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Fortunatus.
Hard to find
- GenresFiction
358 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1490
3 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Anonymous
791k books3,371 followersBooks can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:
* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author
Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.
See also: Anonymous
* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author
Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.
See also: Anonymous
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 22, 2014
Written in Early New High German (Frühmittelhochdeutsch), "Fortunatus" is considered the "first german novel", meaning that the story is not an interpretation of a foreign tale, but an entirely new creation by the (anonymus) author. Nontheless it includes motifs from fairy tales, like a magical hat and a sack of money that never empties.
The protagonist is the son of a poor family, who decides to travel the world in order to gain wealth. He encounters a fairy granting him a wish. Fortunatus (not only the novel's title, but also the protagonist's name) chooses wealth over wisdom and gets a moneybag that never empties. This event changes his life completely. He travels to the end of the known world, marries the daughter of a noble man and has two sons with her. His life seems to be perfect, but he is always in danger. He keeps his magical moneybag a secret, even from his family. And he is constantly endangered by the greed of other people and their schemes... he learns to trust nobody.
After his death, the novel purues the life of Fortunatus' sons.
Will they manage to achieve happiness beyond accumulated wealth?
The novel never answers that question. It implies, but never judges its characters. They remain complex and also questionable in their actions. In this regard, it really is a "modern novel".
"Money" is the ongoing theme of the novel. It is situated in the late 15th century, where the Middle-Ages end and the Modern Ages begin. It is a time of radical changes within society. Nobility declines and rich merchant families gain more and more power. Money changes the way people interact with each other. But still, ancestry remians important, if you want to gain influence and social prestige. Fortunatus lacks influential parents. Even all his money cannot compensate that.
Another interesting topic of the novel is "travelling". In the 15th century, the world has grown larger and travelling to the borders of the known world encountering foreign cultures is a whole new experience. The cultural differences of Orient and Occident become a major topic. The novel also deals with this new world view.
I really enjoyed reading "Fortunatus". Early New High German is not an easy read, even for a native speaker, like me. But after some pages, it gets better and even amuses you with its ancient expressions, that resemble certain german dialects. The author is suspected to be form the area of Nuremberg. If you are from Southern Germany, you will recognise many words originating from there.
The humor is rather bawdy, like in a lot of medieval tales. I thought it was funny. ;-)
If you want to learn about how people lived in the late 15th century Europe and about the problems in society of that age. Read it!!
"Fortunatus" is a forgotten classic of German Literature. It was a bestseller for hundreds of years.
Goethe thought is was way too old-fashioned for his time and complained about people still reading it. :-D
Ignore Goethe, read this book!
The protagonist is the son of a poor family, who decides to travel the world in order to gain wealth. He encounters a fairy granting him a wish. Fortunatus (not only the novel's title, but also the protagonist's name) chooses wealth over wisdom and gets a moneybag that never empties. This event changes his life completely. He travels to the end of the known world, marries the daughter of a noble man and has two sons with her. His life seems to be perfect, but he is always in danger. He keeps his magical moneybag a secret, even from his family. And he is constantly endangered by the greed of other people and their schemes... he learns to trust nobody.
After his death, the novel purues the life of Fortunatus' sons.
Will they manage to achieve happiness beyond accumulated wealth?
The novel never answers that question. It implies, but never judges its characters. They remain complex and also questionable in their actions. In this regard, it really is a "modern novel".
"Money" is the ongoing theme of the novel. It is situated in the late 15th century, where the Middle-Ages end and the Modern Ages begin. It is a time of radical changes within society. Nobility declines and rich merchant families gain more and more power. Money changes the way people interact with each other. But still, ancestry remians important, if you want to gain influence and social prestige. Fortunatus lacks influential parents. Even all his money cannot compensate that.
Another interesting topic of the novel is "travelling". In the 15th century, the world has grown larger and travelling to the borders of the known world encountering foreign cultures is a whole new experience. The cultural differences of Orient and Occident become a major topic. The novel also deals with this new world view.
I really enjoyed reading "Fortunatus". Early New High German is not an easy read, even for a native speaker, like me. But after some pages, it gets better and even amuses you with its ancient expressions, that resemble certain german dialects. The author is suspected to be form the area of Nuremberg. If you are from Southern Germany, you will recognise many words originating from there.
The humor is rather bawdy, like in a lot of medieval tales. I thought it was funny. ;-)
If you want to learn about how people lived in the late 15th century Europe and about the problems in society of that age. Read it!!
"Fortunatus" is a forgotten classic of German Literature. It was a bestseller for hundreds of years.
Goethe thought is was way too old-fashioned for his time and complained about people still reading it. :-D
Ignore Goethe, read this book!
February 28, 2024
Actual rating: 1.5
January 2, 2019
A short novel with a setting more realistic than most fables or fairy tales, Fortunatus is essentially a speculative fantasy that asks what might follow from being given a magical purse that always has money in it. Predictably, it explores both the benefits and the dangers of ostentatious displays of wealth. But then the hero also steals a magical hat from the Mamluk sultan in Cairo that allows him to teleport anywhere he likes, and the story soon shifts to his son's adventures across Europe, including an entanglement with an English princess and a weird magical phenonmenon in Ireland. So while the perils of greed and flashiness are always lurking around as obvious morals to the story, it's also complicated in unexpected ways. Some time later, I still find myself thinking about it. Incidentally, according to the most recent translation, the publication date is actually 1509, although that edition evidently drew on earlier sources.
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October 30, 2021Der erste Kaufmannsroman der Welt.
Fürs Unternemertum
Fürs Unternemertum
November 20, 2023
For uni
April 24, 2025
Viel zu lang, aber liegt natürlich auch daran, dass ich die Sprache nicht flüssig lesen kann. Die Story wiederholt sich sehr.
March 25, 2014
A fun old pamphlet reprinted in this anthology.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews