Gottfried Keller

Huch, Ricarda, 1864-1947Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 94K words
Chapters: 10

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.Gottfried Keller by Ricarda HuchAuthor: Huch, Ricarda, 1864-1947,Language: German, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Feb 1, 2010

Editor's review

Ricarda Huch was a German writer and historical author; this text on Gottfried Keller is a work of author study rather than a work by Keller himself. It discusses Keller's writing within the context of nineteenth-century German literature, in prose marked by Huch's characteristic intellectual and literary sensibility. For Chinese readers, its value lies in offering a contemporary German writer's perspective on how Keller was understood, making it suitable for those who have already read some of Keller's fiction and wish to learn more about his literary standing. The original is in German, and its length and density of argument make certain demands on language ability. Readers hoping for a shortcut into Keller may be disappointed; as a supplement to reading in literary history and criticism, however, it offers leads for discussion of realism and bourgeois literature. Reading is smoother if one first gains an outline of Keller's life and then turns to Huch's assessment.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who have read Keller's works and want to understand German literary criticism
Advanced German majors or researchers
Readers interested in nineteenth-century German realist literature

Not a good fit for

Readers new to Keller's works seeking an introductory biography
Those with limited German reading ability unwilling to look up terminology
Readers expecting novelistic narrative or light essays

Reading tips

Read an outline of Keller's major works or a short story first, then this book, so the commentary does not hang in the air.
Note Huch's judgments on Keller's creative phases as you read and compare them with your own responses.
Look up literary-historical names and terms in batches rather than trying to absorb everything on a first reading.
Read alongside a selected volume of Keller's works so that works and commentary illuminate each other.

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 biography of Keller or a commentary on his works?

The materials indicate it is Huch's writing on Keller, a work of author study or commentary rather than a work by Keller himself. It focuses on discussion of Keller's literary standing and writing rather than a full biographical narrative. The exact format should be checked against the original; readers should not treat it as a reference biography.

Can I read this book without any German?

The original is in German, and reading it without any German would be very difficult. The book involves literary-historical figures, works, and critical terminology that machine translation tends to distort. Intermediate or higher German reading ability is advisable, or one may first consult relevant Chinese research materials as support before deciding whether to tackle the original.

What is the relationship between Huch and Keller?

The materials show only that Huch (1864–1947) is the author of this book and Keller its subject; they do not indicate any personal acquaintance between the two. Huch was a German writer and historical author, and the book should be understood as a later writer's assessment of an earlier writer's literary achievement, not a record of contemporaneous interaction.

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About the author

Huch, Ricarda, 1864-1947 Author

Ricarda Huch (Huch, Ricarda, 1864–1947) was a German writer and literary scholar. Though public information about her life and nationality remains limited in Chinese-language scholarship, her list of works already outlines the breadth of her writing. The library holds eight of her works, spanning epistolary narrative, novella, poetry, and reflective prose: there is the letter-based narrative The Last Summer, tightly structured works such as The Deruga Case, a collection of novellas and two volumes of short stories; Luther's Faith: Letters to a Friend shows her engagement with religion and intellectual history, while Gottfried Keller reflects her work as a literary scholar and critic. Her writing combines narrative tension with intellectual substance, and her concise language has earned her a place in the German literary tradition.