Lenz

by Georg Büchner

Die erst nach Georg Büchners Tod erschienene fragmentarische Erzählung Lenz (1839) gehört zu den Meisterwerken der deutschsprachigen Prosa. Büchner schildert in seiner einzigen Erzählung die fortschreitende psychische Erkrankung des Sturm-und-Drang-Autors Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz (1751–1792) während des kurzen Aufenthalts beim Pfarrer Johann Friedrich Oberlin im Januar/Februar 1778. Die innovativen Erzähltechniken ermöglichen dem Leser ein Miterleben von Lenz' Erkrankung – die Grenzen zwischen Innen- und Außenwelt, von Vernunft und Wahnsinn scheinen zu zerfließen.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, German Literature, Germany, School, Literature, 19th Century

84 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1835

About the author

Karl Georg Büchner was a German dramatist and writer of prose. He was the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchner. Georg Büchner's talent is generally held in great esteem in Germany. It is widely believed that, but for his early death, he might have attained the significance of such central German literary figures as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller.

Reviews

[Sonja Rosa Lisa ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es fühlt sich irgendwie nicht gut an, einem Klassiker so eine geringe Bewertung zu geben, aber mir hat das Buch einfach nicht wirklich gefallen. Ich bin mit dem Buch nicht warm geworden, die Geschichte hat mich nicht erreichen können, obwohl sie ja eigentlich ziemlich emotional ist.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have re-read Lenz nearly every year since it was first introduced to me by a German woman I used to clean for. She was born with a dislocated hip and I took care of her house for her and her young child when she was a visiting professor at the university I attended. She gave me such a strong love for this book, for all of Buchner who died when he was in early twenties after producing some of the most compelling works of fiction and theatre. Lenz is based on a true story and Buchner describes the mountain journey of Lenz, the poet contemporary of Goethe, who travels up into the Vosges Mountains of Alsace above Strassbourg to visit a pastor, Oberlin. His ascent up the mountains is so vividly told, and his strange yearnings compelled by the beauty and sublime aspects of the environment come to a mental break, told with such eloquence and humanity. In 2005 I folowed Lenz' and Buchner's footsteps up into the Vosges with my dear friend Nadine, and we saw the 'fountain' (a village trough) where Lenz had thrown himself into the water, the mountain pathways he found so tearfully beautiful, and the home of Oberlin which for a time had become a sanctuary for him.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK. I've got to get this straight. Straight! You hear me?!. So there is this writer Lenz, and this other writer, Kaufmann is his friend. And Goethe Goethe! was his frenemy, I mean Lenz's friend and enemy. And Kaufmann said to Lenz to go and see Oberlin. "He can help you", Kaufmann says. "Go to Oberlin." Where is Oberlin? Go to the Vosges mountains, Lenz, find Oberlin! And so he did. And Büchner, haha a child this Büchner is when he wrote about Lenz. You hear me Georg? You're a child and you write about another child. Don't look at me like that. I'm more than twice as old as you ever were. Where am I? Oh yes, yes, Lenz went to Oberlin to seek help. And Oberlin was a nice guy. He invented Kindergarten didn't he? He was nice. But it didn't work. IT NEVER WORKS WITH THIS FUCKING DISEASE. It's 1778, and it's 2015, and it.just.never.works.out. Not for Lenz, not for anybody. And where is Nash? Hey, Nash, you're supposed to be dead. You died like two days ago, didn't you? At least Nash got old. Not like Lenz, or Kaufmann, or Büchner. Oberlin got old too. He was nice. Oberlin, you're nice. And Georg! Georg? Please.stop.talking.

[Katia N]

This novella has come to my attention last year when I was reading The Memoirs of Elias Canetti: The Tongue Set Free/The Torch in My Ear/The Play of the Eyes. Young Canetti was so struck by this book that he could not sleep and ran at the middle of the night to share his excitement with his girlfriend. For him it was almost a life-changing experience. It was not for me, but the novella is brilliantly composed and very modernistic in style. It is hard to believe that it has been written by a twenty year old in 1835. It is a story of unravelling into madness of Lenz, the writer and a real person while he visits Oberlin, a protestant priest, somewhere in a mountainous village. It seems to me as a precursor of The Magic Mountain in some sense with a sensitive young man and a conversation about art in the middle. As far as I understood, in spite of his very short life, Buchner, his plays and fiction seem to be quite influential in German world of letters.

