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Düello -Bütün Öyküler-
Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811): XIX. yüzyıl Alman edebiyatının en önemli yazarlarındandır. Tiyatro oyunları, şiirler ve öyküler yazdı. Kantı okuduktan sonra bilginin değerinden kuşkuya düştü, akla değil duyguya güvenmeyi tercih etti. Akıl ile duygu arasında süren zıtlık eserlerinin özünü oluşturdu. Öykülerinde insanların ve doğanın zorbalığı karşısında kendilerini tüketircesine bütün güçlerini harcayan kişileri konu aldı. Eserlerinde titizlikle seçilmiş sözcüklerle örülü güçlü bir ifade kullandı. Sanatsal dehası ile çağdaş yaşam ve edebiyatın pek çok sorununu önceden gören Kleist, kendisinden sonraki Alman ve Fransız yazarları için önemli bir ilk örnek oldu.
232 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1810
2 people are currently reading
388 people want to read
About the author
Heinrich von Kleist
767 books359 followersThe dramatist, writer, lyricist, and publicist Heinrich von Kleist was born in Frankfurt an der Oder in 1777. Upon his father's early death in 1788 when he was ten, he was sent to the house of the preacher S. Cartel and attended the French Gymnasium. In 1792, Kleist entered the guard regiment in Potsdam and took part in the Rhein campaign against France in 1796. Kleist voluntarily resigned from army service in 1799 and until 1800 studied philosophy, physics, mathematics, and political science at Viadrina University in Frankfurt an der Oder. He went to Berlin early in the year 1800 and penned his drama "Die Familie Ghonorez". Kleist, who tended to irrationalism and was often tormented by a longing for death, then lit out restlessly through Germany, France, and Switzerland.
After several physical and nervous breakdowns, in which he even burned the manuscript of one of his dramas, Heinrich von Kleist reentered the Prussian army in 1804, working in Berlin and Königsberg. There he wrote "Amphitryon" and "Penthesilea."
After being discharged in 1807, Kleist was apprehended on suspicion of being a spy. After this he went to Dresden, where he edited the art journal "Phoebus" with Adam Müller and completed the comedy "The Broken Pitcher" ("Der zerbrochene Krug") and the folk play "Katchen von Heilbronn" ("Das Käthchen von Heilbronn").
Back in Berlin, the one time Rousseau devotee had become a bitter opponent of Napoleon. In 1811, he finished "Prinz Friedrich von Homburg." Finding himself again in financial and personal difficulties, Heinrich von Kleist, together with his lover, the terminally ill Henriette Vogel, committed suicide near the Wannsee in Berlin in 1811.
[From http://www.heinrich-von-kleist.com/]
After several physical and nervous breakdowns, in which he even burned the manuscript of one of his dramas, Heinrich von Kleist reentered the Prussian army in 1804, working in Berlin and Königsberg. There he wrote "Amphitryon" and "Penthesilea."
After being discharged in 1807, Kleist was apprehended on suspicion of being a spy. After this he went to Dresden, where he edited the art journal "Phoebus" with Adam Müller and completed the comedy "The Broken Pitcher" ("Der zerbrochene Krug") and the folk play "Katchen von Heilbronn" ("Das Käthchen von Heilbronn").
Back in Berlin, the one time Rousseau devotee had become a bitter opponent of Napoleon. In 1811, he finished "Prinz Friedrich von Homburg." Finding himself again in financial and personal difficulties, Heinrich von Kleist, together with his lover, the terminally ill Henriette Vogel, committed suicide near the Wannsee in Berlin in 1811.
[From http://www.heinrich-von-kleist.com/]
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December 21, 2023
Racconto (1811) di Heinrich Von Kleist [1777-1811], drammaturgo, poeta e scrittore tedesco, morto suicida nel 1811,
"Il Duello" é ambientato nel medioevo e narra l'impossibilità della magistratura medievale, nonostante la ricerca di prove e testimonianze, di assicurare alla giustizia l'assassino del duca Wilhelm von Breisach, ucciso a tradimento da una freccia scoccata nel buio mentre rientra nottetempo al suo castello. I sospetti si appuntano sul suo fratellastro, Jacob il Barbarossa il quale era in ostilità con il duca, ma in assenza di prove l'assassinio sembrerà andare impunito anche perché Jacob fornirà prove inoppugnabili della sua innocenza. Ci vorrà un'altra giustizia, quella divina, opposta al famigerato Giudizio di Dio deciso dagli uomini, per risolvere " dall'alto" l'enigma in maniera inattesa ma indiscutibile, beffandosi della credulità e della superstizione umana.
"Il Duello" non è un giallo avvincente per il lettore "moderno" ma un racconto di inizi ottocento in cui lo scrittore si fa beffe dei pregiudizi e delle credenze delle epoche passate travestite dalla fede assoluta...
"Il Duello" é ambientato nel medioevo e narra l'impossibilità della magistratura medievale, nonostante la ricerca di prove e testimonianze, di assicurare alla giustizia l'assassino del duca Wilhelm von Breisach, ucciso a tradimento da una freccia scoccata nel buio mentre rientra nottetempo al suo castello. I sospetti si appuntano sul suo fratellastro, Jacob il Barbarossa il quale era in ostilità con il duca, ma in assenza di prove l'assassinio sembrerà andare impunito anche perché Jacob fornirà prove inoppugnabili della sua innocenza. Ci vorrà un'altra giustizia, quella divina, opposta al famigerato Giudizio di Dio deciso dagli uomini, per risolvere " dall'alto" l'enigma in maniera inattesa ma indiscutibile, beffandosi della credulità e della superstizione umana.
