Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Tales of E. T. A. Hoffmann by E.T.A. Hoffmann Creator / E. T. A. Hoffmann. Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann (24 January 1776 – 25 June 1822), better known by his pen name E. T. A. Hoffmann (he changed Wilhelm into Amadeus out of his admiration for Mozart), was a German author of the early 1800s, the early Romantic era, known for his Gothic and fantastical stories. Born in Königsberg, Prussia (today Kaliningrad, Russia), he became a lawyer, following the family tradition, though without much enthusiasm, as he was drawn to music, literature and the arts. He entered a career as a civil servant in Prussian Poland, held a position in Warsaw and had a young wife, when, in the course of The Napoleonic Wars, French troops captured the city in 1806 and forced the Prussian administration to flee. This led to a troubled time in Hoffmann’s life during which he faced poverty, separation from his wife, and the death of his infant daughter, while looking for employment all over Germany. For the following years (spent in Bamberg, Leipzig and Dresden), Hoffmann worked as a theatre manager, music teacher, stagehand, decorator, playwright, and musical director, but neither of these jobs lasted so long or was so well paid as to put him out of financial troubles. In 1813, he was again overtaken by war when the family experienced the Battle of Dresden. Nevertheless, Hoffmann in 1809/10 achieved breakthrough both as a writer and music critic. But only when a twist of fate allowed him to resume his civil service career in Berlin, he finally enjoyed financial security. He continued to write besides his day job, but alcohol abuse and syphilis – which he had contracted during his wandering years – led to his early death at the age of 46. Hoffmann is Germany's foremost writer of what has later been called 'Dark Romanticism'. While his lighter works mix fairy tale fantasy with realism, others delve headlong into the grotesque, the uncanny, the supernatural, and horror. Some are simply weird. At the same time, Hoffmann also relished sophisticated satire, self-parody, and wry, ironic humor. You're right, Hoffmann was an European version of Poe before there was Poe. During his life (and long afterwards as well) he remained a polarizing writer. His taste for Ghost Stories brought him the derisive nickname "Gespenster-Hoffmann" (Ghosts-Hoffmann), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe called his fiction “sick”, and Walter Scott likewise ended a 1827 review of his works with the conclusion that Hoffmann should have sought medical help. Notwithstanding, Hoffmann’s fiction played a key role for 19th century Fantasy, Horror, and the emerging Mystery genre. Hoffmann's literary fame has also overshadowed that in his own time, he was a fairly respected music critic – particularly known for his reviews of Ludwig van Beethoven – and himself a composer of Romantic music; his probably most ambitious and successful work being the opera Undine . Several creators have cast a fictionalized Hoffmann as a character in their works, such as Alexandre Dumas in The Woman with the Velvet Necklace and Jacques Offenbach in his opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (''Les Contes d'Hoffmann''), which itself has seen several adaptations. Works of E. T. A. Hoffmann include: Stories and Novellas note Mostly contained in three collections published during his life: Fantasy Pieces in Callot's Manner , Night Pieces , and The Serapion Brethren . "The Artushof'' "The Entail'' Mademoiselle de Scuderi "The Mines of Falun" The Nutcracker and the Mouse King": Best known as the basis for Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker'' ballet. "The Sandman" "The Golden Pot": A fairy tale novella. "Little Zaches, Great Zinnober ": a fairy tale about the Fake Ultimate Hero taken Up to Eleven. Master Flea : Another fairy tale. although, for its time, it might just as well be science fiction. The Devil's Elixirs : A Gothic novel, directly inspired by M. G. Lewis' The Monk . The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr, together with a fragmentary Biography of Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler on Random Sheets of Waste Paper (unfinished) Works by E. T. A. Hoffmann with their own pages include: "The Artushof" "The Entail" The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr "Mademoiselle de Scuderi" "The Mines of Falun" "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" "The Sandman" Other works by E. T. A. Hoffmann contain examples of: Aerith and Bob: Hoffmann enjoyed peppering his words with weird names and titles. Some of them are obscure, others are latinate renderings of familiar names but expect to find his stories filled with the likes of Anselmus, Meradus, Lindhorst, Brambilla, Dapertutto alongside Antonia, Veronica, Tobias Martin and others. Alternative Character Interpretation: invoked His story Don Juan introduces the idea that Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni is secretly in love with Giovanni. Ambiguous Disorder: Perigrinus Tyss definitely looks to be somewhere on the autistic spectrum. Anachronic Order: The Kreisler segments in The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr . Astrologer: A frequent trope. Author Avatar: Theodor in the Frame Story of The Serapion Brethren . Also, to a degree, Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler, a character that had started out as a pseudonym Hoffmann used as a music