آقای شاخ

by Theodor Fontane, سعید جوزی (Translator)

آقای "شاخ" یک نجیب‌زاده و کاپیتان سواره‌نظام و دارای خانواده‌ای اشرافی است. داستان در زمانی اتفاق می‌افتد که نظامیان قدرت بیشتری پیدا کرده و علاوه بر سیاست، وارد حریم هنر و ادبیات شده‌اند. در این میان کاپیتان جوان که می‌تواند نقشی تاثیرگذار در آینده‌ی "پروس" ایفا کند درگیر روابطی عاطفی با یک مادر و دختر از خانواده‌ای اشرافی می‌شود که در نهایت باید بین زندگی سیاسی، نظامی و عاطفی خود توازن ایجاد کند. توازنی که با وجود دشمنان بسیار زیاد کاری دشوار است...

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

222 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1883

About the author

Theodor Fontane, novelist, critic, poet, and travel writer, was one of the most celebrated nineteenth-century German men of letters. He was born into a French Huguenot family in the Prussian town of Neuruppin, where his father owned a small pharmacy. His father’s gambling debts forced the family to move repeatedly, and eventually his temperamentally mismatched parents separated.

Though Fontane showed early interest in history and literature - jotting down stories in his school notebooks - he could not afford to attend university; instead he apprenticed as a pharmacist and eventually settled in Berlin. There he joined the influential literary society Tunnel über der Spree, which included among its members Theodor Storm and Gottfried Keller, and turned to writing. In 1850 Fontane’s first published books, two volumes of ballads, appeared; they would prove to be his most successful books during his lifetime. He spent the next four decades working as a critic, journalist, and war correspondent while producing some fifty works of history, travel narrative, and fiction. His early novels, the first of which was published in 1878, when Fontane was nearly sixty, concerned recent historical events.

It was not until the late 1880s that he turned to his great novels of modern society, remarkable for their psychological insight: Trials and Tribulations (1888), Irretrievable (1891), Frau Jenny Treibel (1892), and Effi Briest (1895). During his last years, Fontane returned to writing poetry, and, while recovering from a severe illness, wrote an autobiographical novel that would prove to be a late commercial success. He is buried in the French section of the Friedhof II cemetery in Berlin.

Reviews

[Olaf Gütte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein authentischer Fall vom Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts
in einer sehr interessanten Ausdrucksweise, typisch für diese Epoche.

[BJ Lillis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Were I to write a book set in New York in the 1940s, I would feel no compunction to explain, say, who Dwight Eisenhower was, why it mattered that John Steinbeck had accepted a dinner party invitation, or that Rockefeller Center is in Manhattan. So I cannot blame Theodor Fontane, writing in Germany in 1883, for assuming his audience would be able to find their footing in Napoleonic-Era Berlin—but good lord could I have used some footnotes.

And yet, for a novel that consists in large part of polite conversations about art and politics that I could barely follow, peppered with a truly irritating amount of untranslated French, A Man of Honor hit me hard. As I should have trusted from the beginning—this being a Fontane novel, after all—nothing is irrelevant in the end. As is his wont, Fontane dances around what really matters, flitting from banality to banality and showing us the facades his characters have erected around their hearts from every angle, until the existential void behind them emerges in terrifying outline. When all is said and done, as our heroine Victoire herself puts it, “a trace of the mysterious and baffling remains,” for “it is not given to us to peer into the ultimate and most deeply hidden mainsprings of action of others or even of ourselves.”