"Il Duello" non è un giallo avvincente per il lettore "moderno" ma un racconto di inizi ottocento in cui lo scrittore si fa beffe dei pregiudizi e delle credenze delle epoche passate travestite dalla fede assoluta...
January 14, 2015
The Duel: A Review, Part II
The Duel by Heinrich von Kleist:
The Duel from Melville House: The Art of the Novella Series from Melville House Books reprints both great and lesser-known short novels in (as I believe Proustitute said once) colorful little lozenge-like books, and I was rather enamored with them until they decided to go with the lowest common denominator. And though we've gone our separate ways, I still have some forty-odd novella-lozenges prettying up my shelves, many of them unread, including their little five-volume set of tales that share "The Duel" as a title. These stories, by Chekhov, Conrad, Kuprin, von Kleist, and Casanova, are unrelated to each other, sharing only a great and violent clash between two individuals.
But...only five? Surely there must be more than five eponymous duels throughout literature, waiting to receive the MHP treatment. If not, perhaps we need to write some. Here are a few ideas I had while reading von Kleist's tale, little sparks inspired by a line or two from the story that could turn into stories themselves, if I wasn't too lazy or unskilled to write them myself. If I did, however, perhaps Melville House could find room on their shelves for:
The Duel (III) by _____:
Well, I'm too lazy to write them, but maybe someone else will, along with the others from the list below. Have at 'em, Melvillians.
See also:
The Duel by Giacomo Casanova
The Duel by Anton Chekhov
The Duel by Alexander Kuprin (forthcoming)
The Duel by Joseph Conrad (forthcoming)
The Duel by Heinrich von Kleist:
Toward the end of the fourteenth century, as night was falling on the feastday of St. Remigius, Duke Wilhelm von Breysach -- who had been living in enmity with his half-brother, Count Jakob Rotbart, ever since the Duke's clandestine marriage to a countess reputedly below his social rank, Katharina von Heersbruck of the family Alt-Hüningen -- returned from a meeting with the German Kaiser in Worms, at which the Duke had persuaded the Kaiser to legitimize as his one natural son, Prince Philip von Hüningen, who had been conceived before marriage, the Duke's other children born in wedlock having died... (p. 3)Moments later, the Duke is wounded by an assassin's arrow, and survives long enough to pass on the news to ensure the succession. During the investigating, his widow discovers information implicating Count Rotbart in her husband's assassination, but the Count's alibi is airtight -- and destroys the reputation of a young noblewoman. When a former admirer steps forward to defend her honor, the duel that follows, a trial by ordeal before God, results in a very unusual verdict...
The Duel from Melville House: The Art of the Novella Series from Melville House Books reprints both great and lesser-known short novels in (as I believe Proustitute said once) colorful little lozenge-like books, and I was rather enamored with them until they decided to go with the lowest common denominator. And though we've gone our separate ways, I still have some forty-odd novella-lozenges prettying up my shelves, many of them unread, including their little five-volume set of tales that share "The Duel" as a title. These stories, by Chekhov, Conrad, Kuprin, von Kleist, and Casanova, are unrelated to each other, sharing only a great and violent clash between two individuals.
But...only five? Surely there must be more than five eponymous duels throughout literature, waiting to receive the MHP treatment. If not, perhaps we need to write some. Here are a few ideas I had while reading von Kleist's tale, little sparks inspired by a line or two from the story that could turn into stories themselves, if I wasn't too lazy or unskilled to write them myself. If I did, however, perhaps Melville House could find room on their shelves for:
The Duel (III) by _____:
And so the Duchess ascended the throne, quite without ceremony, and sent but an envoy to notify her brother-in-law, Count Jakob Rotbart, of the throne's new heir...Count Jakob Rotbart, in cunning assessment of this news, rose above the injustice done him by his brother, or, at least he refrained from contesting the Duke's last will, and instead offered his congratulations to his nephew on the throne he had acquired... (pp. 4-5)Story: In an alternate tale, the Count, enraged by what he sees as the Duke's betrayal, challenges his young nephew to a duel to determine the true heir to the throne. His nephew being both unskilled and too young to accept, the Count then spends the next several years personally instructing him in the art of dueling -- and, being an honorable man, and insisting on a fair fight, is unsparing in his teaching the young man in the fine art of killing, until they meet for the final lesson.
Well, I'm too lazy to write them, but maybe someone else will, along with the others from the list below. Have at 'em, Melvillians.
See also:
The Duel by Giacomo Casanova
The Duel by Anton Chekhov
The Duel by Alexander Kuprin (forthcoming)
The Duel by Joseph Conrad (forthcoming)
January 1, 2018
When a virtuous lady slandered by a nobleman, he is challenged to a duel. The story feels like a combination between a fairy tale and opera-style dialogue and lamentations. While not a great as Michael Kohlhaas, this was still an engrossing read.
Read
March 1, 2025"Don't waste another word justifying your innocence! In my heart speaks a voice whose resonance and conviction are greater than any of your assurances...permit me the glory of advocating on your behalf."
Compelled me go into a research spiral into what late-14th century fashion in Europe should look like and it was worth it. A short and enjoyable story, if you enjoy chivalric romances and high-stake duels.
Starring: Friedrich 'Best Guy Ever' von Trota (admirable and adorable at the same time) who endeavours to step up in every single way - emotional, physical, material and spiritual - for his accused lady-love Littegarde, who shows operatic heroine charisma.
July 26, 2011
This story averages one fainting character per 15 pages. Still fantastic.
