The Moloch

Wassermann, Jakob, 1873-1934Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 522K words
Chapters: 53

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Der Moloch by Jakob WassermannAuthor: Wassermann, Jakob, 1873-1934,Language: German, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Jan 22, 2007

Editor's review

Der Moloch is a novel by the German writer Jakob Wassermann, who was active in the early twentieth century and known for social critique and psychological portrayal. Written in German and belonging to the German literary tradition, it is released free of charge through Project Gutenberg, and readers can access the original text directly on an e-reader. It is not light entertainment but a work that requires a certain level of German reading ability and an interest in German-language literature from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century. Its value lies in experiencing Wassermann's way of writing about the modern city, money, and human nature, and in understanding the metaphorical tradition of the image of "Moloch" in German literature. It is suitable as supplementary reading for German majors, enthusiasts of foreign literature, or scholars of comparative literature, and also as a sample for understanding Project Gutenberg's public-domain resources. Since it is a public-domain e-book without modern annotations or an introduction, readers need to supplement the background material themselves.

Who it's for

A good fit for

German learners with intermediate to advanced German reading ability who wish to engage with original German texts
Readers researching German-language literature from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century
Literature enthusiasts interested in the "Moloch" image and the theme of critiquing modernity
Those who need Project Gutenberg public-domain German texts for teaching or research

Not a good fit for

Ordinary readers with no German foundation who wish to read a Chinese translation
Readers of popular fiction who prefer light plots and fast-paced narratives
Beginner readers who need modern annotations, introductions, and detailed background explanations

Reading tips

First consult materials on Wassermann's life and early twentieth-century German literary background, then proceed to the main text
Prepare a German dictionary or electronic aids, read chapter by chapter, and note new vocabulary
Pay attention to the recurring image of "Moloch" in the text and trace its metaphorical threads
May be read alongside Chinese translations of contemporaneous German social novels for comparative understanding

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a Chinese translation?

No. According to the information, the book's language is German; it is a German public-domain e-book released by Project Gutenberg, and the main text is in the original German with no Chinese translation. Chinese readers need German reading ability or must rely on translation tools and parallel texts.

Does the Project Gutenberg edition have annotations and an introduction?

Public-domain e-books from Project Gutenberg usually provide only the original text of the work, without modern scholarly annotations, translator's prefaces, or reading guides. Readers who need background explanations should consult the author's biography, literary history materials, or related research literature on their own.

Is it suitable for German beginners to learn German?

Not very suitable. Wassermann's literary works are adult novels from the early twentieth century, and their sentence structures and vocabulary are rather difficult for beginners, with no graded vocabulary or grammatical annotations. It is more advisable for readers with intermediate to advanced German proficiency, or one may start with simplified short readings.

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About the author

Wassermann, Jakob, 1873-1934 Author

Jakob Wassermann (1873-1934) is a notable novelist and essayist in early twentieth-century German-language literature. Public information about him is limited, and details of his life are difficult to verify, yet the twenty-one works held in the collection reveal the diversity of his output. Novels such as The World's Illusion and The Man of Forty show his sustained attention to individual fate and inner life, while Caspar Hauser, or the Inertia of the Heart uses a historical figure to examine human nature and society. Story collections including The Never-Kissed Lips and The Conductress are concise in style, drawing on everyday subjects with psychological depth. He also wrote essays and studies, such as Imaginary Bridges, and addressed his own identity in My Way as a German and a Jew. His works often interweave realistic observation, psychological portrayal, and moral inquiry, in a composed and reflective style.