You can read a fragment and see the visual art mentioned including Carel van Savoy and Raphael here in the anthology of art in fiction.

[Lee Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't read this edition in German. Found the original German text on Project Gutenberg, activated the automatic English translation in Chrome, copied the English translation to a Word doc, and sent it via email to the Kindle app on my iPad. An absolutely modern way to read a 190-year-old novella.

It's frenzied quick relentless forward movement, a spiritual crisis in the mountainous wilderness.

A fantastic sentence toward the end: "He rushed through his life with frantic speed and then said: consistent, consistent; when someone spoke: inconsistent, inconsistent; it was the gulf of irretrievable madness, a madness through eternity."

Apparently this was a major influence on modern literature, most likely for the close POV method-acting the madness.

Read it thanks to a mention in a recent Lars Iyer interview I skimmed.

May acquire and read the bilingual edition from Archipelago once I acquire a smidgeon of proficiency in German (2026 goal).

[Dimitri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Allora qualcosa gli lancinava dentro, e lui rimaneva là, ansante, il corpo piegato in avanti, occhi e bocca spalancati, gli sembrava di dover trarre entro di sé la tempesta in un respiro, tutto comprendere entro di sé.

Novella incompiuta che racconta un periodo breve e tormentato della breve e tormentata vita del poeta romantico Jacob Michael Reinhold Lenz. Molto Sturm und Drang, pure troppo.

Il pomeriggio Oberlin voleva fare una visita nelle vicinanze; sua moglie era già uscita; stava per andarsene quando bussarono alla porta, e Lenz entrò col corpo piegato in avanti, la testa ciondolante, tutto il viso e qua e là le vesti cosparsi di cenere, tenendosi con la destra il braccio sinistro. Pregò Oberlin di tirargli il braccio, se l’era slogato, s’era buttato giù dalla finestra; ma poiché non l’aveva visto nessuno, voleva anche che nessuno lo sapesse.

[Jesica Sabrina Canto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es una obra corta pero para quienes, como a mi, nos interesa la psicología es sumamente atrayente. Una indagación de la locura totalmente adictiva. Aunque no hay explicaciones, se nos hace participes de lo que aqueja al protagonista y de su desconocimiento lo que le provoca un implacable terror.

[Tasos · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. Κάποιος πρέπει να διορθώσει την ελληνική καταχώρηση του βιβλίου εδώ μέσα. (Μα είναι δυνατό; Λενς;)

2. Οι εκδόσεις Άγρα έχουν ξεπεράσει τον εαυτό τους με εισαγωγή και επίμετρο που εξαντλούν τη σημασία του βιβλίου στη γερμανική λογοτεχνία.

3. Σε τόσο κλασικά κείμενα για τα οποία έχουν γραφτεί τόσα πολλά δεν τολμώ να προσθέσω κάτι.

4. Το "Δεν ένιωθε κούραση, μόνο που κάθε όσο δυσφορούσε που δεν μπορούσε να περπατάει ανάποδα, με τα πόδια ψηλά και το κεφάλι κάτω" περιγράφει τη μισή μου ζωή.

5. Το τέλος σε αφήνει να κοιτάς παγωμένος το κενό.

6. Έπρεπε να το γυρίσει ταινία ο Werner Herzog, αλλά προτίμησε το Woyzeck του ίδιου συγγραφέα, που καταπιάνεται πάνω κάτω με το ίδιο θέμα και προκαλεί τα ίδια συναισθήματα.

[Hank1972 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non disunirti

Un gioiellino di racconto.

Scritto da un giovanissimo Buchner, poco prima della prematura morte, racconta la crisi esistenziale vissuta da Lenz, letterato di origini baltiche, esponente dello Sturm und Drang, morto, anch’egli relativamente giovane, in disgrazia e anonimato a Mosca.

