Severin's Journey into the Dark (A Prague Ghost Story) [Paperback]

Paul Leppin (Author), Kevin Blahut (Translator), Richard Teschner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2001

Leppin once wrote: "Prague remains my deepest experience. Its conflicts, its mystery, its rat-catchers beauty have ever provided my poetic efforts with new inspiration and meaning." It is this city of darkened walls and strange decay that forms the back-drop of Severin's erotic adventures and fateful encounters as he enters a world of femmes fatales, Russian anarchists, dabblers in the occult and denizens of decadent salons. As Max Brod so aptly remarked: "Leppin was the truly chosen bard of the painfully disappearing old Prague, its infamous sidestreets and debauched nights ... he was at once a servant of the devil and adorer of the Madonna."

Editorial Reviews

Review

. . . a gem, a beautifully spun tale. . . Leppin walks us through the streets of Prague to weave a haunting atmosphere that enhances the tale's moody texture and provides an enticing peek at pre-World War I Prague. -- Prognosis, November, 1993

Recommended to anyone who is interested in the German fantasy tradition of Prague . . . -- Cyril Simsa, Locus, April, 1995

This novel would have been perfect material for a 1920s German Expressionist film, with shots of shadowy alleys dripping with menace and cadaverous black-eyed bar girls . . . there is a compelling drive in this short tale. -- The Prague Post, October, 1993

About the Author

Paul Leppin was born in Prague on November 27, 1878, the second son of a failed clockmaker and a former teacher. Forced by the economic difficulties of his family to forgo a university education, he entered the civil service upon graduation from Gymnasium, working as an accountant for the Postal Service until his release due to reasons of physical disability. It was here that he witnessed firsthand the life-numbing existence of his contemporaries. Beginning with the appearance of his first novel, The Doors of Life, in 1901, his poetry, prose, and criticism appeared regularly in Prague and Germany over the next thirty years. Leppin was also one of the few German writers to have close contacts with the Czech literary community, translating Czech poetry and writing articles on Czech literature and art for German periodicals. As a leading figure of a young generation of Prague German writers, calling themselves "Jung-Prag" and centered around the two literary periodicals he edited, Frhling and Wir, Leppin sought to combat the conservatism and provincialism of the citys established culture. Although many German writers eventually left Prague, Leppin could not live elsewhere and remained in the city after the formation of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918, writing novels, plays (performed at the Neues Deutsches Theatre), stories, and poems Prague always forming a strong influence. He became Secretary of the Protective Union of German Writers in the Czechoslovak Republic that had been founded by Oskar Baum and Johannes Urzidil. Leppins contribution to the citys literatue and culture was recognized both in 1934, when he was awarded the Schiller Memorial Prize, and in 1938, on the occasion of his 60th birthday, when he received the Czechoslovak Ministry of Culture Award for Writers. In the same year two volumes of his Prague Rhapsody appeared, marking the end of his publishing activity. In 1939 he was detained by the Gestapo after the German occupation of the city and, after his release, suffered a stroke from which he never fully recovered. He died in Prague of syphilis on April 10, 1945 largely unknown and forgotten.

Product Details

• Paperback: 116 pages
• Publisher: Twisted Spoon Press; 2nd, revised edition (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8090125727
• ISBN-13: 978-8090125728
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,950,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic and dark journey into pre WWI Prague, November 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Severin's Journey into the Dark (A Prague Ghost Story) (Paperback)

A little gem of a book, the story involves a young man's adventures into the decadent underbelly of turn-of-the-century Prague -- before WWI, back when the city was an ethnic mix of Czechs, Germans and Jews, when it was the home of Franz Kafka and Max Brod. The main character, Severin, is wonderfully portrayed, but just as deftly drawn is the city. If you've never been to this East European capital, as you read Lepin's moody prose, you'll feel as if you're walking Prague's brooding, mazelike streets, maybe even getting lost in them. There are a few passages where the translation is a little rough, but these infrequent lapses in no way detract from the story which delves into the soul of hero and captures the soul of the city.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I came here to kill you..., June 6, 2002

By 

gristler - See all my reviews

This review is from: Severin's Journey into the Dark (A Prague Ghost Story) (Paperback)

"Severin's Journey Into Dark" is a beautiful book about Prague, and about a man who spoils all of his chances for happiness, love and freedom. It was difficult at first for me to understand the cruel things Severin does, but I view them, now, as symptoms of an evil and misery that he cannot suppress. There is a laundry list of colorful characters in this book, and the plot seems to drift with uncertainty. This is not a bad thing, as it gives the reader some empathy towards Serverin's own confusion. The dark is a symbol that comes up throughout the book. There seems to be a lot of dark in Prague.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars new favorite, May 12, 2006

By 

Mona (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Severin's Journey into the Dark (A Prague Ghost Story) (Paperback)

A fantastic book that allows you to accompany a man in his discovery of the depth of his soul's darkness while he explores the streets of Prague. A wonderful book who's prose can be only described as poetry with an ending though wasn't unexpected, was surprising.