critic, and became a protagonist in Kreisleriana (a cycle of short stories) and Tomcat Murr . Author Existence Failure: Invoked — in failing health, Hoffmann abandoned writing The Life and Opinions of Tomcat Murr . His pet cat, also named Murr and an inspiration for the story, had died. The book was published with a note saying that its "author", Murr, had left it unfinished at his death. Beast Fable: The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr obviously owes much to this genre. Betty and Veronica: A common trope among Hoffmann male protagonists is a struggle between a down-to-earth normal girl and a more exotic and potentially dangerous woman: Klara and Olimpia in The Sandman , the Narrator's Wife and Giulietta in A New Year Eve's Adventure . His story The Golden Pot even has a girl named Veronica only here she's the Betty, while the Veronica for Anselmus is Serpentina. Bite of Affection: The titular character of "Master Flea" offers to bite Peregrinus's finger as a sign of their friendship since they can't shake hands. Bunny-Ears Lawyer: His character Johannes Kreisler, a genius musician and composer but also legitimately insane and downright antisocial. Crossover: "Master Flea" briefly mentions Archivist Lindhorst, who is one of the main characters in "The Golden Pot". Direct Line to the Author: In a send-up of this trope the conceit of Tomcat Murr is that Hoffmann was handed Murr's manuscript by an intermediary for publication, but that he neglected to examine the pile before he passed it on to the publisher. He thus only noticed that Murr's autograph manuscript was mixed up with fragments of the proofs of another book, a biography of Kapellmeister Kreisler by another author when the Tomcat Murr was already set and it would have been too expensive to reset and remove the parts that "didn't belong". Doppelgänger: His signature trope. Fake Ultimate Hero: Zaches. Finger Snap Lighter: Archivist Lindhorst once lit a few pipes that way. Framing Device: The story collection The Serapion Brethren has a circle of friends telling stories as a framing device. This commemorates the real- life Serapionsbrüder , an informal Berlin-based group of friends that included, among others, Hoffmann and fellow writers Adelbert von Chamisso ( Peter Schlemihl ) and Friedrich de la Motte-Fouqué ( Undine ). note The group took this name because when they reunited after a long interruption following Chamisso's circumnavigation of the Earth on board the Russian ship Rurik , it happened to be on the day of St. Serapion, 14 November 1818. Hot Skitty-on-Wailord Action: the main antagonist of "The Golden Pot" is stated to be a child of a dragon's feather and a sugar beet. Just try to imagine that. Hypocrisy: Tomcat Murr opens with a stereotypically modest foreword by Murr — signing "Murr (Etudiant en belles lettres)" note "Murr (student of writing)". — in which he expresses the hope that his paltry effort will find mercy in the eyes of reviewers and readers. Unfortunately Murr forgot to remove the discarded first draught for the foreword — signed "Murr (Homme de lettres très rennomé)" note "Murr (man of letters of great renown)." — which then immediately follows. Here Murr expresses rather different sentiments: The Nutcracker. Hoffmann's classic Christmas fairy tale, immortalised by Tchaikovsky's ballet, is brought to life by the gorgeous contemporary artwork of Finnish illustrator, Sanna Annuka. On Christmas Eve, Fritz and Marie excitedly await the arrival of Godfather Drosselmeier and the marvellous gifts he brings for them every year. When Marie discovers a curious nutcracker doll among the presents, she suddenly finds herself caught up in an age-old battle before being transported to a magical world of sugar-frosted castles, chocolate kings, and true love. Sanna Annukka is familiar to many from her collaborations with Marimekko and her artwork for Keane's album, Under the Iron Sea. The Nutcracker is her third book project. This cloth-bound edition combines the charm of Hoffmann's original nineteenth-century tale with the freshness of Sanna Annuka's gorgeous illustrations. E.T.A. Hoffmann. The disturbing tale of a young man's obsession with the Sandman, stealer of eyes, which has inspired writers from Sigmund Freud to Neil Gaiman. It wasn't until the 1950s that seeing The Nutcracker at Christmastime became an American tradition. But the story itself is much older and its original intent more complex. This eye-opening new volume presents two of the tale's earliest versions, both in new translations: E.T.A. Hoffmann's Nutcracker and Mouse King (1816), in which a young girl is whisked away to the Land of Toys to help her animated nutcracker defeat the Mouse King, and Alexandre Dumas's 1845 adaptation, The Tale of the Nutcracker , based on Hoffmann's popular work. Irresistible tales of magic, mystery, and childhood adventure, these timeless delights and fresh interpretations about the importance of imagination will captivate readers of all ages. Written in 1816 by one of the leaders of German Romanticism for his children, nephews, and nieces, The Nutcracker captures better than any other story a child’s wonder at Christmas. The gift of a handsomely decorated nutcracker from a mysterious uncle sets the stage for a Christmas Eve like no other for the little girl Marie. That night, Marie’s extraordinary present comes to life, defends her from the taunting Mouse King, and whisks her off to the Kingdom of Dolls. The inspiration for the classic ballet, E. T. A. Hoffmann’s