Lenz si muove a piedi attraverso le montagne. Le descrizioni dei paesaggi sono notevoli, pare di stare immersi tra nubi, nebbia, squarci di cielo blu, lame di luce solare, rami ed erba bagnati o coperti dalla neve. Raggiunge il paesino dove é parroco Oberlain (dalle cui memorie Buchner prende spunto per il racconto) e da lui e la sua famiglia riceve cure e accoglienza calorosa. La preghiera é un utile sostegno. Il dipingere e le riflessioni sull’arte, pure. Il ricordo di un amore fornisce ardore e speranza.

Vien da dire che potrebbe essere un buon rehab!

Ma non per Lenz. La natura é piú maligna che benigna. La religione non salva. L’amore non si realizza. L’arte é sterile. Lenz ha perso il fluido vitale, é vuoto, la passione di un tempo é svanita. Si provoca ferite e mette in atto goffi tentativi di suicidio solo per tornare a sentire di essere vivo. Non ci riuscirá, condannato a vivere come un automa.

Mi viene in mente il Sorrentino di “E’ stata la mano di Dio” con il suo “non disunirti”. Forse che Lenz/Buchner ci vuol dire di ricordarci e sentire sempre, chi siamo, da dove veniamo, i nostri sogni, idee, obiettivi, valori, quel poco o tanto che abbiamo appreso e realizzato. E vivere fino in fondo, buona o cattiva sorte che sia. A volte poi ci sarà il “munaciello” che sistemerà le cose.

“…gli tornavano i ricordi dei tempi in cui tutto in lui urgeva, quand’egli ansimava sotto il peso di tutte le sue sensazioni; e adesso era così morto.”

[Veronika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wie bewertet man diesen fragmentarischen Ausschnitt über die Innenwelt eins Menschen, der in Wahnsinn, Depression und eine akute Psychose abgleitet?
Sehr schwer, ist die Antwort. Regeln, die man normalerweise an Geschichten anwenden würde, gelten hier nicht mehr. Es gibt keine Handlung, da die Außenwelt auch keine Rolle spielt. Man befindet sich fast komplett in der Innenwelt von Lenz und die ist wie ein in tausend Teile zersprungener Spiegel, man sieht unzählige Dinge zugleich, Bruchstücke von Gedanken und Emotionen, auf dem Kopf stehende Realitäten, unzusammenhängende Ereignisse und scharfkantige Erinnerungen. Man kann puzzlen und puzzlen, aber am Ende bluten einem die Finger und man erkennt dass dahinter kein kohärentes Ganzes mehr steckt. Lenz ist zerbrochen, in tausend Teile.

Als Psychologin war das für mich extrem spannend und authentisch, als Leserin war es ein wenig mühsam.

[Kilburn Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Büchner's haunting novella Lenz, the character of Lenz becomes a vessel for the exploration of the murky depths where consciousness, madness, and the natural world converge. Büchner's adept manipulation of syntax and style immerses the reader directly into Lenz's tumultuous psyche, where the lines between reality and delusion blur seamlessly.

The narrative unfolds like a fever dream, oscillating between the engulfing embrace of nature and the vertiginous peaks of Lenz's deteriorating mental state. Büchner's elliptical, journal-like structure provides an unfiltered and raw glimpse into the inner mechanisms of a troubled mind. Through Lenz, Büchner presents a figure simultaneously familiar and alien, presaging the existential crises that would reverberate in the works of subsequent authors such as Sebald and Bernhard.

Themes of existential ennui and the relentless search for meaning resonate throughout Büchner's oeuvre, linking Lenz to a rich tapestry of philosophical inquiry evident in the writings of Dostoevsky and Camus. Despite Lenz's desperate quest for solace amidst his torment, Büchner refuses to offer easy answers, confronting the reader with the stark realities of human existence and the unfathomable depths of the human psyche.

In its profound, albeit discomforting, exploration of the nexus between nature, imagination, and the human psyche, Lenz solidifies Büchner's reputation as a masterful delineator of character and a pioneering force in psychologically-oriented fiction. Through Lenz's harrowing odyssey, Büchner challenges readers to confront the shadowy recesses of their own minds, urging them to wrestle with the existential queries at the core of human existence.

[WillemC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een onafgewerkte, vroeg negentiende-eeuwse novelle over de "Sturm und Drang"-auteur Jacob Lenz en diens afdaling in de waanzin. Deels gebaseerd op dagboeknotities van een predikant waar Lenz een tijdje bij verbleef. Veel aandacht voor romantische natuurbeschrijving als metafoor voor de groeiende onrust. Een interessant vroeg voorbeeld van vervreemdingsliteratuur.

