Complete Plays, Lenz, and Other Writings (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Georg Buchner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1994 | Series: Penguin Classics

Collected in this volume are powerful dramas and psychological fiction by the nineteenth-century iconoclast now recognized as a major figure of world literature. Also included are selections from Buchner's letters and philosophical writings.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

About the Author

When he died in 1837, just as Woyzeck (later turned into an opera by modernist Allan Berg) was nearing completion, Georg Buchner was not yet twenty-four years old. It would be almost 60 years before the first of Buchner's plays Leonce and Lena was performed before a German audience--and almost 100 years before his plays were translated into English. His plays have have grown more important and more relevant with the passage of time. Today, he is considered a forerunner of both naturalism and expressionism.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (February 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140445862
• ISBN-13: 978-0140445862
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #584,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Easily my top choice..., May 24, 2005

By 

A. Lin "The Eclectic" (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Plays, Lenz, and Other Writings (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

The Penguin version of Buchner's works is quite good, especially if you're in a "one-stop-shopping" mindset: the annotations and notes are excellent, both elaborate and illuminative. (One might object that the translator is a bit heavy handed in offering interpretations and scholarly opinions; however, they're useful as a starting point.) In terms of the translation itself, it definitely wields a certain visceral force. I think it is far superior, for example, to the Mueller version. I highly recommend this version. (Bonus opinion: A friend of mine prefers the Oxford World Classics version, which is also quite good, if not as excessively annotated. This friend claims that there are some nuances of language that are better translated in the Oxford. Having never done a side by side comparison with the German, I can't refute his statements.) -For what it is worth, I am currently a graduate student in English Literature, with a concentration in Drama and Performance studies. I'm currently doing some work with _Danton's Death_.