April 22, 2021
Ini salah satu seri novela Duel yang diterbitkan Basabasi. Rencananya sih, bakal kubaca pelan2 satu per satu selama bbrp minggu ke depan.
Yang pertama ini karya von Kleist, dramawan asal Jerman yang konon diaku Thomas Mann sebagai salah satu yang terbaik. Buatku sih, terlalu sedikit untuk menyimpulkan. Secara karya, cerpen Duel ini sebenarnya hanya 52 halaman saja. Sisanya di buku ini campur-campur, dari cukilan bbrp cerpen/novel von Kleist yang lain, lalu beberapa bahan lain dari penulis lain pula, yang seperti penerbit hanya memasukkannya saja biar menambah jumlah halaman.
Cerpen Duel ini ceritanya sebenarnya lumayan kompleks, hanya saja ditulis kelewat ringkas. Duke von Breisach terbunuh di wilayahnya sendiri. Untung saja sebelum tewas, ia sempat mengangkat putra tak sahnya sebagai pewaris. Adiknya, Count Rotbart, gigit jari tidak diangkat jadi Duke. Penyelidikan lebih lanjut di hadapan Kaiser, mengindikasikan Count Rotbart inilah dalang pembunuhan Duke. Tapi dia malah mengaku sedang indehoi dengan Lady Littergarde saat itu. Lady Littergarde ini pewaris kekayaan ayahnya, jadi oleh kedua adiknya ia dipermalukan dan diusir dari kastel - demi mengangkangi warisan tsb. Lady Littergarde mengadu pada sahabatnya, Sir Friedrich von Trota -yg adalah tangan kanan Duke- daaann inilah intinya, Sir Friedrich menantang duel Count Rotbart untuk membuktikan kesucian Lady Littergrade, sekaligus balas kematian Duke.
Di sinilah menariknya fenomena duel ini. Siapa pun pemenangnya, maka dialah yang benar di hadapan Tuhan dan Kaiser.
Tidak ada kebijaksanaan sebesar apa pun yang bisa memahami keputusan misterius yang Tuhan maksudkan melalui duel ini.
Baik di cerpen ini, maupun di bagian-bagian selanjutnya di buku ini, fenomena ini muncul dan muncul lagi. Bukan saja pada karya penulis Jerman, tp dr berbagai penulis lain eropa, termasuk di bagian akhir, drama King Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot, di mana Lancelot berulang kali membela kehormatan Guinevere dengan berduel dengan musuh-musuh Arthur dan pengagum-pengagum sang Ratu.
Di bagian tengah buku ini, ada selipan uraian filosofis tentang pandangan von Kleist terhadap aliran romantisme dan sastra dramatik Jerman.
Pembuka yang lumayan menarik untuk seri novela Duel yang dihadirkan oleh Penerbit Basabasi. Mari kita lihat novela-novela yang lain.
Yang pertama ini karya von Kleist, dramawan asal Jerman yang konon diaku Thomas Mann sebagai salah satu yang terbaik. Buatku sih, terlalu sedikit untuk menyimpulkan. Secara karya, cerpen Duel ini sebenarnya hanya 52 halaman saja. Sisanya di buku ini campur-campur, dari cukilan bbrp cerpen/novel von Kleist yang lain, lalu beberapa bahan lain dari penulis lain pula, yang seperti penerbit hanya memasukkannya saja biar menambah jumlah halaman.
Cerpen Duel ini ceritanya sebenarnya lumayan kompleks, hanya saja ditulis kelewat ringkas. Duke von Breisach terbunuh di wilayahnya sendiri. Untung saja sebelum tewas, ia sempat mengangkat putra tak sahnya sebagai pewaris. Adiknya, Count Rotbart, gigit jari tidak diangkat jadi Duke. Penyelidikan lebih lanjut di hadapan Kaiser, mengindikasikan Count Rotbart inilah dalang pembunuhan Duke. Tapi dia malah mengaku sedang indehoi dengan Lady Littergarde saat itu. Lady Littergarde ini pewaris kekayaan ayahnya, jadi oleh kedua adiknya ia dipermalukan dan diusir dari kastel - demi mengangkangi warisan tsb. Lady Littergarde mengadu pada sahabatnya, Sir Friedrich von Trota -yg adalah tangan kanan Duke- daaann inilah intinya, Sir Friedrich menantang duel Count Rotbart untuk membuktikan kesucian Lady Littergrade, sekaligus balas kematian Duke.
Di sinilah menariknya fenomena duel ini. Siapa pun pemenangnya, maka dialah yang benar di hadapan Tuhan dan Kaiser.
Tidak ada kebijaksanaan sebesar apa pun yang bisa memahami keputusan misterius yang Tuhan maksudkan melalui duel ini.
Baik di cerpen ini, maupun di bagian-bagian selanjutnya di buku ini, fenomena ini muncul dan muncul lagi. Bukan saja pada karya penulis Jerman, tp dr berbagai penulis lain eropa, termasuk di bagian akhir, drama King Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot, di mana Lancelot berulang kali membela kehormatan Guinevere dengan berduel dengan musuh-musuh Arthur dan pengagum-pengagum sang Ratu.
Di bagian tengah buku ini, ada selipan uraian filosofis tentang pandangan von Kleist terhadap aliran romantisme dan sastra dramatik Jerman.
Pembuka yang lumayan menarik untuk seri novela Duel yang dihadirkan oleh Penerbit Basabasi. Mari kita lihat novela-novela yang lain.
December 24, 2012
This is the second of the five books called The Duel in Melville House's Art of the Novella series that I've read, and the second that I haven't been crazy about, though I'm still curious to read the others and see how I feel about them. I think there are two main things that contribute to me having thought this book was OK but not super-memorable or super-exciting: 1) the subject matter and 2) the style.