"[...] hij bleef volstrekt onverschillig. In deze toestand legde hij de weg door de bergen af."

"[...] hij deed alles precies zoals de anderen, maar binnen in hem was een verschrikkelijke leegte [...]."

"Was hij alleen, of las hij, dan was het nog erger, al zijn geestelijke activiteit bleef soms in één activiteit besloten [...]."

"Ik begrijp het niet. Die paar woorden vernielen mijn wereld."

[Talieh · Rating 4 out of 5]

این داستان از سه جنبه جالب بود:

اول این که این داستان در واقع داستان تقریبا واقعی اتفاقاتیه که تو روزای آخر هوشیاری نویسنده ای به نام لنس اتفاق افتاده. لنس نویسنده ای بوده که زیر سایه ی دوست و در عین حال دشمنش، گوته، و البته عدم حمایت های خانواده و اجتماعش، نتونسته به موفقیتی که باید، دست پیدا کنه. در نهایت مجبور میشه از خانه و خانواده و اجتماعش به دل یه روستای مذهبی پناه ببره که چندان کمکی به بهتر شدن حالش نمی کنه. جالبی این جنبه از داستان، به این علته که در کنار همه ی آدم های موفق، مثل موتسارت و گوته، همیشه کسانی هستن که حقشون خورده می شه و نمی تونن اونقدری که باید موفق بشن. این عدم موفقیت لزوما به خاطر کمبود استعداد یا توانایی نیست. قهرمان پروری جوامع، وضع اقتصادی و اجتماعی خانواده ی هنرمند و دوره ی تاریخی ای که هنرمند درش زندگی میکنه خیلی تو موفقیت یا عدم موفقیتش تاثیر داره. هنرمندایی مثل گوته یا موتسارت، بخش اعظمی از موفقیتشون رو مدیون جایگاه اجتماعی خانواده هاشون هستن. در حالی که کسایی مثل لنس، علی رغم استعدادشون ممکنه به خاطر فرهنگ خانواده و سطح اجتماعیشون نتونن اونقدری که باید بدرخشن...

جنبه ی دوم داستان که به نظر من جالب ترین بخش داستان هم بود رویکرد خود بوشنر به عنوان یه نویسنده ست. اغلب مردم، به خصوص مردم زمان بوشنر، این تمایل ناخودآگاه رو داشته اند و دارند که افرادی که تعادل روانیشون رو از دست می دن رو از جامعه جدا کنند و باهاشون مثل مجرم ها و معتادها رفتار کنن. در حالی که نویسنده ی این داستان برخلاف این روند کلی حرکت می کنه و خواننده رو یک راست می بره به درون مغز کسی که در حال رسیدن به جنون هست. برای تمام رفتارای به ظاهر جنون آمیز لنس، دلیلی منطقی میاره تا حدی که خواننده می تونه حتی این رفتارها رو درک کنه و مشابهش رو توی زندگی خودش هم جستجو کنه. رفتارایی که شاید به ظاهر و از بیرون کاملا جنون آمیز و حتی ترسناک به نظر برسن. این رویکرد نویسنده به نظر من کاملا رادیکال و جالب توجهه. احساس همذات پنداری با یک فرد جنون زده، چیزی نیست که تو جامعه ی اون زمان زیاد به چشم بخوره. حتی الان هم با وجود این که "دیوانگی" و "جنون" بیشتر برای مردم قابل درکه، این نگاه از نزدیک به این پدیده ها و درکشون، هنوز هم جالب و جدید به نظر می رسه... این جنبه ی داستان باعث شد احترام خاصی در من نسبت به بوشنر به وجود بیاد و واقعا علاقمندم بقیه ی داستان هاش رو هم بخونم تا بیشتر با نگاهش به دنیا آشنا بشم....

