Night Games: And Other Stories and Novellas [Hardcover]

Arthur Schnitzler (Author), Margret Schaefer (Translator), John Simon (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 5, 2001 | ISBN-10: 1566633869 | ISBN-13: 978-1566633864

These artful new translations of nine of Schnitzler's most important stories and novellas reinforce the Viennese author's remarkable achievement.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Though set against the backdrop of the fading Hapsburg Empire, Schnitzler's stories are startlingly contemporary in their outlook, and this collection of new translations is sure to win the Austrian author, who died in 1931, new admirers. In nine short stories and novellas, life's universal themes the craving for erotic fulfillment, the fragility of love, the yearning for wealth and the abruptness of death are psychologically probed in dreams, inner monologues and revealing plots. Dream Story will already be familiar to many readers: it is the novella upon which Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut was based. In it, a seemingly rock-solid marriage is undermined when a woman confesses a sexual fantasy to her husband, fueling his jealousy and sparking a dangerous flirtation with sensual adventures. Near the end of "A Farewell," a young man's chilling transformation while viewing his married lover at her deathbed is hauntingly described: "His pain suddenly became thin and insubstantial." "The Widower" depicts the reaction of a husband to his discovery of love letters written by his friend to his late wife; he "is astounded at how at one stroke he now suddenly understands everything, though he had never suspected it in the least." And in "Death of a Bachelor," a writer, a doctor and a businessman find a letter written by their dead friend, informing them that he had seduced all of their wives. Throughout the collection, meticulous character development, passionate dramas and meditative prose will satisfy readers interested in rediscovering a neglected master.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

Simply masterful...These clear, uncluttered translations are dreamlike. (Washington Post )

Startlingly...life's universal themes are all here: the craving for erotic fulfillment, the fragility of love, the yearning for wealth, and the abruptness of death...these stories are rock-solid. (Publishers Weekly )

One of the most distinctive and compelling voices of the early modernist movement is heard again in this elegant collection of nine urbane, perversely comic, deeply disturbing stories. (Kirkus Reviews )

Margret Schaefer's fresh translation of nine stories and novellas brings most back into print for the first time in decades. (Dallas Morning News )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R Dee (November 5, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566633869
• ISBN-13: 978-1566633864
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #651,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Illicit Love and Death in Imperial Vienna, May 28, 2002

By 

lvkleydorff - See all my reviews

This review is from: Night Games: And Other Stories and Novellas (Hardcover)

Written in the late19th century, these stories show their age. They abound with high-class officers and lowly maidens. But in their careful search for thoughts and meanings, they presage Freudian analysis.

In ?Night Games?, Lieutenant Willi Kasda has to come up with 1?000 gulden within 24 hours. Seeing no other way, he joins a card game. But the devil in disguise is dealing the cards and the night spirals toward a disastrous ending. The description of the all-night game alone is an unforgettable piece of literature. Willi?s descent into hell is described in minute and gripping detail.

?The Dead are Silent?: Franz and Emma go for a night ride to the outskirts of town. There is an accident. leaving Emma to her own devices. How does she get home before her husband? A cliffhanger.

?Blind Geronimo and his Brother?: Geronimo and his brother Carlo are panhandlers. Geronimo plays the guitar and sings, while Carlo collects the offerings. When they were children, an accident caused by Carlo resulted in his brother?s blindness. Now Carlo sees the sole purpose of his life in caring for Geronimo. But can a blind man trust Carlo? Slowly but surely things fall apart.

?A Farewell?: Albert waits for his beloved Anna, who is closely watched by her husband. And he waits, getting more desperate by the hour and the day. What could possibly have happened? The story goes from bad to worse, carefully analyzing Albert?s frame of mind.

?The Second?: It shows us the idiocy of dueling and its code. The narrator is an almost professional second on such occasions. At the present one, Eduard Loiberger gets killed - who is to bring the news of this senseless death to Agatha, his widow? The narrator, who feels an attachment to Agatha, tries to accomplish this task.

?Baron von Leisenbogh?s Destiny?: The baron is deeply in love with Clara Hell, a singer. For ten years he follows her throughout Europe, without coming close to his goal. Will he be rewarded in the end? That is where the surprise comes in, deftly maneuvered by the author.

?The Widower?: Richard?s wife suddenly dies and he is devastated. But was she really the saint he imagined her to be? What about his best friend Hugo? And how to handle him? The solution is not exactly Freudian.

?Death of a Bachelor?: Three friends are called to the bedside of the bachelor who, however, just had died. He has left them a confession concerning the wives of each one. How do they deal with the letter? Three situations - can there be just one solution? Each friend has to examine his relation to his wife.

?Dream Story?: Fridolin and Albertine have an open marriage, telling each other what normally would be kept secret. But there is a difference. Fridolin has a nightly adventure that is quite real but sounds like a dream. He decides not to tell his wife about it. Albertine has a dream involving an unknown man and she tells her husband about it. Can Fridolin take it? Will the dream, to him, have some basis in fact?

The stories and novellas are old fashioned and may not be to everybody?s taste. They are superbly written, though, and a document to the times. Kudos also to the translator.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mind games, March 9, 2007

By 

Fenster (VA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Night Games: And Other Stories and Novellas (Paperback)

Schnitzler is one of (if not the) pioneers of stream-of-consciousness prose, and his style is on full display in this collection. All of his characters are tortured souls who suffer their actions, who act out of lust and jealousy, and are uncomfortable with love and death - but accepting of them; for the former often leads to the latter, spiritually and physically. At the time these stories and novellas were written, the content, which features "moral decay", must have been quite shocking. Today, it's commonplace, obviously, but even though public scorn has been assuaged (except for the most public of figures), how the actions of those involved in affairs and other dubious (fun) behaviors play out in the mind, how each individual wrestles with his or her guilt over them is portrayed here with an authoritative pen by a master of the short form.

"Death of a Bachelor" is a masterpiece!