Nosferatu [Hardcover]

Jim Shepard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 1998

From this prodigiously talented writer, a stunningly original "life" of F. W. Murnau, the German director.

In the history of cinema, this novel's protagonist and subject ranks as a founding father, not least for his legendary horror film, Nosferatu. But here he is revealed as a hermetic genius who turns, tragically, against himself, becoming in a sense his own vampire. What shadows Shepard's Murnau--through the airfields of the Great War to cafés and clubs in Berlin in the twenties, and to the virtual invention of filmmaking--is the conflict between his impossibly high ideals and the heartbreaking memories of love betrayed and the lover who died in the trenches.

From provincial Germany, briefly through Hollywood in its early days, to the South Seas, Nosferatu charts a life at once artistic, intellectual, and deeply human.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe had been raised in silence and routine in a cool blue nursery at the beginning of a comfortable era in his family's fortunes." From that cool blue nursery, the young man who started out his life in quiet, rural anonymity ended it decades later in a highway accident just south of Santa Barbara, California. In between, F. W. Plumpe metamorphosed into F. W. Murnau, one of the greatest film directors in history. Perhaps the most famous of Murnau's movies was Nosferatu, a silent-film treatment of the Dracula story, made in 1921. Vampirism is a strangely apt metaphor for Murnau's life--it was not until his lover, Hans Ehrenbaum-Degele, died in the trenches of World War I that Murnau's artistic genius achieved its highest levels--and so Nosferatu is also the title of Jim Shepard's novel based on the filmmaker's life.

Shepard takes his readers on a journey through a tortured soul. We first meet the young, awkward Friedrich on his way to school in Berlin, where he meets Hans on a railway platform and falls in love. Through his association with Hans, Murnau has the chance to give free rein to his love of theater, and this early section of the novel is a veritable who's who of the German literary and artistic world in the early 1900s. Soon, however, personal betrayal and the Great War put an end to Murnau's idyll. Guilt-ridden over Hans's death, Murnau turns back to art after the war and begins work on his masterpiece, Nosferatu. The chapter devoted to the making of this film is perhaps the strongest part of the novel. From here until the novel's end, Shepard deftly limns the contours of artistic obsession and creation as Murnau continues to make films, first in Germany and then in Hollywood. If the book's latter chapters never again approach the peculiar passion of the first half, they are nevertheless a fascinating glimpse into the heart and mind of a troubled genius.

From Booklist

The German director F. W. Murnau (1889^-1931), one of the most influential figures in film history, is the subject of this oddly satisfying-unsatisfying novel. First, Shepard omnisciently relates the formative events of Murnau's life before filmmaking--shy, intellectual boyhood; love affair with Hans, who is killed in action in World War I; subsequent war service as a flyer--then turns to the first-person voice of Murnau's production journals for three films: Nosferatu (1922), the first great Dracula movie; Der Letzte Mann (1924), Murnau's first international success; and Tabu (1930), the product of a failed partnership with ethnographic filmmaker Robert Flaherty. This is all engrossing, and the emphasis on Murnau's supposed guilt over Hans' death and the derivation of Murnau's camera style from the visual experience of flying are fascinating extrapolations. But there isn't enough book here. Shepard has truncated Murnau's life, and film enthusiasts in particular will be dismayed that, while he notes lesser films, he doesn't even mention Murnau's two greatest achievements, Faust (1926) and Sunrise (1927). Then there's the odd choice of title. Ray Olson

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 215 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1st edition (March 31, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679446672
• ISBN-13: 978-0679446675
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,127,367 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jim Shepard was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and is the author of six novels, including most recently Project X, and four story collections, including the forthcoming You Think That's Bad (March 2011). His third collection, Like You'd Understand, Anyway, was a finalist for the National Book Award and won The Story Prize. Project X won the 2005 Library of Congress/Massachusetts Book Award for Fiction, as well as the ALEX Award from the American Library Association. His short fiction has appeared in, among other magazines, Harper's, McSweeney's, The Paris Review, The Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, DoubleTake, the New Yorker, Granta, Zoetrope: All-Story, and Playboy, and he was a columnist on film for the magazine The Believer. Four of his stories have been chosen for the Best American Short Stories and one for a Pushcart Prize. He's won an Artists' Grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He teaches at Williams College and lives in Williamstown with his wife Karen, his three children, and two beagles.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 3/4ths of a great book, January 6, 2011

By 

dizzygiggleflix (Seattle, wa United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nosferatu: A Novel (Paperback)

This book starts very, very well. Wonderful characters, well written and then something happens, the style of writing changes, the flow stops and becomes a unsteady pattern of drips. The ending seems an afterthought and, even though perfectly fitting, slapped on with little deference to plot or love of the characters. I would recommend the book based on its strengths over its weaknesses.

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Comphrensive, April 14, 2005

By 

Ken Karada "Ken Karada" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nosferatu (Hardcover)

Jim Shepard's attention to detail is as always, mind boggling! Nosferatu is a fictional account of the eminent German film director F.W Murnau. The book takes you on an rollercoaster journey through Murnau's life from his humble childhood beginnings, to his time as a fighter pilot during World War I, his rise to the top of the cinematic world and then inevitably his tragic death.

The book is a great read throughout, emotive yet witty. However, the first half is far more brilliant than the second. The prose is very challenging (non veterans will need to bring out the collegiate dictionary for this one) but at the critical gain of early 20th Century elegance...

A downfall however is that the novel somehow seems to end incredibly hastly. Shepard also seems to make tremendous leaps to different stages of Murnau's life (which leaves you wondering - what happened in between???).

Overall a good read especially for the silient cinema fans and those interested in the pre/post World War I era.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Compelling yet fictional look at a Silent Cinema Giant, September 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Nosferatu (Hardcover)

There are a variety of circumstances that make this book a paradox. First, the subject matter is fascinating: Silent movie director FW Murnau's life and career. Unfortunately, because the family is ashamed of its gay ancestor, a lot of material was withheld from the author, who has to fictionalize this sort-of biography. Shifts from third- to first-person narrative would be less jarring if there was not a sudden change in quality (first person sounding much more authentic). Another problem is that the author takes a glib view of film history itself, writing this book to satisfy his childhood obsession with the horror movie Nosferatu by writing about its creator. But to only mention three of his movies, leaving off his most stunning achievements--Faust and Sunrise--is astounding. But, despite all this, Shepard paints an interesting picture of Murnau as an obsessed loner whose only joy was the lost boyfriend, Hans, and the subsequent obsession with his death (in WWI trenches) and memory. As a film history buff, it's hard not to feel the clang of what's missing here. As a look at the mournful obsession for youth and dream lost, though, it sort of work, marred again by the narrative alternation.