OK, right, I know, a book called The Duel is going to be about a duel. I don't think that necessarily means I won't love it, but it is a hurdle: the whole culture of knights and honor and chivalric fights to the death is so very far away in mindset and in time, and not just from me: Kleist's book was first published in 1810, but is set in the late 1300s. There are universal things in the subject matter, yes: murder and vengeance and deceptions and truths, but there are also swords and armor and fainting and it's hard for some of it not to read as melodramatic or, well, campy: "I will restore the resplendence of your name before the judgment of the court—and before the judgment of the whole world," one character vows valiantly, and I just wanted to roll my eyes (21). There are moments when it totally works for me, though, like the moment of the challenge to the duel itself: this is over the top, yes, but kind of brilliantly so:
But let me back up: plot-wise, The Duel starts with a murder that then leads to questions of guilt or innocence for more just the accused murderer. Duke Wilhelm is arriving home one night when he's fatally struck by an arrow. He's just managed to get the Kaiser to recognize his only living son, who was conceived out of wedlock, as legitimate; his estate, therefore, passes to his son, with his wife acting as regent until the boy comes of age. Everyone expects the Duke's half brother, Count Jakob Rotbart, to be put out by this, particularly because the Count and the Duke hadn't been on good terms/it's not like the Count will be shattered by his death, but he graciously accepts the situation. But when the Duchess tries to find out who murdered her husband, she learns that the fatal arrow belonged to Count Rotbart, which is worrying, though she doesn't want to actually accuse him of murder. The Count, though, says he'll swear his innocence before a court, and claims as his alibi that he was having a tryst with a widowed noblewoman named Littegarde on the night of the murder. She denies it but has no alibi of her own, and appeals to a former suitor, Sir Friedrich, who happens also to be the Duke's chamberlain, to come to her aid. Sir Friedrich, as quoted above, challenges the Count to a duel, saying the truth of whether it is Littegarde or the Count who is lying will be shown by God's verdict, through the outcome of the fight. But can humans ever really know what God's verdict is, or might things be other than as they initially appear? There are plot twists and surprises, and everything is wrapped up tidily at the book's end, and I just couldn't get excited about it, despite it being a good enough story. The style is straightforward and mostly matter-of-fact, and I think that was my other problem. In the whole book there was maybe one image that struck me as memorable, that of the duel as being "like two storm fronts swirling around each other—hurling and deflecting lightning bolts, towering above and rearing below the crack of heavy thunder" (29). The narrative isn't richly detailed, or full of beautiful or striking images, or stylistically playful or inventive: not that all books have to be or should be, but I probably have a greater fondness for the ones that are. Sometimes the straightforward style works: when the Duchess sends the arrow "to all the workshops in Germany, in order to discover the arrowsmith who had made it, and once found, to learn the name of the patron who had commissioned the fatal arrow," I thought there was something pleasingly fairy-tale-like in that: it's like the prince in Cinderella, taking the glass slipper to every woman in the land to try on.
OK, right, I know, a book called The Duel is going to be about a duel. I don't think that necessarily means I won't love it, but it is a hurdle: the whole culture of knights and honor and chivalric fights to the death is so very far away in mindset and in time, and not just from me: Kleist's book was first published in 1810, but is set in the late 1300s. There are universal things in the subject matter, yes: murder and vengeance and deceptions and truths, but there are also swords and armor and fainting and it's hard for some of it not to read as melodramatic or, well, campy: "I will restore the resplendence of your name before the judgment of the court—and before the judgment of the whole world," one character vows valiantly, and I just wanted to roll my eyes (21). There are moments when it totally works for me, though, like the moment of the challenge to the duel itself: this is over the top, yes, but kind of brilliantly so:
With the eyes of all the court upon him, Sir Friedrich snapped the letter from the herald's outstretched hands, and, giving it a cursory look, proceeded to tear the letter from top to bottom. He rolled the pieces neatly into his glove, and, pronouncing Rotbart a vile slanderer, threw the glove into Rotbart's face—challenging him to a trial by combat to settle once and for all the question of Littegarde's innocence before the eyes of God and the world. (24)
But let me back up: plot-wise, The Duel starts with a murder that then leads to questions of guilt or innocence for more just the accused murderer. Duke Wilhelm is arriving home one night when he's fatally struck by an arrow. He's just managed to get the Kaiser to recognize his only living son, who was conceived out of wedlock, as legitimate; his estate, therefore, passes to his son, with his wife acting as regent until the boy comes of age. Everyone expects the Duke's half brother, Count Jakob Rotbart, to be put out by this, particularly because the Count and the Duke hadn't been on good terms/it's not like the Count will be shattered by his death, but he graciously accepts the situation. But when the Duchess tries to find out who murdered her husband, she learns that the fatal arrow belonged to Count Rotbart, which is worrying, though she doesn't want to actually accuse him of murder. The Count, though, says he'll swear his innocence before a court, and claims as his alibi that he was having a tryst with a widowed noblewoman named Littegarde on the night of the murder. She denies it but has no alibi of her own, and appeals to a former suitor, Sir Friedrich, who happens also to be the Duke's chamberlain, to come to her aid. Sir Friedrich, as quoted above, challenges the Count to a duel, saying the truth of whether it is Littegarde or the Count who is lying will be shown by God's verdict, through the outcome of the fight. But can humans ever really know what God's verdict is, or might things be other than as they initially appear? There are plot twists and surprises, and everything is wrapped up tidily at the book's end, and I just couldn't get excited about it, despite it being a good enough story. The style is straightforward and mostly matter-of-fact, and I think that was my other problem. In the whole book there was maybe one image that struck me as memorable, that of the duel as being "like two storm fronts swirling around each other—hurling and deflecting lightning bolts, towering above and rearing below the crack of heavy thunder" (29). The narrative isn't richly detailed, or full of beautiful or striking images, or stylistically playful or inventive: not that all books have to be or should be, but I probably have a greater fondness for the ones that are. Sometimes the straightforward style works: when the Duchess sends the arrow "to all the workshops in Germany, in order to discover the arrowsmith who had made it, and once found, to learn the name of the patron who had commissioned the fatal arrow," I thought there was something pleasingly fairy-tale-like in that: it's like the prince in Cinderella, taking the glass slipper to every woman in the land to try on.
