Die Geisterhand: Unheimliche Geschichten

by Selma Lagerlöf, Marie Franzos (Translator)

Ellen, eine junge Frau, die bei ihren Tanten lebt, will gerade einen Brief an ihren Verlobten schreiben, als etwas Unheimliches, Unbegreifliches geschieht, das ihr Leben von Grund auf ändern wird …

Selma Lagerlöf (1858–1940) ist vor allem bekannt für ihr Buch über die Wunderbare Reise des kleinen Nils Holgersson zu den Wildgänsen. In den Erzählungen des vorliegenden Bandes – Die Geisterhand, Die Rache bleibt nicht aus, Eine Geschichte aus Hallstanäs und Vineta – zeigt sie, dass sie Leserinnen und Leser auch mit unheimlichen Geschichten zu fesseln vermag.

Genres: Classics

120 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 6, 2024

About the author

Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (1858-1940) was a Swedish author. In 1909 she became the first woman to ever receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, "in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings". She later also became the first female member of the Swedish Academy.

Born in the forested countryside of Sweden she was told many of the classic Swedish fairytales, which she would later use as inspiration in her magic realist writings. Since she for some of her early years had problems with her legs (she was born with a faulty hip) she would also spend a lot of time reading books such as the Bible.

As a young woman she was a teacher in the southern parts of Sweden for ten years before her first novel Gösta Berling's Saga was published. As her writer career progressed she would keep up a correspondance with some of her former female collegues for almost her entire life.

Lagerlöf never married and was almost certainly a lesbian (she never officially stated that she was, but most later researchers believe this to be the case). For many years her constant companion was fellow writer Sophie Elkan, with whom she traveled to Italy and the Middle East. Her visit to Palestine and a colony of Christians there, would inspire her to write Jerusalem, her story of Swedish farmers converting into a evangelical Christian group and travelling to "The American Colony" in Jerusalem.

Lagerlöf was involved in both women issues as well as politics. She would among other things help the Jewish writer Nelly Sachs to come to Sweden and donated her Nobel medal to the Finnish war effort against the Soviet union.

Outside of Sweden she's perhaps most widely known for her children's book Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige (The Wonderful Adventures of Nils).

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are four stories in this collection:

-'Die Geisterhand'/'The hand of a ghost' (my translation):
This short story is innovative and, in my opinion, it is a work of phantastic literature because it straddles the line between a psychological Freudian interpretation and a supernatural one. I liked the plot, but it lacks an eerie atmosphere. However, there is a lovely humorous undertone in the doctor's narrative of the events.

-'Die Rache bleibt nicht aus'/'The revenge follows' (my translation):
It is about justice with slight supernatural elements which could also be part of a vivid imagination. Here Selma Lagerlöf's concept of the outsider is obvious. It is short, has unpredictable turns, but is not her best story in the collection. Reading it felt a bit like 'Das kalte Herz'/'The cold heart' by Hauff.

-'Eine Geschichte aus Halstanäs'/'A story from Halstanäs' (my translation):
This one is really creepy and has atmosphere🖤🖤 It is about justice too.

-'Vineta':
Here are two outsider stories mixed together when both meet each other. The supernatural vibe is there but feels a bit off, I can't connect with it. But the backstories are great as the moral of the story! The end is somehow strange like some other elements of the story, especially the relationships. It thematizes ideas like the Atlantis myth (as in 'Nils Holgerson'), dreams and prophecy.

Total: 4.0🌟

[Prusseliese · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vier Erzählungen von nett bis langweilig. Die titelgebende ist die schönste.

[Tarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gute Geschichten, weniger aufgrund des Gruselfaktors, sondern weil Lagerlöf Paranormalitäten wie selbstverständlich in einen gediegenen erzählerischen Realismus bettet. Die beste der Kurzgeschichten spielt auf einem idyllischen Landgut, weil die Hauptfigur zugleich mit Gott assoziiert wird - sie webt einen besonderen Teppich, ihren Lebens - Teppich, zugleich aber auch als Symbol für die Schriftstellerei gelesen werden kann, in der die FIguren und Handlungsstränge nach ähnlichen Prinzipien verwoben werden. Die anderen drei Erzählungen sind zwar schöne Kabinettstückchen, bieten aber neben der Inhaltsebene wenig an.

[bravegannet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bin eigentlich kein großer Fan von Gruselgeschichten aus dem 19. Jhr., aber diese haben mich interessiert weil sie von Selma Lagerlöf sind. Insgesamt eine recht gute Erfahrung, auch historisch ist es interessant. Von der Länge her ist es auch angenehm zu lesen.

[Cathrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sehr schön geschriebene Kurzgeschichten, die Magie, Unbewusstes und das Leben als solches verknüpfen