Councillor Krespel

Die Serapionsbrüder #2

by E.T.A. Hoffmann

He described, with the bitterest irony, the quite peculiar ingenuity with which Signora Angela began, as soon as she was his wife, to torment and torture him. All the selfishness, caprice, and obstinacy of all the prima donnas on earth rolled into one were, so Krespel considered, incorporated in Angela's little body.

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, German Literature, Fiction, Horror, Read For School, Audiobook

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1818

About the author

Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann, better known by his pen name E. T. A. Hoffmann (Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann), was a German Romantic author of fantasy and horror, a jurist, composer, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist. His stories form the basis of Jacques Offenbach's famous opera The Tales of Hoffmann, in which Hoffman appears (heavily fictionalized) as the hero. He is also the author of the novella The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, on which the famous ballet The Nutcracker is based. The ballet Coppélia is based on two other stories that Hoffmann wrote, while Schumann's Kreisleriana is based on Hoffmann's character Johannes Kreisler.

Hoffmann's stories were very influential during the 19th century, and he is one of the major authors of the Romantic movement.

Reviews

[Manybooks]

So I personally would not generally be calling E.T.A. Hoffmann’s 1818 novella Rat Krespel (Councillor Krespel) a fairy tale, or rather I should say a Kunstmärchen. For while Rat Krespel certainly includes obvious aspects of the exotic and the strangely uncanny (including characters like Rat Krespel where one is not ever really sure if he is positive or in fact somewhat of a villain), there is in my opinion also nothing really and truly fairy tale like with regard to E.T.A. Hoffmann’s printed words, but rather that the creepiness of Rat Krespel is more what I would call an exaggerated sense of reality, with much exoticism and with music being portrayed and described by Hoffmann as something not only beautiful but also as something potentially lethal for certain individuals who are somehow organically predisposed to not only overdo it with their music but also will if not severely reigned in carry on with their singing etc. until collapse, until death.

Now personally, emotionally and as someone who loves music and equally totally admires the amount of hard work that tends to go into a musical career, I have always found Rat Krespel (since I first read it for university) and the entire scenario of Antonie basically being described as consumptively singing herself to death not really all that much to my reading tastes. Because yes indeed, that music in Rat Krespel basically represents an entity of always present potential decadence, while this does, I guess, make for an engagingly atmospheric and wrought with emotional pain storyline, it also leaves a very bitter taste behind for me, as there is most definitely a sense of music being rather destructive and often even downright dangerous featured in Rat Krespel and also an often distinctly negative attitude towards all things musical and artistic being shown (not to the point of music being seen by E.T.A. Hoffmann as something totally unacceptable but most definitely a point of view that any kind of even mildly excessive love for music presenting a potential disaster and there definitely needing to be major limits imposed lest music take over and destroy with its inherent internal decadence).

And while Rat Krespel does not go so far as to insinuate that Antonie has in fact been deliberately killed with music (as is certainly the case in one of the episodes of Jacques Offenbach’s opera The Tales of Hoffmann where the scenario based on Rat Krespel has clearly been made to appear as murder by musical decadence), I still do not feel all that comfortable with E.T.A. Hoffmann’s narrative, how negatively music is often approached and how Antonie in particular is depicted like such a delicate and decadent flower almost meant to die because of her talents and her love of and for singing.

[Tom]

ALTERNATE TITLE: COUNCILLOR KRESPEL

Another story about a violinist - this time a local eccentric who builds a bizarre house on the outskirts of town by hiring a crew of builders and without any remote planning, gets them to assemble his house as he directs them - knocking doors and windows through - seemingly at whim. He spends his time sequestered away dismantling antique violins and fashioning small sculptural toys and curios from animal bones. His companion is a beautiful and accomplished young woman with an extraordinary voice, who he absolutely forbids to sing.

Hoffmann is absorbed with the bizarre, yet unlike Lovecraft, his version of the fantastic focuses not on lurking unearthly terrors and malevolent entities, and instead on the grotesque and downright weird in everyday life. He is fascinated by human behaviour, the inevitability of fate, and the internal battles we all struggle with - the odd compulsions and habits his characters have informs the narrative of his stories.

[Quirkyreader]

This is one of Hoffman's great creepers.

[Domizia]

ma chi è che fa erigere i muri di una casa senza finestre per poi aggiungerle in seguito? dai, non prendiamoci in giro!

[Γιώργος Πισίνας]

Ιδιαίτερη γλώσσα, αρχικά την βρήκα ελαφρώς ενοχλητική, όμως στη συνέχεια, το ύφος της έδεσε με έναν περίεργο τρόπο με τον βασικό χαρακτήρα του έργου και υποστήριζε τον αλλοπρόσαλλο χαρακτήρα του. Εν τέλει, νομίζω πως εκείνο το οποίο με ξένιζε στο κείμενο αποτέλεσε στολίδι με τέτοιον τρόπο που οποιαδήποτε διαφορετική απόδοση θα υπολείπονταν αυτής που διάβασα.
Το κείμενο του αριστουργηματικού συγγραφέα συνδέει με έναν υπέροχο τρόπο, την τρέλα με την μουσική και το μυστήριο, τις απαγορεύσεις και τις απολαύσεις.

[Arka Chakraborty]

I just discovered Hoffmann...and he's good! This unfolds like a less slapstick version of a Charles Chaplin film, slowly ascending into the weird territory, and finally descends into realms of sadness. I liked how the character of Krespel was drawn, a strange strange man! This story is not as popular as some of his other works like "The Sandman" etc, but still has enough potential to grab the attention of the readers. If you have not read Hoffmann, I request you to give this man a try. You will not be dissapointed.