سومین جنبه ی جالب این داستان، علت جنون لنس بود... لنس انسانیه که عمیقا به این معتقده که: "تو باید هر انسانی را دوست داشته باشی، تا بتوانی به سرشت باطنی او راه پیدا کنی، و هیچ کدامشان نباید در چشم تو آن قدر ناچیز و زشت بیایند که نخواهی نگاهشان کنی. در آن صورت است که از عهده ی فهمشان بر می آیی. آن پیش پا افتاده ترین و ناچیزترین چهره هم یک تاثیر بسیار عمیق به جا می گذارد، عمیق تر از حس صرف زیبایی. و تو می توانی بگذاری شخصیت ها خودشان به تجلی در بیایند بدون اینکه از بیرون، آن جایی که در زندگی جز با پویش عضله و تپش نبض روبرو نمی شوی، چیزی از خودت اضافه کنی". این در حالیه که خود لنس، از چنین نگاهی به خودش محرومه. بزرگ ترین رنج و عذاب لنس، عذاب دیده نشدن و عذاب تنهاییه. عذابی که باعث شده تمام وجودش زخمی باشه، و از نظر اون کل بشریت هم مثل خودش زخمیه... در نهایت همین سنگینی بار تنهاییه که باعث می شه حس کنه که بی تفاوتی، مثل یک هیولا دائما در تعقیبشه و به هر دری بزنه تا بلکه بتونه از این بی تفاوتی فرار کنه: به خودش آسیب بزنه، با خودش بلند بلند صحبت کنه، داخل آب سرد بپره و کارای دیگه ای بکنه که ما به عنوان رفتار "دیوانه"ها میشناسیمشون. در نهایت با نادیده گرفته شدن از طرف آخرین فردی که ممکن بود تنهایی لنس رو اندکی کمتر کنه، می بینیم که این بی تفاوتی پیروز میشه و دیگه اون موقست که می تونیم تمام و کمال مطمئن باشیم که به دام جنون یا همون بی تفاوتی مطلق، گرفتار شده...

[Mandel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lenz and Woyzeck (Büchner's most well-known play) must, I think, be read together. Both are, despite having been written in the early 19th century, stunningly modern treatments of mental illness. But while Woyzeck depicts a man's descent into murderous psychosis, Lenz depicts another side of mental illness: suicidal depression.

In terms of its plot, it's a very simple tale: that of a man who finds a respite from madness in a peaceful country village, only to discover that this respite can't be sustained. Büchner's Lenz (like the historical Jacob Lenz) is a brilliant young writer tormented by mental illness. He lives in a constant state of anxious itineracy, wandering aimlessly through Europe in perpetual flight from the voices and delusional states that oppress him. He makes his way to the idyllic valley of Steintal, where he meets the pastor and mystic Jean Frédéric Oberlin, who takes him in. Lenz finds peace in the company of the compassionate and sagely Oberlin, but can only hold on to this peace for a very brief time.

Büchner's depiction of Lenz's mental torments, and of the depth of Oberlin's compassion, are incredibly moving for so brief (and, it should be noted, incomplete) a piece of writing. I can see why people regard Büchner's work as a precursor of modernism. Without saying too much, I was struck by how the ending of Lenz prefigures the legendary final few lines of Beckett's The Unnamable - so much so that I wonder whether Beckett had Büchner in mind when writing them. Now, having read all of Büchner's small body of literary writing, I'm left to wonder (as I'm sure many people have before me) what he might have accomplished had he not tragically fallen ill and died so young.

Lastly, I would recommend that if you read Lenz, you remember that a chunk of it - no one really knows how much - is missing near the end. So, to get a sense for the gap in the narrative, you will benefit greatly from reading the brief excerpts of Oberlin's diary (which was Büchner's primary source) recounting the events that took place in the gap. You can find these, for example, in the Norton critical edition of Büchner entitled Georg Büchner: The Major Works. It's only a few pages.

[Roberto · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful mind

Lenz è un racconto incompiuto scritto nel 1839 da Büchner all'età di ventidue anni.

Büchner parla del drammaturgo Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz prendendo spunto da un manoscritto del pastore Oberlin, che lo ospitò per un breve periodo.

Un racconto angosciante, scritto con frasi molto brevi, concitate, spezzate, mescolate con altre lunghe e contorte. Un modo di scrivere che descrive con estrema efficacia la psicosi dell'uomo, la sua confusione, il suo affanno, il suo tormento, la sua spasmodica ricerca di una ragione per vivere.
Di giorno Lenz riesce a trovare un po' di pace e di equilibrio, ma di notte viene attanagliato dalla disperazione più profonda, che lo costringe a cercare rifugio in Dio oppure a gettarsi con furia nella fontana di acqua gelata o a procurarsi dolore fisico pur di scacciare i pensieri, i sogni e le paure che lo devastano.

"Verso sera gli calò addosso una paura straordinaria"

Poche pagine, ma in grado di trasmetterci un'ansia sconfinata, il dolore di una persona che non trova giustificazione nella sua stessa esistenza.

"Sempre salire, lottare e gettar via per l'eternità tutto quello che offre l'attimo, e privarsi sempre di qualcosa per godere poi chissà quando"

Il vuoto, il freddo, la disperazione, la pazzia, che lentamente si trasforma in una pressoché totale indifferenza senza speranza.

Incredibile la figura di Georg Büchner, che ha scritto capolavori letterari (uno su tutti Woyzek/Wozzek, poi divenuta pure opera lirica) di prima grandezza con un linguaggio moderno, visionario e decisamente innovativo.
Difficile credere che buona parte delle sensazioni così ben descritte nei suoi libri non fossero da lui vissute nella vita di tutti giorni e quindi ben presenti nella sua mente.
Genio e follia? Chissà cosa sarebbe riuscito a scrivere se solo il tifo non lo avesse ucciso a soli 24 anni...

[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An early example of the blending of fiction and non-fiction in this novelization of German playwright Jakob Lenz. Focusing only on a short period of Lenz's life, it shows his slow descent into madness, but notably leaves out all other context in terms of what led up to any of this, and what happens afterwards. The effect is strange, though I can't put it into words why. The prose is very interesting also. There is a quality to it, where the kind of depression Lenz was going through seeps down into the descriptions (even though it is narrated in third person). It's very subtle, but it seems like these landscapes should be somehow more energetic, more colorful than they are described here. Or maybe that's not it... Maybe they are beautiful, but there is a certain distance in the voice, as if to say "what is it to me if it's beautiful?" Maybe that isn't it either, but I liked this je ne sais quoi-lity of the prose a lot.

One has to love mankind in order to penetrate into the unique existence of each being, nobody can be too humble, too ugly, only then can you understand them; the most insignificant face makes a deeper impression than the mere sensation of beauty and one can allow the figures to emerge without copying anything into them from the outside where no life, no muscle, no pulse surges or swells. p. 33

Overall though, I admired the book more than I was truly thrilled by it. This beautiful Archipalego edition includes 3 secondary texts: Oberlin's journals (which Buchner bases many of his facts on, to the point of copying some sections word for word), Goethe's short account of Lenz (which is unfairly tainted by personal bias and animosity) and the translator's afterword (which was very helpful, especially towards the end, for making heads or tails of this book).

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this short story because of my Deleuze-Guattari Project. Büchner was a writer, philosopher and doctor who died very young, but in his short life wrote a few important pieces, so important, that the germans have a literature prize which bears his name.
This is the story of Lenzen, a sensible human being living in a village in the Alps. Büchner does a great job describing Lenz's madness, or actually the few days / weeks preceding a full-blow fit of it. I must say, I have never read a novelist, describing madness which such accuracy.

The story is short and very condensed and the fluid phrases are read with ease. You have priceless descriptions of mountainous nature. Amidst this nature the terrible torment of Lenz's mind unfolds.

I was somehow fascinated from Dostojevski's description of madness in the The Double (1846). I had to change my mind after reading Büchner's story (1835). Büchner has some attributes in his advantage: more accuracy without turning his story into a medical report, more empathy to his character, a rounded story. This all embedded in picturesque and vivid natural depictions.

Einst saß er neben Oberlin, die Katze lag gegenüber auf einem Stuhl, plötzlich wurden seine Augen starr, er hielt sie unverrückt auf das Tier gerichtet, dann glitt er langsam den Stuhl herunter, die Katze ebenfalls, sie war wie bezaubert von seinem Blick, sie geriet in ungeheure Angst, sie sträubte sich scheu, Lenz mit den nämlichen Tönen, mit fürchterlich entstelltem Gesicht, wie in Verzweiflung stürzten Beide auf einander los, da endlich erhob sich Madame Oberlin, um sie zu trennen.

