a christening is being celebrated at a lovely old farmhouse. One of the guests notes an anomaly in the fabric of the venerable edifice: a blackened post that has been carefully built into a trim new window frame. Thereby hangs a tale, one that, as the wise old grandfather who has lived all his life in the house proceeds to tell it, takes one chilling turn after another, while his audience listens in appalled silence. Featuring a cruelly overbearing lord of the manor and the oppressed villagers who must render him service, an irreverent young woman who will stop at nothing, a mysterious stranger with a red beard and a green hat, and, last but not least, the black spider, the tale is as riveting and appalling today as when Jeremias Gotthelf set it down more than a hundred years ago. The Black Spider can be seen as a parable of evil in the heart or of evil at large in society (Thomas Mann saw it as foretelling the advent of Nazism), or as a vision, anticipating H. P. Lovecraft, of cosmic horror. There's no question, in any case, that it is unforgettably creepy"-- Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)833.7Literature German literature and literatures of related languages German fiction 1832-1856 : 19th centuryLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
Ben jij dit?Word een LibraryThing Auteur. NYRB Classics2 edities van dit boek werden gepubliceerd door NYRB Classics. Edities: 1590176685, 1590176952 |