Lucky Hans and Other Merz Fairy Tales

by Kurt Schwitters, Irvine Peacock (Illustrator), Jack D. Zipes (Introduction)

Kurt Schwitters revolutionized the art world in the 1920s with his Dadaist Merz collages, theater performances, and poetry. But at the same time he was also writing extraordinary fairy tales that were turning the genre upside down and inside out. Lucky Hans and Other Merz Fairy Tales is the first collection of these subversive, little-known stories in any language and the first time all but a few of them have appeared in English. Translated and introduced by Jack Zipes, one of the world's leading authorities on fairy tales, this book gathers thirty-two stories written between 1925 and Schwitters's death in 1948--including a complete English-language recreation of The Scarecrow, a children's book illustrated with avant-garde typography that Schwitters created with Kate Steinitz and De Stijl founder Theo van Doesburg. Lucky Hans and Other Merz Fairy Tales also includes brilliant new illustrations that evoke the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s.

Schwitters wrote these darkly humorous, satirical, and surreal tales at a time when traditional German fairy tales were being co-opted by the Nazis. Filled with sharp critiques of German life during the Weimar and early Nazi eras, Schwitters's tales are rich with absurdist events and insist that not everyone--and perhaps not anyone--lives happily ever after. In "Lucky Hans," the starving protagonist tries to catch a rabbit only to have it shed its fur like a coat and run off naked into the forest. In other tales, a sarcastic gypsy stands in for a fairy godmother and an army recruit is arrested for growing to monstrous size.

Lucky Hans and Other Merz Fairy Tales is a delightfully strange and surprising book.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Literature, Childrens

256 pages, Hardcover

First published March 22, 2009

About the author

Kurt Schwitters was a painter, sculptor, designer and writer and worked in several genres and media, including Dada, Constructivism, Surrealism, poetry, sound, painting, sculpture, graphic design, typography, and what came to be known as installation art. Between 1923-32, Schwitters edited the magazine Merz.

Reviews

[S̶e̶a̶n̶ · Rating 3 out of 5]

German artist and writer Kurt Schwitters first became involved in subversive art after the first World War, as Dadaism was beginning to flourish. Rejected by the Berlin Dadaists for his petit bourgeois appearance and the lack of overt political influence in his work, Schwitters soon developed his own genre of anti-art, which he called Merz. His artwork included painting, collages, and sculptural montages. He also wrote extensively, although the fairy tales included here he had mostly kept to himself during his lifetime. The tales subvert traditional fairy tale tropes and narrative structures through the use of irony, absurdity, and nonsense. Schwitters' themes include mockery of wealthy elite society, skepticism toward sentimental romantic love, the nature of happiness, opposition to war, very obvious critiques of Nazism, and fish. Most of the tales are very short, only a few pages or, in some cases, even less than a full page. Some remain unfinished. The rare longer ones are less effective, for with repetition Schwitters' techniques and themes become diluted. While certain tales warrant a four-star rating, overall the collection was more like a 3.5 for me. That said, from what I know of him, Schwitters as a person and artistic figure gets 5 stars.

[Ajay P. mangattu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting stories, politically sharp and absurd as they are very much close to present era of India though the book was written during the early period of German Nazism. Kurt Schwitters was a German artist and poet; first comprehensive collection of his fairy tales in English.

[Hans Ostrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. An absolute delight to read, droll and surreal.

[Stephanie Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kurt Schwitters wrote this collection of fairy tales between 1925-1946, mostly in Germany but some while he was in exile in Norway. In his tales Schwitters takes aim at German society and the rise of Hitler.
Most of the protagonists do not end up happy.
Although the stories were unusual, not many of them stick in my mind. They didn’t have enough action for me. Maybe they were just too short. Schwitters has a very low-key writing style that kept the excitement to a minimum. I read this book because of my interest in German writing. Others similarly interested would enjoy this but other than those people, you can skip it.

[Robert Costic · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read this book I think I must be the reincarnated soul of Kurt Schwitters, because every one of these tales seems to speak directly to my thinking. They are brutal and hilarious.

[Rhonda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Put any traditional idea of the definition of "fairy tales" out of your mind.

[Michael Norwitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kurt Schwitters was an artist who worked alongside the Dadaists in Germany before being forced to emigrate to Norway. Among his creations in various forms was a series of 'fairy tales,' here translated from the German. I found them intermittently interesting, although without the touch of surreal humor I'd anticipated (not that they weren't surreal). The stories most to my liking were the most blatantly political - although they are sadly traditional in regards to gender roles.

Of particular interest was 'The Scarecrow,' a story illustrated in typography (also presented in the original German). My favorite piece was one of Schwitters' poems, "To Anna Bloom," a satirical love poem which was reproduced in the introduction (the version below found online translated by Colin Morton; the version in the book translated by Jack Zipes):

O you, beloved of my twenty-seven senses, I love your!
You your thee thine, I your, you mine. -- we?
This (by the way) is beside the point.

Who are you, uncounted woman? you are
-- are you? People say you are, -- let
them say it, they don't know how it stands with us.
You wear your head on your feet and walk about
on your hands, on your hands you walk.

Halloo your red dress, sliced in white pleats.
Red I love Anna Bloom, red I love your! -- You
your thee thine, I your, you mine. -- we?
This belongs (by the way) out in the cold.
Red bloom, red Anna Bloom, what do people say?

Prize question: 1. Anna Bloom has a screw loose.
2. Anna Bloom is red.
3. What colour is the screw?

Blue is the colour of your yellow hair.
Red is the thread of your green screw.
You simple girl in simple dress, you dear
green animal. I love your! you your thee thine, I
your, you mine. -- we?
This belongs (by the way) in the ashcan.

Anna Bloom! Anna, a-n-n-a, I trickle your
name. Your name drips like soft tallow.
Do you know it, Anna, do you know already?
You can be read from behind, and you, you
loveliest of all, you are from behind as you are
from the front: "a-n-n-a."
Tallow trickles softly over my back.
Anna Bloom, you trickle beast, I love your!

[Matthew Martens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dada dreams within a drain. Cleverness probably cleverer in the original. "The Swineherd and the Great, Illustrious Writer" has something of a sour, sage Walser about it, and was my favorite.

[Oriana]

From City Lights: For fans of: the magical and grotesque, small animals, dada, storms, the exploration of human joy and desperation, fairy tales, Kurt Schwitters, surrealism, dark humor. These stories are delightful and morbid, strange and beautiful, and the introduction, illustrations and notes richly complement the unique perspective of the dadaist artist who created "Merz", Kurt Schwitters. This book is wonderful.

[City Lights Booksellers & Publishers]

Recommended by Maia, a City Lights Publishers editor.

[Neda · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was interesting for me, as I came to learn something about German fairy tales :)

[Cooper Renner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Offbeat, non-mainstream, "subversive," delightful: not every tale is classic, but the best are. A fine collection.