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    Immensee
    Immensee
    Immensee
    Ebook81 pages53 minutes

    Immensee

    By Theodor Storm

    3.5/5

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    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateJan 1, 1926

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    Reviews for Immensee

    3.5/5

    24 ratings2 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This short and wistful German novella from 1849 was Theodor Storm's most popular work during his lifetime, it made him world famous. On the surface it's a love story but heavy with symbolism allowing for a multitude of interpretations. Critics often interpret the tone of resignation and missed opportunity as part of the Zeitgeist in the aftermath of the failed Revolutions of 1848.Some of the symbolism is difficult for a non-specialist. For example in the 19th century, water lilies had a reputation as symbolizing female sexual power. Thus when Reinhardt swims in the lake at night and becomes entangled in the vines of a water lily, we know what was likely happening. Likewise when Reinhardt tosses a gold coin into the lap of a dark Gypsy girl, this symbolizes more than an act of charity. The mother carries keys representing power and control; the titular bees of the lake? I'm not sure. Overall I'd say this is worth reading for the story alone, and if you enjoy teasing out symbolism in 19th century German novellas. It can be read in a single sitting with a beautifully illustrated edition freely available online.
    • 3/5
      This is the first novella in an audio compendium of 15 Great Novellas that I've had around for a while. I wasn't interested in starting another huge history tome just now, and novellas are a good size for walking. This was an interesting example of traditional 19th century German fiction, initially charming and then quite sad, dealing with life choices and mistakes.

    Book preview

    Immensee - Theodor Storm

    The Project Gutenberg EBook of Immensee, by Theodore W. Storm

    This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

    Title: Immensee

    Author: Theodore W. Storm

    Posting Date: July 28, 2010 [EBook #6650] Release Date: October, 2004

    Language: English

    *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IMMENSEE ***

    Produced by Delphine Lettau, Charles Franks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.

    IMMENSEE

    BY THEODOR W. STORM

    TRANSLATED BY C. W. BELL M. A.

    PREFACE

    We are at the beginning of a new era which will, it is to be hoped, be marked by a general rapprochement between the nations. The need to know and understand one another is being felt more and more. It follows that the study of foreign languages will assume an ever-increasing importance; indeed, so far as language, literature, and music are concerned, one may safely assert that fas est et ab hoste doceri.

    All those who wish to make acquaintance with the speech of their neighbours, or who have allowed their former knowledge to grow rusty, will welcome this edition, which will enable them, independently of bulky dictionaries, to devote to language study the moments of leisure which offer themselves in the course of the day.

    The texts have been selected from the double point of view of their literary worth and of the usefulness of their vocabulary; in the translations, also, the endeavour has been to unite qualities of style with strict fidelity to the original.

    INTRODUCTION

    Theodor W. Storm, poet and short-story writer (1817-1888), was born in Schleswig. He was called to the Bar in his native town, Husum, in 1842, but had his licence to practise cancelled in 1853 for 'Germanophilism,' and had to remove to Germany. It was only in 1864 that he was able to return to Husum, where in 1874 he became a judge of the Court of Appeals.

    As early as 1843 he had made himself known as a lyrical poet of the Romantic School, but it was as a short-story writer that he first took a prominent place in literature, making a most happy début with the story entitled Immensee.

    There followed a long series of tales, rich in fancy and in humour, although their inspiration is generally derived from the humble town and country life which formed his immediate environment; but he wrote nothing that excels, in depth and tenderness of feeling, the charming story of Immensee; and taking his work all in all, Storm still ranks to-day as a master of the short story in German literature, rich though it is in this form of prose-fiction.

    IMMENSEE

    THE OLD MAN

    One afternoon in the late autumn a well-dressed old man was walking slowly down the street. He appeared to be returning home from a walk, for his buckle-shoes, which followed a fashion long since out of date, were covered with dust.

    Under his arm he carried a long, gold-headed cane; his dark eyes, in which the whole of his long-lost youth seemed to have centred, and which contrasted strangely with his snow-white hair, gazed calmly on the sights around him or peered into the town below as it lay before him, bathed in the haze of sunset. He appeared to be almost a stranger, for of the passers-by only a few greeted him, although many a one involuntarily was compelled to gaze into those grave eyes.

    At last he halted before a high, gabled house, cast one more glance out toward the town, and then passed into the hall. At the sound of the door-bell some one in the room within drew aside the green curtain from a small window that looked out on to the hall, and the face of an old woman was seen behind it. The man made a sign to her with his cane.

    No light yet! he said in a slightly southern accent, and the housekeeper let the curtain fall again.

    The old man now passed through the broad hall, through an inner hall, wherein against the walls stood huge oaken chests bearing porcelain vases; then through the door opposite he entered a small lobby, from which a narrow staircase led to the upper rooms at the back of the house. He climbed the stairs slowly, unlocked a door at the top,

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