Busekow: Eine Novelle

Carl SternheimProject Gutenberg · United StatesMar 2023

3.5

Word count: 40K words
Chapters: 5

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.Busekow: Eine Novelle by Carl SternheimAuthor: Sternheim, Carl, 1878-1942,Language: German, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Jan 23, 2013

Editor's review

Busekow: Eine Novelle is a German novella by the German author Carl Sternheim, released by Project Gutenberg as a free e-book. Sternheim was a playwright and novelist with a distinctive style in early twentieth-century German-language literature, often portraying bourgeois characters and situations with sharp, concise strokes. This novella is short and serves well as an introductory text for understanding his fictional style, and also as close-reading material for German learners. Readers should note shifts in narrative perspective and the presentation of characters' psychology, and appreciate how the author achieves characterization within a limited space. As a public-domain electronic text, the layout may be plain; readers are advised to use it for study or language learning rather than expecting a refined reading edition. Overall, it is a work suited to German literature enthusiasts and intermediate German readers for concentrated reading in a short time.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Learners with some German who want to read original short fiction
Readers interested in early twentieth-century German literature and Sternheim
German teachers needing German literature selections for classroom discussion
People used to reading public-domain e-books who can accept plain layout

Not a good fit for

Readers with no German who need Chinese annotations or bilingual text
Readers hoping for Sternheim's representative plays rather than his fiction
Readers who prefer long plots and find a novella too short

Reading tips

Read once for the plot, then a second time for character psychology and narrative perspective.
Copy unfamiliar long German sentences and analyze their structure in context.
Read alongside background material on Sternheim's era to understand the bourgeois theme.
It is short; read it in one sitting, then go back and sort out the character relationships.

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 there a Chinese translation of this novella?

The information only shows that the book is a German e-book released by Project Gutenberg and does not mention a Chinese translation. Readers who need a Chinese reference may look for translations from other publishing channels; this e-book itself is in the original German.

What level of German is needed to read it?

As an early twentieth-century German novella, its sentence patterns and vocabulary carry period features; intermediate or higher German reading ability is recommended. Beginners may first read a plot summary, then work through it section by section, or read slowly with a dictionary.

Is this novella related to the author's dramatic style?

Sternheim is known for his plays, and his fiction likewise has a concise, satirical tone. Readers may note whether character dialogue and scene setting feel theatrical, but the specific connection should be judged through close reading and not over-inferred.

Comments

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About the author

Carl Sternheim Author · German · 1878–1942

Carl Sternheim (1878–1942) was a German playwright and novelist, born in Leipzig in 1878 and died in Brussels in 1942. A representative figure of German Expressionist drama, he is known for comedies such as Die Hose, Der Snob, 1913 and Das Fossil, which satirize bourgeois morality with sharp, exaggerated and coolly detached prose that exposes the hypocrisy and utilitarianism of the middle class. Beyond the stage, he also wrote novellas and short stories; five of his works are held in the collection, including Meta: Eine Erzählung, Busekow: Eine Novelle, Napoleon: Eine Novelle, Ulrike: Eine Erzählung and Schuhlin: Eine Erzählung. These works often focus on individuals under social norms and moral pressure, and on their growth, told in a concise and ironic style. His novella Napoleon won the Fontane Prize in 1915.