[Tijana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Većinu ocena su ovoj noveli, izgleda, davali ljudi koji su je čitali pod moranje, i to se još jednom pokazuje kao stravičan hendikep, jer je Šah fon Vutenov (od Vutenova? uf) sjajna priča u kojoj je sve cakum-pakum sklopljeno i na mestu i možete lepo da uživate i u drugom i u trećem čitanju. Fontane je brižljivo odabrao istinit, ma koliko bizaran, istorijski događaj i onda ga još brižljivije fikcionalizovao.
Sasvim u najkraćem: Ljubavnik lepe, bogate i pametne udovice zavede njenu pametnu, bogatu ali ružnu ćerku i napravi joj dete; od sramote i iz sujete, uporno odbija da se njom oženi, i kad ga na to natera njegovo kraljevsko veličanstvo, ubije se odmah posle svadbe; kraj.
E sad, Fontane je dobar pisac koji je oko te klajstovski bizarne anegdotice spleo i nekoliko odličnih psiholoških portreta, pre svega majke i ćerke koje se od početka do kraja priče vole, razumeju i poštuju, i sliku jednog društva (pruskog) pred samu njegovu pad i propast, i tihi ali zato ne manje zajedljivi humor kojim su obojena sva njegova dela. I nije jadan zaslužio da ga ljudi razvlače po srednjim školama i posle mrze do kraja života.

[♥emma ۪۪۫۫ ༄ؘ ˑ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.75/5 stars

I’m not sure how to paint an accurate depiction of this book. It essentially takes place in a Jane-Austen type of socialite, high-society setting. Think Sense and Sensibility, but with a large sprinkling of German politics and ideals. And without the happy ending we come to expect from Austen’s time. But, I don’t want to give too much away. If you have some spare time and happen to pick up this book, I hope you find it as interesting as I did.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the eve of the battle of Jena, in the salons of Frau von Carayon, officers of the Prussian army are engaged in a passionate discussion about the possibility of an alliance with Bonaparte, or fighting the French.

Handsome Schach is flirting with beautiful Frau von Carayon, but seduces her not so pretty daughter.

Schach is first fleeing his duties and misunderstands the full sense of the word honour. (Excellent final letter by Von Bülow, then war reporter, who summarises it all and offers a great development on "echte Ehre" and "falsche Ehre", and gives us perhaps the best clue, in my opinion, about Schach's choice.)

During his stay at his Herrenhaus, circled by moths and bats, we understand that Schach is on the verge of doom. Schach's tragedy and its effects on those around him, particularly on poor Victoire, may be an allegory of Prussian decline before the defeat of Jena. Many images, symbols and metaphors are foreboding for the Jenaer sunset and the end of prestigious Regiments Gensdarmes and Gardes du Corps.

Schach was another Pflichtlektüre at University but is worth reading for its historical background and the landscape description of Wuthenow by night, as a mirror of Schach's conflicting thoughts... and the letter by Von Bülow!

[arjeta · Rating 1 out of 5]

werde den scheiß nicht zuende lesen einfach nur nervig nerviges seminar nervige lektüren nervige uni boahhhh rede bitte einfach wie ein normaler mensch was soll sowas

[Marten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wie so oft, gelang es Fontane, die preußische Militärschicht - fast schon bibliografisch genau - zu porträtieren. Die Begriffe von Ehre und Fremdwahrnehmung sind sowohl für die Geschichte von Bedeutung; heutzutage aber mindestens genauso relevant. Wirklich schön.

Wenn sich Lebensumstände sehr schnell verändern und das sogar zum schlechten, dann ist es wirklich toll, wenn man wieder in eine vertraute Welt eintauchen kann - in die literarischen Welten von Theodor Fontane (danke Dario für diese GROßARTIGE gedankliche Brücke).

Danke Theo.

[Frederick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ook al dateert dit boek uit de jaren tachtig van de negentiende eeuw en speelt het verhaal zich zelfs nog vroeger af, aan de vooravond van de verloren veldslagen van Pruisen tegen Napoleon (slag bij Jena), toch weet Fontane mij van in het begin mee te slepen in deze weinig bekende novelle.
Het tragische lot van de titelheld, die verliefd op de knappe weduwe plots voor de lelijke dochter valt en daar door de strakke Pruisische maatschappij met haar valse codes van eer wordt door bespot en vervolgens tot een huwelijk gedwongen. Het lijkt een melig verhaal te worden uit een middelmatige doktersroman, maar juist dat weet Fontane te verijdelen door ironie, subtiele vooruitverwijzingen, het lot van de individuele held te spiegelen aan dat van Pruisen en een hele reeks interessante personages die allesbehalve stereotiep werken. Het is een historische roman, liefdesroman, kritische zedenschets van de Pruisische maatschappij. Het verwondert me bij Fontane ook telkens hoe makkelijk leesbaar zijn werken blijven, zeker als je ze vergelijkt met werken uit dezelfde periode, onder andere in de Nederlandstalige literatuur (Couperus).