[max theodore]

literally who in history enjoyed this enough to make me have to read it in class. cool concept i guess but this is told so boringly. this is a skeleton ETA this is bones

[Vichy]

Ατμοσφαιρικό και απόκοσμο. Η αγωνία του πατέρα για την κόρη του με ένα μυστικό που μόνο οι δυο τους ξέρουν και εξηγεί την αλλοπρόσαλλη συμπεριφορά τους μόνο θλιβερή γεύση σου αφήνει...

[Maeva]

J'avais étudié Le violon de Crémone et Les mines de Falun à l'époque du collège mais je n'en avais presque aucun souvenir. S'il y a un type de lecture obligatoire que j'aimais, c'était les contes et les nouvelles fantastiques. Celui-ci reste un peu flou dans ma tête et mériterait une relecture parce que je n'ai pas été transportée ni par le fantastique ni par le réaliste... Ça m'a rappelé des souvenirs mais il est loin de faire partie de mes favoris. (Une relecture de mes anciens petits préférés est probablement à venir)

[Lily Zitko]

Definitely my not my favourite Hoffmann tale, but amazing nonetheless. Hoffmann’s eerie settings and odd characters and situations add to the uncanny atmosphere. No one writes as strange as Hoffmann!

[Ann]

So far I've these so-called Gothic stories to be under whelming. People gone mad, others oppressed by spirits. Very thin plots on the whole. Stick with Poe or Stoker. Those at least are at the height of the genre.

[Evi Voulgaraki]

Μια πολύ ιδιαίτερη αλλά σπάνιας ποιότητας αφήγηση και γραφή που άπτεται της καλλιτεχνικής δημιουργίας και ειδικότερα της μουσικής. Μια ωραία και ενδιαφέρουσα ιστορία.

[Alexielle Alexielle]

Mon édition contient en fait trois "contes" (sous titre de ce recueil) :
- Le Violon de Crémone
- La Vision
- L'homme au sable.
Les deux premiers se ressemblent étrangement. Un personnage féminin intrigue fortement le narrateur, un homme, à cause du comportement étrange de son entourage à son encontre. Charge pour lui d'éclaircir le mystère. Si le premier m'a plu, le second m'a semblé répétitif dans le schéma de l'intrigue, qui est le même. Je pensais également avoir affaire à une histoire révélant un élément fantastique voire effrayant et ce n'est pas le cas ou à peine notamment dans le second. Le troisième conte, L'homme au sable, répond davantage à cette attente, plongeant le lecteur dans un récit terrifiant et haletant avec la figure menaçante de cet homme au sable, reflet de nos frayeurs enfantines qui prend chair et hante Nathanaël depuis son plus jeune âge. Il m'a plus tenu en haleine même si j'ai aussi beaucoup d'affection pour l'histoire du conseiller Krespel et Antonia, qui a su m'émouvoir, un sentiment que je ne m'attendais pas à ressentir dans un tel recueil...

[Lord Nicolas]

J'avais étudié Le violon de Crémone (aux côtés des Mines de Falun) au collège, mais je n'en gardais quasiment aucun souvenir. Pourtant, s'il y avait bien un genre de lectures obligatoires qui me plaisait à l'époque, c'était les contes et les nouvelles fantastiques.

Sans être déplaisant, ce récit reste un peu flou pour moi : je n'ai pas vraiment été transporté, ni par la dimension fantastique, ni par le cadre réaliste. C'est une lecture qui rappelle des souvenirs de classe et replonge dans une certaine nostalgie, mais le texte reste loin de figurer parmi mes favoris d'Hoffmann. Ça me donne en tout cas envie de relire mes anciens petits préférés du genre !

[Otto]

Noch eine Musikerzählung des Multitalents Hoffmann. Diesmal geht es um einen Violinliebhaber, einen schrulligen Rat (Schulrat ist wohl gemeint), der im Geheimen eine Tochter hat, die wunderschön singt, daran aber aufgrund einer seltsamen Krankheit (ja die Genies, alle blutleer zu der Zeit) durch Singen sterben wird. Darum muss das Singen verhindert werden, also auch die Beziehung zu einem Komponisten.
Ein typischer (?) Hoffmann bzw. ein Erzählkind seiner Zeit: Der Alte, der auf die schöne Junge schauen muss, sie wie einen Augapfel hütet, aber (Spoiler!) es hilft ja dann doch nichts.

[Vanessa Yeazel]

(3.5 stars) This was definitely really interesting and unsettling. I enjoyed the musical elements of it. I didn't enjoy it as much as some other novellas I've had to read for this particular class, but it was still enjoyable.

[Mae]

German classics aren’t for me (thank you to my university teacher for making us read that)

[Jack Kavanagh]

Just a normal day as a Bavarian German

[Elena]

Wir haben die Handlung Mittwoch schon besprochen & ich hab’s trotzdem nicht gecheckt 🫡

[Ευθυμία Δεσποτάκη]

Όμορφα παλιακό διήγημα, έντονα συναισθηματικό. Εμπνευσμένη μετάφραση.

[Bine]

Typisch E.T.A. Hoffmann <3 Nicht so toll wie "Der Sandmann", aber nah dran <3

[Nickolas B.]

Άλλη μια αγαπημένη ιστορία από τον μεγάλο παραμυθά ΕΤΑ Χόφμαν!