irresistible tale of magic and childhood adventure continues to captivate readers of all ages. Today, many of the most enchanting symbols of Christmas, from nutcrackers to sugar plums to mistletoe, are still imbued with the power of this story. Penguin Christmas Classics. Give the gift of literature this Christmas. Penguin Christmas Classics honor the power of literature to keep on giving through the ages. The five volumes in the series are not only our most beloved Christmas tales, they also have given us much of what we love about the holiday itself. A Christmas Carol revived in Victorian England such Christmas hallmarks as the Christmas tree, holiday cards, and caroling. The Yuletide yarns of Anthony Trollope popularized throughout the British Empire and around the world the trappings of Christmas in London. The holiday tales of Louisa May Alcott shaped the ideal of an American Christmas. The Night Before Christmas brought forth some of our earliest Christmas traditions as passed down through folk tales. And The Nutcracker inspired the most famous ballet in history, one seen by millions in the twilight of every year. Tales of Hoffmann. Available. Expected delivery to the Russian Federation in 7-19 business days. Description. E.T.A. Hoffman's wildly original fictions are some of the most unusual examples of German Romanticism's dark passions, and the stories in Tales of Hoffman are selected and translated from the German with an introduction by R.J. Hollingdale in Penguin Classics. This selection of Hoffmann's finest short stories vividly demonstrates his intense imagination and preoccupation with the supernatural, placing him at the forefront of both surrealism and the modern horror genre. Suspense dominates tales such as Mademoiselle de Scudery, in which an apprentice goldsmith and a female novelist find themselves caught up in a series of jewel thefts and murders. In the sinister The Sandman, famously used by Sigmund Freud to illustrate both his concept of the unheimlich, or 'uncanny', and of Oedipal guilt, a young man's sanity is tormented by fears about a mysterious chemist; while in The Choosing of a Bride a greedy father preys on the weaknesses of his daughter's suitors. Master of the bizarre, Hoffman creates a sinister and unsettling world combining love and madness, black humour and bewildering illusion. This edition contains authoritative translations of Hoffman's best stories. In his introduction, R.J. Hollingdale explores the background of these works and examines the duality of Hoffman's life - a lawyer by day and creator of a world of fantasy by night. E.T.A Hoffmann (1776-1822) studied law and entered the Prussian civil service, but his over-riding ambition was to become a graphic artist and painter. He turned to fiction only in his thirties, living a Jekyll-and-Hyde existence as lawyer by day, author by night - and became one of the most influential authors of his time. If you enjoyed Tales of Hoffman, you might also like Jorge Luis Borges's Fictions, available in Penguin Modern Classics. show more. 4 - E.T.A. Hoffmann and the Bamberg Theater. Invited to Bamberg as musical director ( Kappelmeister ), Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann served variously as theater manager, playwright, composer, stage artist, and decorator through five seasons from September 1, 1808 to April 21, 1813. In his sketchbooks, stage designs as well as in his literary imagery and description, he replicated details of Bamberg architecture. Financial difficulties at the Bamberg Theater during these years required him to augment his income through musical instruction and to exert his abilities in most aspects of theatrical production including costuming and stage designs. In examining his stage designs I became especially interested in Hoffmann's setting for Verbrechen und Strafe, oder, Die Wiederkehr der Verstorbenen in das Reich des Lebens ( Crime and Punishment, or, The Return of the Dead into the Realm of Life ). All that had been previously documented concerning this play was that Hoffmann prepared for the production two sheets with set designs, and that it was listed in the Bamberger Theater-Journale for performance on December 26, 1811 under the direction of Franz von Holbein ( Bamberger Theater- Journale , f18 recto). In spite of the efforts of other scholars in retrieving further information about Hoffmann's involvement in the Bamberg Theater (Köppler 1–36; Lewandowski 1995 28–82; Dengler-Schreiber 46–67), no account of the play or playwright has yet emerged. I have identified the source for the play in a tale by August Lafontaine (Lafontaine 1800 91–139), and I will argue that Hoffmann himself adapted the tale for the stage. Among his adaptations one might compare Liebe und Eifersucht ( Love and Jealousy ) from August Wilhelm Schlegel's Die Schärpe und die Blume ( The Sash and the Blossom , 1809, translated from Calderón's La banda y la flor ). The distinctive characteristics of his stage designs provide primary evidence for Hoffmann's manner of adapting Lafontaine's tale. The relevance of Hoffmann's stage designs to his subsequent narratological strategies has been observed by others (Rottenbach 324–25; Lewandowski 2009 174–98). As I will emphasize, Hoffmann favored in his representation of space on stage the same elements of liminality that were crucial to his narrative tales. Think of his frequent reliance on gates, doors, windows, and passageways and their crucial role in acts of witnessing, spying, gaining or hindering access.