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dieser Roman hat mir schon viel besser gefallen als "vor dem Sturm". Die meiste Zeit geht es in dem Werk um ziemlich banale Dinge bis es zum Schluss zur Tragödie kommt. Das Ende von Preußen hat in diesem Fall auch das Ende von Ehre bedeutet..

[Graziano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superato lo scoglio dei primi sette capitoli, il resto del racconto prende la giusta piega.

C'è una sola cosa per cui noi donne viviamo: viviamo per accappararci un cuore, ma con qual mezzo ce lo accappariamo, è indifferente.
(pagine 66 e 67)

In fondo, nulla da eccepire.

Non si sarà mica ritirato nel suo vecchio castello sul lago (di cui Nostitz asseriva di recente ch'è per metà tarlato e per metà romantico) senza essersi precedentemente congedato da lei?
(pagina 110)

Per metà tarlato e per metà romantico: Schach von Wuthenow finisce romanticamente, ma resta il solito tarlo di Fontane che scrive: finirà poi questo romanticismo... ma cosa lo sostituirà?

[Viktoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fontane beschreibt immer die gehobene (adlige) Gesellschaft. Die ist oft mit dem Millitär verbunden. Das hat Gespräche in der Novelle zur Folge, denen man manchmal nicht so gut folgen kann. Wichtig sind bei solchen Dingen die Anmerkungen, so kann man das Gesagte zuordnen.
Fontane schafft es, die Figuren sehr genau zu zeichnen und so auch ihre Taten nachvollziehbar zu machen. Dennoch war ich kurz vom Ende überrascht. Das hatte ich nicht wirklich erwartete, obwohl es der für Schach einzige mögliche Schritt war.

[Ailén · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es una obra con una fuerte crítica social y política que deja al desnudo los prejuicios, los estrictos valores morales y la hipocresía de la sociedad prusiana.
Si bien tiene algunas reflexiones interesantes sobre la belleza, el conflicto militar, la política y las costumbres de la alta sociedad, el argumento no me ha entusiasmado lo suficiente. Sí destaco el final que me pareció inesperado y me ha dejado pensando hasta qué punto los rumores y los prejuicios (propios y ajenos) nos llevan a cometer actos desesperados.

[Umberto Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eine sehr schöne und vor allem nicht unrealistische Erzählung über den preußischen Dünkel. Es macht auf alle Fälle Freude sich mit der Arroganz und Eitelkeit auseinanderzusetzen. Fontane ist schon aus Berlin Gründen immer ein Genuss. Ein Buch, das sicher zu mehr Furore geführt hat, als es erschien. es ist heute nicht mehr so relevant für die Aufklärung, zeigt aber dadurch auch, dass es eine Entwicklung gab.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

»Wie sich das alles erklärt?« fragst Du und setzest hinzu: »Du stündest vor einem Räthsel, das sich Dir nicht lösen wolle.« Meine liebe Lisette, wie lösen sich die Räthsel? Nie. Ein Rest von Dunklem und Unaufgeklärtem bleibt, und in die letzten und geheimsten Triebfedern andrer oder auch nur unsrer eignen Handlungsweise hineinzublicken, ist uns versagt.

[Fabian Williges · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ein absolutes Meisterwerk! Ich habe ja meine Probleme mit Fontane als Schullektüre. Nun, da ich etwas fortgeschritten bin an Jahren, habe ich große Freude an Fontanes Sprache und seinen Dialogen. Wunderbar!

[Milualmeida · Rating 4 out of 5]

all men

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pockmarks turn a young woman into a diabolic beauty, and something something something Romanticism Martin Luther some Franco-Prussian War. Cross-dressing nuns sledding on salt!