Great German Short Stories

by Stephen Spender (Editor)

THIRD PRINTING. May 1963 Dell mass market paperback, Stephen Spender (Editor, Introduction). A collection of wonderful short stories that show the beauty of German prose.

Genres: Short Stories, Literature

284 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Sir Stephen Harold Spender (February 28, 1909–July 16,1995) was an English poet, translator, literary critic and editor.

Spender was born in London and educated at the University of Oxford, where he first became associated with such other outspoken British literary figures as W. H. Auden, Christopher Isherwood, C. Day Lewis and Louis MacNeice. His book The Thirties and After (1979) recalls these figures and others prominent in the arts and politics and his Journals 1939–1983, published in 1986 and edited by John Goldsmith, are a detailed account of his times and contemporaries.

His passionate and lyrical verse, filled with images of the modern industrial world yet intensely personal, is collected in such volumes as Twenty Poems (1930), The Still Centre (1939), Poems of Dedication (1946), Collected Poems, 1928–1985 (1986).

World Within World, Stephen Spender's autobiography, contains vivid portraits of Virginia Woolf, W. B. Yeats, T. S. Eliot, Lady Ottoline Morrell, W. H. Auden, Christopher Isherwood and many other prominent literary figures. First published in 1951 and still in print, World Within World is recognised as one of the most illuminating literary autobiographies to come out of the 1930s and 1940s. There can be few better portrayals of the political and social atmosphere of the 1930s.

The Destructive Element (1935), The Creative Element (1953), The Making of a Poem (1962) and Love-Hate Relations: English and American Sensibilities (1974), about literary exchanges between Britain and the United States, contain literary and social criticism. Stephen Spender's other works include short stories, novels such as The Backward Son and the heavily autobiographical The Temple (set in Germany on the 1930s) and translations of the poetry of Lorca, Altolaguerra, Rilke, Hölderlin, Stefan George and Schiller. From 1939 to 1941 he co-edited Horizon magazine with Cyril Connolly and was editor of Encounter magazine from 1953 to 1967.

Stephen Spender owed his own early recognition and publication as a poet to T. S. Eliot. In turn Spender was always a generous champion of young talent, from his raising a fund for the struggling 19-year-old Dylan Thomas, to a lifelong commitment to helping promote the publication of newcomers. In 1972, with his passionate concern for the rights of banned and silenced writers to free expression, he was the chief founder of Index on Censorship, in response to an appeal on behalf of victimised authors worldwide by the Russian dissident Litvinov.

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read these while waiting for return telephone calls at Bechtel Civil in Washington. These stories, especially translated by Stephen Spender, were a very good introduction to German literatue for me.

[Stefanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know if these stories are too old or too German but I couldn't connect to any of them.

[beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

great kafka story...

Huber also great.

Listing:

Introduction by Stephen Spender
Lenz by Georg Büchner
Brigitta by Adalbert Stifter
The Earthquake in Chile by Heinrich von Kleist
A Little Legend of the Dance by Gottfried Keller
A Tale of the Cavalry by Hugo von Hofmannsthal
The Autopsy by George Heym
Gym Period by Rainer Maria Rilke
"Gladius Dei" by Thomas Mann
In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka
A Village Tale by Robert Walser
The Conquest by Gottfried Benn
The Bound Man by Ilse Aichinger
The Man with the Knives by Heinrich Böll
The New Apartment by Heinz Huber
The Meeting in the Hallway by Hans Erich Nossack
The Game of Murder by Gerd Gaiser
A World Ends by Wolfgang Hildesheimer

[Aditi Chincholi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this in my late grandfather's stack labelled MRP rs. 3/-. Interesting and unusual reads. Many of them start with a gripping premise, develop and end rather abruptly or are troublingly incomplete leaving one with much to desire. Of note, however, is the soothingly florid use of language by the translator which mercifully doesn't spill into unnecessary verbosity.

The introductions that precede each story are quite impressive and reveal Spender's in-depth knowledge of German literature and a close understanding of each author's life and body of work. My favourite from the lot is The Autopsy by George Heym.

[Jeff Hobbs]

Read so far:

Lenz / Georg Buchner --2
Brigitta / Adalbert Stifter --
The earthquake in Chile / Heinrich von Kleist --3
*Little legend of the dance / Gottfried Keller --
Tale of the cavalry / Hugo von Hofmannsthal --
*Autopsy / George Heym --
Gym period / Rainer Maria Rilke --2
"Gladius Dei" / Thomas Mann --
In the penal colony / Franz Kafka --3
Village tale / Robert Walser --
Conquest / Gottfried Benn --
The bound man / Ilse Aichinger --1
Man with the knives / Heinrich Boll --2
*The new apartment / Heinz Huber --
The meeting in the hallway / Hans Erich Nossack --
Game of murder / Gerd Gaiser --
*A world ends / Wolfgang Hildesheimer--

[carl theaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great find in a box of books tossed out by
the dumpster. A good intro to a variety of 19 & 20th
German writers. Let's you get acquainted and know who
to perhaps avoid, Mann aggh! or read more of - Kafka?
Boll? Rilke?

[Don Gubler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of these are good and some are very good.