March 9, 2023
https://rogueliterarysociety.com/f/th...
I can't remember ever fighting for somebody's honor. It is possible I have, but perhaps too drunk at the time to remember. Of course, that would have been years ago when I was young and dumb and fought for things as if they mattered. In this novella, the truth does matter. Not only is an entire fortune at stake, but the integrity of good people is challenged and mistakes are made contiguous with deceit confounding all in several different ways. Love and jealousy share equal billing, and the battle between these two reaches almost epic proportion. But that is how a good novella is made.
The jacket flap erroneously states the general plot of the novella, but this is still a fine translation and wonderful story. Sad for the fact that the editors of Melville House missed this huge mistake on the flap and this is for me beyond belief. It is possible an intern wrote this bit for Heinrich, and that adds insult to injury. It is obvious whoever wrote the jacket blurb had not ever read the book. How important it is to have accuracy and attention to details when producing a book as important as this one could be. Important enough to be included in a series and finally have its own space alone in book form. There is no forgiving this error and for this grievous mistake somebody in these offices needs be held accountable. Melville House is doing the world a favor by keeping these important books in print, but their presentation needs to be of the very first rank. If it were my book, and if I were Kleist, and so appreciative of somebody finally recognizing my genius and giving me my due, and then the house I had trusted and put my faith into had produced an artifact with this type of unforgivable error in it which clearly could have been avoided had the person responsible for writing this copy had read the novella first, I would be beside myself with embarrassment. The publisher should immediately set the record straight with the prompt and judicious removal of this book from the public consumption and move forthwith to repair the copy for proper publication as error free as required by good taste. Of course, the entire premise of the novella is one of credibility or truth and how it questions ones integrity and honor. I am not at all versed in the history of knights and chivalry, and I am also not sure where I got the idea this novella takes place in the 1500's. But it sounds good. Just as it did for the writer of the jacket flap when he or she stated the premise being Littegarde's husband having been murdered by his brother when in fact Littegarde's husband died of some illness and his death and person had nothing to do with the story at all. I kept going back to the flap to find something I surely must have been missing, but to no avail. But I must report that the main text of the book is error free, and wonderful.
Heinrich von Kleist writes in an easy and flowing manner. He tells a good story. However, this novella could go down as a myth or moral and be closer to the truth than claiming it a masterpiece. Though the gifted translation proves the book to be well-written, the Kleistian idea that God has something or other to do with proving guilt or innocence in a duel to the death is preposterous. As much as I do enjoy the culture of knights and honor and chivalric fights to the death does not in any way align me to the creed of a just god ultimately deciding our fate. Skill and luck and intelligence prevail in most of our endeavors, both good and bad, and it would take more than a supposed miracle by God's hand to move me off my stalwart position for my consistent stance in denouncing gods.
I can't remember ever fighting for somebody's honor. It is possible I have, but perhaps too drunk at the time to remember. Of course, that would have been years ago when I was young and dumb and fought for things as if they mattered. In this novella, the truth does matter. Not only is an entire fortune at stake, but the integrity of good people is challenged and mistakes are made contiguous with deceit confounding all in several different ways. Love and jealousy share equal billing, and the battle between these two reaches almost epic proportion. But that is how a good novella is made.
The jacket flap erroneously states the general plot of the novella, but this is still a fine translation and wonderful story. Sad for the fact that the editors of Melville House missed this huge mistake on the flap and this is for me beyond belief. It is possible an intern wrote this bit for Heinrich, and that adds insult to injury. It is obvious whoever wrote the jacket blurb had not ever read the book. How important it is to have accuracy and attention to details when producing a book as important as this one could be. Important enough to be included in a series and finally have its own space alone in book form. There is no forgiving this error and for this grievous mistake somebody in these offices needs be held accountable. Melville House is doing the world a favor by keeping these important books in print, but their presentation needs to be of the very first rank. If it were my book, and if I were Kleist, and so appreciative of somebody finally recognizing my genius and giving me my due, and then the house I had trusted and put my faith into had produced an artifact with this type of unforgivable error in it which clearly could have been avoided had the person responsible for writing this copy had read the novella first, I would be beside myself with embarrassment. The publisher should immediately set the record straight with the prompt and judicious removal of this book from the public consumption and move forthwith to repair the copy for proper publication as error free as required by good taste. Of course, the entire premise of the novella is one of credibility or truth and how it questions ones integrity and honor. I am not at all versed in the history of knights and chivalry, and I am also not sure where I got the idea this novella takes place in the 1500's. But it sounds good. Just as it did for the writer of the jacket flap when he or she stated the premise being Littegarde's husband having been murdered by his brother when in fact Littegarde's husband died of some illness and his death and person had nothing to do with the story at all. I kept going back to the flap to find something I surely must have been missing, but to no avail. But I must report that the main text of the book is error free, and wonderful.
