Spook

by Klabund, Jonah Lubin (Translator)

"Klabund" was the pseudonym employed by Alfred Henschke (1890-1928), who wrote, from January to April 1921, "during the fever of an illness," the novel Spook , which is here presented for the first time in -English, in a translation by Jonah Lubin. This hectic, creepy autobiographical story about a young man who suffers a hemorrhage in Berlin and is haunted by bizarre figures and delusions in his twilight state can be seen as both a late entry into the Decadent pantheon and a striking example of Expressionist fiction. A haunting and harrowing tale, which seems to have been composed at least in part under the effects of morphine, Spook is, in its own troubled way, a glorious book, and a gorgeous poem of madness.

Genres: Fiction

210 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 2009

About the author

Alfred Henschke, better known by his pseudonym Klabund, was a German writer.

Reviews

[MauroMC]

History that does not leave indifferent. Although written in an imaginative way, with steps that border on the absurd tells of the deep disturbance of a man and his sense of guilt for the disappearance of his wife.
The meaning of the book is deeper than it may seem at first reading. Klabunt deserves the respect of every careful reader.