The Book Decameron
Tags
Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers with some German reading ability who want to practice reading literary essays
- Literature lovers interested in the reading tastes of early twentieth-century European literati
- General readers who enjoy casual essay collections and do not seek systematic theory
- Students studying the reception history of German literature and the tradition of book talk
Not a good fit for
- Readers who know no German at all and hope to read a Chinese translation
- Readers who need systematic literary history textbooks or exam-oriented materials
- Readers who prefer plot-driven narrative and lack patience for the essay genre
Reading tips
- Read the table of contents and preface first, then dip into entries on titles or figures that interest you; there is no need to proceed in order.
- Keep pen and paper at hand and note down the writers and works mentioned as leads for further reading.
- Skip unfamiliar allusions to keep the reading rhythm; return to the details on a second pass.
- Read one or two pieces a day, perhaps with background music or in a quiet hour, to savor the leisurely feel of book talk.
About the publisher
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.
Contents
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FAQ
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Comments
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About the author
Kasimir Edschmid (1890–1966) was a German writer and theorist of Expressionist literature, born in Darmstadt in 1890 and died in Switzerland in 1966. His 1919 essay On Expressionism in Literature and the New Poetry is regarded as a theoretical manifesto of the movement and played an important role in spreading Expressionist literary ideas. His work spans novels, novellas, and essays, with representative titles including Die sechs Mündungen, Das rasende Leben, Timour, Die Fürstin, and Die Amazone, as well as Das Bücher-Dekameron and numerous travel books. His writing ranges widely in subject matter, with intense, often transformative language that seeks to express inner experience, bearing clear Expressionist traits. Sixteen of his works are held in the collection. Public information is limited, so biographical details are omitted here, and this introduction focuses on his themes, style, and theoretical influence.