Heinrich von Kleist writes in an easy and flowing manner. He tells a good story. However, this novella could go down as a myth or moral and be closer to the truth than claiming it a masterpiece. Though the gifted translation proves the book to be well-written, the Kleistian idea that God has something or other to do with proving guilt or innocence in a duel to the death is preposterous. As much as I do enjoy the culture of knights and honor and chivalric fights to the death does not in any way align me to the creed of a just god ultimately deciding our fate. Skill and luck and intelligence prevail in most of our endeavors, both good and bad, and it would take more than a supposed miracle by God's hand to move me off my stalwart position for my consistent stance in denouncing gods.
September 24, 2021
Resultado feliz e inesperado de um périplo por uma livraria.
Apesar do tema ser altamente situado no tempo, a escrita de Heinrich von Kleist poderia ser contemporânea: inventiva e limpa dos "floreados" que se poderiam esperar para a época; diria até que é mais inventiva que a de muita da produção literária actual. Fiquei fascinada pela forma. O conteúdo tem de ser lido com o devido contexto histórico, cultural e moral.
Apesar do tema ser altamente situado no tempo, a escrita de Heinrich von Kleist poderia ser contemporânea: inventiva e limpa dos "floreados" que se poderiam esperar para a época; diria até que é mais inventiva que a de muita da produção literária actual. Fiquei fascinada pela forma. O conteúdo tem de ser lido com o devido contexto histórico, cultural e moral.
August 1, 2015
My first encounter with Kleist, The Duel is the story of a murder, a trial and eventually a verdict. The author places a discussion of infallibility and determinism within a fairytale. His style is elegant and efficient. Although the introductory sentence is quite long, it sets the tale beautifully and provides the reader with almost all the information necessary to see the story through to the end. Highly recommended.
October 17, 2013
A "Romantic" story in every sense of the word. Von Kleist has a great 18th/19th c style - it's not apparent at the outset WHY this is titled The Duel and makes a neat little story.
My first Oyster book and Melville House "Art of the Novella" read.
My first Oyster book and Melville House "Art of the Novella" read.
August 20, 2025
Banger
January 4, 2025
Fand die Geschichte an sich bzw. hauptsächlich das Ende nicht so spannend, aber meine Ausgabe ist so schön, dass es dadurch wieder wett gemacht wurde tbh
November 27, 2011
‘The Duel’ is a short novella. It is around fifty pages. It is smaller in size when compared to regular paperbacks. The edition I read was published by Melville Press and it has a distinctive, unique look. The paper was quite beautiful and the font was delightful. It was a pleasure to read. The first thing I thought of, while reading the book and after finishing it, was what would happen, when the whole world moves to e-readers and e-books and paper books become a thing of the past. Yes, we will save trees, which is a good thing. But the feeling of holding a beautiful book in one’s hand, turning over the pages, taking in the fragrance of the paper, taking pleasure in the touch and feel of the paper, revelling in the delight of a beautiful font – all this is going to be lost. Anne Fadiman says in her essay ‘Never do that to a book’ that to her and her family what mattered most were the words in a book and a book’s look and feel and whether the pages were dog-eared or had stains were not important. I am guessing Fadiman wouldn’t have any issues in moving to an e-reader and staying there. But I will miss all these if I start using an e-reader. I am not a Luddite. I love the kind of changes new devices bring. I love the fact that one can get a new book on an e-reader the day it gets released. And I also love the fact that one can change the font-size of an e-book to suit one’s needs. I also know that I can put my whole book collection inside an e-reader. But I will miss all the beauty and the delights that a paper book offers. Maybe I am an old-fashioned romantic.
Before I write about Kleist’s book, I wanted to write about something else. I discovered through the book that there are other books called ‘The Duel’. The others were written by Giacomo Casanova, Anton Chekhov, Joseph Conrad and Alexander Kuprin. I have read the one by Casanova. I have the one by Anton Chekhov in a collection. I want to read that and the other two novellas too. Maybe I will do ‘The Duel reading festival’ J I have read one by Georgette Heyer called ‘The Duel’, but that is more a short story than a novella.
The simplified plot of ‘The Duel’ goes like this – a Duke is killed one day by an arrow and the Duchess gets his kingdom. The Duke has an estranged half-brother, Count Rotbart, who could have disputed the fact that the Duchess got the kingdom but he behaves gracefully. Things go well, till it is discovered that the arrow which killed the Duke came from his half-brother’s armoury. The half-brother protests against this and says that he is innocent and on the night the Duke was killed, he was in the company of a beautiful noblewoman called Littegarde. Rotbart shows evidence in support of his claim and which look convincing. Littegarde denies this, but she is not able to bring independent witnesses to support her denial. One of Littegarde’s admirers, a knight who was also the slain Duke’s chamberlain, tries to help her and save her honour. He challenges Count Rotbart to a duel. Interesting things take place during the duel and after surprising twists and turns the story reaches an interesting conclusion.
I liked ‘The Duel’ because it is a vintage von Kleist story. The themes and ideas that Kleist explores are all there – the unexpected surprising start, the way events unfold in people’s lives suddenly like a storm, how these events toss people to unexpected highs and lows and how it all ends in a surprising way. The first Kleist story I read was ‘The Earthquake in Chile’. It had a sad ending with a thin silver lining. ‘The Duel’ has a happy ending. Kleist must have been in a good mood when he wrote this story.
I can’t wait to read my next Kleist book. Which is ‘Michael Kohlhaas’. I am also going to check Melville House’s catalogue and buy all their books. They have a real awesome collection.