[Lea · Rating 1 out of 5]

Als jemand, der Woyzeck liebte und auch Leonce und Lena verschlungen hat (unterm Tisch im Deutschunterricht...), hatte ich mich sehr auf Lenz gefreut. Und war bitter enttäuscht.

Ich glaub ich kann das Ganze zusammenfassen mit:

Ihm war, als ob.... ihm ging das Herz auf... Er fühlte sich, als ob... Er ging ins Gebirge... Es war ein schreckliches Schrecken, das ihn erschreckte... Die Holländer malen besser... Nur Shakespeare ist was wert... Was er fühlte war unbeschreiblich (eine lange Beschreibung der Gefühle folgt, inbesondere: schrecklich und erschreckend)... Gott, Gott, Gott... mit einem Schlag Atheist!... Oh, diese Frau (welche Frau überhaupt?),... Wahn, Wahn, Wahn... gähnende Langweile.

[Béla Malina · Rating 3 out of 5]

…es war die Kluft unrettbaren Wahnsinns, eines Wahnsinns durch die Ewigkeit.

…”Hören sie denn nicht die entsetzliche Stimme, die um den ganzen Horizont schreit, und die man gewöhnlich die Stille heißt(…)”

[Marco Innamorati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un autore di ispirazione romantica descrive con grande verosimiglianza un attacco psicotico. Il personaggio di cui parla è uno scrittore del tardo settecento, Jakob Lenz, esponente dello Sturm und Drang. Un pastore protestante che lo conobbe, di nome Oberlin, lasciò in un diario nel quale è descritto l’incontro con Lenz e i sintomi che aveva mostrato. Non ho quindi idea di quanto Büchner abbia tratto da Oberlin e quanto abbia creato di suo nella descrizione. Però il risultato è letterariamente notevole. Ecco un passo: “Nel suo petto era il canto trionfale dell’inferno. Il vento risonava come una canzone di titani, gli pareva di poter serrare un pugno enorme contro il cielo e tirare giù Dio e trascinarlo fra le sue nubi...”

[Márcio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pequeno livro que Georg Büchner deixou inacabado, na verdade, um fragmento que se tornou uma "novella", Lenz narra um episódio específico da vida do autor Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz, cujas peças foram consideradas escandalosas pelos temas que tratou, sempre demonstrando revolta contra todas as forças opressoras da sociedade.

Em 1776, Lenz encontra-se com Goethe em Weimar, mas esse, de início amigável, dá-lhe as costas e consegue sua expulsão dali. Já em 1777, tem a notícia da morte de sua irmã Cornélia, que o abala, e posteriormente resulta em episódios de esquizofrenia. Ao visitar Christopher Kaufmann em janeiro de 1778, esse o envia à Alsácia para encontrar o vicário de Waldbach (Waldersbach), Johann Friedrich Oberlin. E é esse episódio que dá início ao pequeno livro.

Lenz sofre constantes ataques, tem dificuldade de lidar com o "barulho" causado pelo silêncio, crê-se salvador de almas, em outros momentos pensa que sua alma está totalmente perdida. Oberlin e sua esposa fazem o possível, e às vezes o impossível para cuidar de Lenz.

E pelas estradas da Alsácia seguiu Lenz, entre a razão e a loucura. Praticamente esquecido depois de sua morte, veio a ser recuperado apenas no século XX por Bertolt Brecht.

Quando em um entrevista Benjamin Labatut foi perguntado sobre a razão e a loucura em referência ao seu livro A pedra da loucura (La piedra de la locura), além de citar Lenz, argumentou também que a loucura é uma tragédia pessoal e familiar, o pior destino possível; porém, nos apresenta um sentido mais amplo do mundo. O transbordar de nossa capacidade criativa, doloroso para o indivíduo, pode ser fértil para a humanidade.

E, de fato, são alguns epsídios vividos por Lenz em seus estados alterados que dão toda a força à narrativa de Büchner, em algums momentos, são de intensa poesia.

[Tarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man merkt dieser erzählung an, dass sie nicht abgeschlossen ist: viele tolle ansätze, gerade in der beschreibung der berglandschaft und in der art und weise, wie es büchbner auf sprachlicher ebene gelingt, lenz' getriebenheit und krankheit darzustellen. dagegen sind einige szenen noch sehr skizzenhaft oder wirken überhastet. wie bei kafkas prozess wünscht man sich auch hier, der autor hätte noch ein wenig länger gehabt, noch die gelegenheit gehabt, den text zu vollenden.
der reclamausgabe ist neben der fragmentarischen erzählung noch der hessische landbote beigegeben, in dem sich deutlich die empörung und produktive wut des politischen menschen büchner abzeichnet.

[Hanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Morgen Lektürefrage in der Uni dazu…yay 🥲

[Troy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came to Büchner through Deleuze. Deleuze's Lenz is in a process of schizophrenic becoming. Büchner's Lenz is a playwright who escapes into the mountains, walking, walking, walking, and lost in rapture at the sublimity of it all. Lenz wanders to a priest's house and, Lenz, well, Lenz is in the process of what we might call "losing it." That is, if "it" is his ability to operate in the world; his ability to distinguish between reality and "non-reality." If that is "it," then "it" is what Lenz is losing. "It," the it that he is losing, is his tenuous grasp on reality. But we, the reader, are in Lenz's skin. So we lose it with him and also feel the rapture of breaking conventions and mis-seeing the world and reality. And what is reality? Gossamer thin, ruptured by the roaring silence on the mountains.

And it's short. The novella; not the insanity (which is short in words). A quick read for walking.

I've been reading books on people who go insane. Why? I don't know. I hope it's not a reflection! I've been reading books that are fake history (but not historical fiction, that falsely bound genre). Why? I don't know. Surely it's not a reflection. Now I want to read Lenz, the playwright.

And Deleuze and Guattari's take is good but Lenz does not become-stone. Not really. Not that that makes sense to anyone who hasn't read D&G. Not that it matters.

If you want to fall into a decent example of third person insanity; an example backed up by "reality;" an example that is the "inception of European modernist prose" (gag) then read this. Read this.

[Liese Boeyé]

Heel verwarrend om te lezen. Das ook de bedoeling waarschijnlijk want het hoofdpersonage maakt een psychose door. Interessant om te zien dat mensen in de 19de eeuw op dezelfde manier reageerden op psychische ziektes. Gast weet niet meer wat echt gebeurd is en wat niet en hij moet maar an die Arbeit gehen

[Fabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

liebe ja Woyzeck, hatte also hohe Erwartungen, die aber alle erfüllt worden sind. Der Einstieg zwischen realitätsnahen Naturschilderungen und subjektivem Realitätsverlust fand ich sehr gelungen. Spannend fand ich auch den kurzen Monolog über realistische statt idealistische Literatur, die auch stark an Woyzeck erinnert hat und echt sehr clever am Ende zurückkommt, in dem der Lenz' Wahnsinn als reiner Idealismus beschrieben wird.
Am schönsten fand ich die Formulierung "er war sich selbst ein Traum"

[Barbara Mazzotta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lenz è il libro più bello che io abbia mai letto, probabilmente. L'accuratezza e la empatia con cui Georg Büchner riesce a descrivere la follia, la poetica di Lenz e la sua, sono a dir poco straordinarie.

Sembra di essere lì, a sentire il vuoto e a volerne uscire, poi a rinunciare, a pensare alla religione e lasciarsi pervadere, per poi essere atei e bestemmiare il momento subito seguente. Siamo portatori di verità universali, ma poi 'ci arrendiamo al peso della vita'.

[Philippe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gripping psychological portrait on a tightrope between

"Das All war für ihn in Wunden"
('For him, the universe was in wounds')

and

"Ich verlange in allem Leben, Möglichkeit des Daseins, und dann ist's gut ..."
('I demand life, the possibility of existence, in everything and then it's all right ...').

[Alessandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro piccolo ma denso e intenso come pochi. Ho trovato difficile leggerlo per questo motivo, ogni pagina portava con sé un carico emotivo enorme che richiedeva tempo e spazio per essere metabolizzato. Davvero molto bello.

[Adam Dalva · Rating 4 out of 5]

This edition is critical - a bizarre hybrid of found text, early modernism, and medical writing. To see how Buchner drew from his source material is satisfying.