Tales of Hoffmann by E T A Hoffmann torrent

This selection of E. T. A. Hoffmann's (1776-1822) finest short stories vividly demonstrates his intense imagination and preoccupation with the supernatural, placing him at the forefront of both surrealism and the modern horror genre. Suspense dominates tales such as "Mademoiselle de Scudery", in which an apprentice goldsmith and a female novelist find themselves caught up in a series of jewel thefts and murders.

In the sinister "The Sandman", famously used by Sigmund Freud to illustrate both his concept of the unheimlich, or 'uncanny', and of Oedipal guilt, a young man's sanity is tormented by fears about a mysterious chemist; while in "The Choosing of a Bride" a greedy father preys on the weaknesses of his daughter's suitors. Master of the bizarre, Hoffman creates a sinister and unsettling world combining love and madness, black humour and bewildering illusion.

Worth keeping in mind a warning from an Amazon review: "A word of advice to anyone thinking of buying the Penguin Classics version of these tales—don’t! It dates from 1982, but the introduction could easily have been written in 1882, and it’s criminally thin; it contains no critical analysis or discussion of context, but is simply a brief account of the author’s life.

There are no notes. And the translator, a certain R.J. Hollingdale, admits to having done some “editorializing” during translation to improve the rhythms of the original, which he thinks a little slow for the modern English reader."

Contents:

Introduction
Mademoiselle de Scudery
The Sandman
The Artushof
Councillor Krespel
The Entail
Doge and Dogaressa
The Mines at Falun
The Choosing of the Bride

Genre: Horror | Fantasy