Have you read any books by Heinrich von Kleist? What do you think about them?
Before I write about Kleist’s book, I wanted to write about something else. I discovered through the book that there are other books called ‘The Duel’. The others were written by Giacomo Casanova, Anton Chekhov, Joseph Conrad and Alexander Kuprin. I have read the one by Casanova. I have the one by Anton Chekhov in a collection. I want to read that and the other two novellas too. Maybe I will do ‘The Duel reading festival’ J I have read one by Georgette Heyer called ‘The Duel’, but that is more a short story than a novella.
The simplified plot of ‘The Duel’ goes like this – a Duke is killed one day by an arrow and the Duchess gets his kingdom. The Duke has an estranged half-brother, Count Rotbart, who could have disputed the fact that the Duchess got the kingdom but he behaves gracefully. Things go well, till it is discovered that the arrow which killed the Duke came from his half-brother’s armoury. The half-brother protests against this and says that he is innocent and on the night the Duke was killed, he was in the company of a beautiful noblewoman called Littegarde. Rotbart shows evidence in support of his claim and which look convincing. Littegarde denies this, but she is not able to bring independent witnesses to support her denial. One of Littegarde’s admirers, a knight who was also the slain Duke’s chamberlain, tries to help her and save her honour. He challenges Count Rotbart to a duel. Interesting things take place during the duel and after surprising twists and turns the story reaches an interesting conclusion.
I liked ‘The Duel’ because it is a vintage von Kleist story. The themes and ideas that Kleist explores are all there – the unexpected surprising start, the way events unfold in people’s lives suddenly like a storm, how these events toss people to unexpected highs and lows and how it all ends in a surprising way. The first Kleist story I read was ‘The Earthquake in Chile’. It had a sad ending with a thin silver lining. ‘The Duel’ has a happy ending. Kleist must have been in a good mood when he wrote this story.
I can’t wait to read my next Kleist book. Which is ‘Michael Kohlhaas’. I am also going to check Melville House’s catalogue and buy all their books. They have a real awesome collection.
Have you read any books by Heinrich von Kleist? What do you think about them?
December 27, 2017
This brilliant historical fiction novella is set in the Middle Ages. It is the tale of a noblewoman accused of sexual impropriety with a nobleman. This Count uses his alleged liaison as an alibi for his brother's murder. When Littegarde's friend demands trial by battle, an appeal to God's judgment on her guilt, the result is a stunning piece of realistic fiction where everyone gets what they deserve. A wonderfully engaging story of justice being served.
February 5, 2013
certain parts of this reminded me of The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum, which i adored last year. the characters very much came alive for me but i wish more time was taken to flesh them out and for the ending to be slowly revealed to the reader.
a wholly worthwhile read.
a wholly worthwhile read.
April 12, 2015
Read my thoughts at allthenovellas.com.
January 6, 2016
Forgot to rate this before. I enjoyed this little story, it was very fast paced and easy to follow. Will definitely look for more from this author.
February 20, 2018
What a rush!
April 14, 2019
This author, Herr von Kleist, was a pleasant discovery. I've enjoyed everything I've read by him, including this novella--written more than 200 years ago!
November 4, 2016
SIX WORD REVIEW: A widow's honor/soap operish twist.
October 23, 2025
Woo! Revelation upon revelation! Skullduggery upon skullduggery! Honor by honor!
Duels, man. Before they were forbidden by the law and carried out in the thin mists of dawn on the outskirts of town with pistols, they were endorsed by God, organized by the Kaiser, and took place in front of everybody in an elegant pavilion with armor and swords. Chaste Lady Littegarde will be burned at the stake if Friedrich loses the duel. Because God knows who deserves to be victorious in the duel. Not even Count Rotbart knows what God knows, and Count Rotbart really should know. He should really, really should know. Don’t bang people whose faces you can’t see, Count Rotbart! Especially when that body looks an awful lot like the chambermaid you were already sexing on. I don’t care how dark it is. Check first.
The Duke is murdered but that's incidental and basically goes away in favor of everybody wrangling with these aspersions against my lady and the German legal system.
This is a book from the 1810s about the 1400s, so chivalry might not have been as epic as we and the author want it to be, even though he’s from the now-olden times.
Score one for the Art of the Novella series. Thank you for this little hunk of drama.
Duels, man. Before they were forbidden by the law and carried out in the thin mists of dawn on the outskirts of town with pistols, they were endorsed by God, organized by the Kaiser, and took place in front of everybody in an elegant pavilion with armor and swords. Chaste Lady Littegarde will be burned at the stake if Friedrich loses the duel. Because God knows who deserves to be victorious in the duel. Not even Count Rotbart knows what God knows, and Count Rotbart really should know. He should really, really should know. Don’t bang people whose faces you can’t see, Count Rotbart! Especially when that body looks an awful lot like the chambermaid you were already sexing on. I don’t care how dark it is. Check first.
The Duke is murdered but that's incidental and basically goes away in favor of everybody wrangling with these aspersions against my lady and the German legal system.
This is a book from the 1810s about the 1400s, so chivalry might not have been as epic as we and the author want it to be, even though he’s from the now-olden times.
Score one for the Art of the Novella series. Thank you for this little hunk of drama.
November 21, 2017
A gripping short story that combines mystery, action and a touch of sardonic skepticism. There is a perfectly well crafted, rational whodunit. And yet, Kleist does not trust such clarity, and it is only through extraordinary providence (perhaps divine, but perhaps not) that the truth and justice finally surface.
