Das Kind: Novelle

Eckstein, Ernst, 1845-1900Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 267K words
Chapters: 27

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.Das Kind: Novelle by Ernst EcksteinAuthor: Eckstein, Ernst, 1845-1900,Language: German, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Aug 12, 2018

Editor's review

Das Kind: Novelle is a novella by the nineteenth-century German writer Ernst Eckstein, prepared and released in the original German by Project Gutenberg. The novella form in German literature prizes compact structure and focus on a single conflict, and this book exemplifies that tradition: it unfolds around the central image of "the child," with concentrated character relationships and emotional tension and a moderate length. For German learners, it is usable material for transitioning to reading literature in the original; for scholars of German literature, it serves as a textual sample of the nineteenth-century novella, allowing observation of narrative techniques and thematic treatment of the time. Note that the book is in German, the Gutenberg edition has no annotations or translation, and the provided information gives no further plot details. Suitable as German reading practice or auxiliary material for literary history, not as a Chinese popular reader.

Who it's for

A good fit for

German majors needing nineteenth-century German-language novella corpora
Readers with intermediate-to-advanced German reading ability who want to transition to literary originals
Scholars of German literature interested in samples of the nineteenth-century Novelle genre
Literature lovers who enjoy short narratives and are willing to use a dictionary to read German originals

Not a good fit for

General readers who do not know German and need a Chinese translation
German beginners who do not yet have the vocabulary and syntax to read original literary works
Readers expecting modern annotations, introductions, or bilingual editions

Reading tips

First read through without worrying about full comprehension, mark unfamiliar words and long sentences, then look them up and read closely a second time.
Pay attention to the recurring image of "the child" in the plot and record the context of each appearance.
After reading, write a three-to-five-line plot summary in German to test comprehension and reinforce vocabulary.
Pair with introductions to the Novelle genre in German literary history to understand its structural features.

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 book?

According to the provided information, this is a German-language electronic text released by Project Gutenberg, and no Chinese translation is mentioned. Readers who need a Chinese version must look for other publishing channels; this edition itself contains no translation.

What is the difference between a Novelle and a novel?

The Novelle is a novella genre in German literature, usually of moderate length and compact structure, unfolding around a single conflict or event with a limited number of characters. Compared with a novel, it emphasizes concentration and closure, making it suitable for reading in one sitting and grasping the overall structure.

What German level is needed to read this book?

The original is nineteenth-century German with somewhat archaic syntax; at least intermediate-to-advanced German is recommended, with a dictionary for literary vocabulary and long sentences. Beginners can start with simplified readers or bilingual editions before attempting this version.

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About the author

Eckstein, Ernst, 1845-1900 Author

Ernst Eckstein (1845–1900) was a nineteenth-century German-language writer whose biographical details remain limited in publicly available sources. Nine of his works are held in this collection, spanning humorous fiction, school stories, and historical romance. He excelled at depicting boarding-school and youthful life with a light touch, as seen in works such as Die Mädchen des Pensionats and Gesammelte Schulhumoresken, which display keen observation and gentle satire. He also ventured into ancient settings, writing the two-volume Quintus Claudius, set in Imperial Rome, and The Chaldean Magician, showing an interest in historical narrative. His writings combine entertainment with readability and held a certain influence among popular readers of his day, offering a window into nineteenth-century German humorous literature and historical fiction.