Like so much gothic and romantic fiction, Kleist sets his tale in the age of chivalry. A nobleman is murdered. The investigation leads to the doorstep of the unsavory Jakob Rotbart who successfully deflects guilt onto the virtuous Lady Littegarde, who in turn is defended by gallant Friederich. At first, it seems like trial by combat will produce justice. Then our hero is thwarted by a bad turn of luck. And then, again through an improbable turn, things turn out alright.
Kleist plays shrewdly with reader expectations, testing us to decide which is stronger-- our desire for divine justice or our sense of rational causality. The happy ending is intentionally a bit unsatisfying as even the medievals must admit that their judicial process (obviously barbaric by modern standards) works, but only "as God wills it."
Like so much gothic and romantic fiction, Kleist sets his tale in the age of chivalry. A nobleman is murdered. The investigation leads to the doorstep of the unsavory Jakob Rotbart who successfully deflects guilt onto the virtuous Lady Littegarde, who in turn is defended by gallant Friederich. At first, it seems like trial by combat will produce justice. Then our hero is thwarted by a bad turn of luck. And then, again through an improbable turn, things turn out alright.
Kleist plays shrewdly with reader expectations, testing us to decide which is stronger-- our desire for divine justice or our sense of rational causality. The happy ending is intentionally a bit unsatisfying as even the medievals must admit that their judicial process (obviously barbaric by modern standards) works, but only "as God wills it."
August 18, 2024
For an early 19th century book, this is quite readable and well plotted, but the story is a pat morality tale that ties up too neatly. The outcome is presented as an expression of God's will, but the godliness struck me as a thin veneer that barely concealed a titillating story about the rogue Rotbart, who is the only interesting character. Rotbart is the one who makes it all happen. He's a lover, a fighter and a schemer. The others are pale shadows of goodness, paragons of empty virtue that would have been completely lacking in interest without the scandalous behavior of Rotbart. A few weeks ago, when I read Foucault's History of Sexuality, I thought that Foucault often missed the boat, but one of his theses in that book was that 19th century bourgeoise morality was really about its opposite - inviting us all into the world of sex by teasing us with its pleasures while pretending to condemn sex outside of the act of procreation between a married man and woman. That's definitely what I saw Kleist doing here.
November 12, 2019
Este relato muy breve de Heinrich Von Kleist fue editado exquisitamente por Breviarios del Rey Lear. La acción transcurre en el siglo XIV, y tiene inicio con la muerte del Duque Wilhelm von Breysach. Todos los indicios apuntan a su hermano, pero él presenta como coartada un encuentro secreto con Wittib Littegarde, una bella doncella. Ante esta afrenta al honor de Littegarde, su enamorado Friederich von Trota reta a duelo al acusador en lo que se denominaba un "juicio de Dios": el vencedor del duelo sería aquel a quien Dios otorgara la razón y el vencedor había de perecer en la hoguera.
El relato tiene rasgos románticos, fantásticos y góticos, pero también funciona de a ratos como un policial, ya que hay que develar quién fue el asesino del duque uniendo los indicios. Este es quizás el rasgo más innovador de la obra, sobre todo considerando que fue compuesta a comienzos del siglo XIX. Una lectura amena y entretenida.
El relato tiene rasgos románticos, fantásticos y góticos, pero también funciona de a ratos como un policial, ya que hay que develar quién fue el asesino del duque uniendo los indicios. Este es quizás el rasgo más innovador de la obra, sobre todo considerando que fue compuesta a comienzos del siglo XIX. Una lectura amena y entretenida.
September 12, 2017
Every time I get riled up about the many ways our current justice system is a farce, I will have to remind myself that this ridiculousness was once considered justice and reassure myself about how far we've come after all.
A story of murder, deceit, and intrigue set in the fourteenth century. All about who has the power of being believed, and how God works in the world. Remember the kind of logic that said if you attempted to drown a witch and she didn't die, it must be because she was a witch and Satan was protecting her, but if she did die, whoops -- must have been innocent? This is a little less terrible, but still amazing.
The story itself is well told though, and if you aren't rooting for poor Littegarde throughout, well, let's just say I have concerns for your soul.
A story of murder, deceit, and intrigue set in the fourteenth century. All about who has the power of being believed, and how God works in the world. Remember the kind of logic that said if you attempted to drown a witch and she didn't die, it must be because she was a witch and Satan was protecting her, but if she did die, whoops -- must have been innocent? This is a little less terrible, but still amazing.
The story itself is well told though, and if you aren't rooting for poor Littegarde throughout, well, let's just say I have concerns for your soul.
October 26, 2020
Begins with one of the most poorly structured and awkward sentences I've ever read. Translation might be to blame. It is certainly inferior to the incredible "Michael Kohlhaas" but it is set down in the same almost breathless, compelling manner, without extraneous words and embellishments. The ending was too happy.
August 11, 2022
Novel yang cukup menarik. mengangkat duel-duel yang diselenggarakan di benua biru pada masa lampau sebagai pengadilan untuk mengetahui kehendak Tuhan. filosofinya adalah, jika A bersalah, maka ia akan mati dalam duel. namun jika ia benar, maka Tuhan dan segenap malaikatnya akan melindunginya. hal ini sejalan dgn kisah2 lain dalam novel ini, sebagaimana kisah lancelot, arthur, dan guinevere (?)
minusnus£8
minusnus£8
December 11, 2018
Bir klasik eser olarak okuduğum "Düello" ilk hikayesi "Michael Kohlhaas" hariç umduğumu bulamadığım kitaplardan biri oldu.
December 14, 2018
Love "The Duel" Melville House series.
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