Napoleon: A Novella

Carl SternheimProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 57K words
Chapters: 6

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.Napoleon: Eine Novelle by Carl SternheimAuthor: Sternheim, Carl, 1878-1942,Language: German, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Nov 17, 2012

Editor's review

Carl Sternheim was a major playwright of German Expressionism. This Napoleon: Eine Novelle is written in German and is a public-domain ebook in the Project Gutenberg collection. The work builds a literary narrative around Napoleon as a historical figure rather than offering a strict historical biography, so readers can see how Expressionist literature treats power, heroism and individual fate in its own distinctive way. Its value lies in providing a German-language original of moderate length and marked stylistic character, well suited to observing how German-language literature of the early twentieth century rewrote historical figures. It should not be read as a Napoleon biography or historical source; attention should go instead to narrative perspective, linguistic rhythm and characterisation. Because it is a public-domain electronic edition, typesetting and annotation are limited, so reading alongside a German dictionary or a bilingual edition is advisable. Overall it suits readers interested in German literature, Expressionism or historical fiction as supplementary rather than introductory reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers learning German who want German-language fiction of moderate length
Readers interested in German Expressionist literature and fiction about historical figures
Readers who want to observe through literature how the image of Napoleon is reshaped
Readers who need a public-domain electronic text for course readings or book-club discussion

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking historical facts or military detail about Napoleon's life
Beginners whose German is not yet sufficient for long original narratives
Researchers expecting full annotation, introduction and scholarly apparatus

Reading tips

Learn about Sternheim and the Expressionist context first to reduce difficulties in understanding the text.
Mark changes in narrative perspective and language style as you read, to help review the work's technique afterwards.
Use a German dictionary or a bilingual edition, reading chapter by chapter and noting new words and key images.
After finishing, compare with basic historical facts about Napoleon to distinguish literary rewriting from historical narrative.

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 Napoleon?

No. It is a novella by Sternheim that takes Napoleon as its subject; it is a literary work, not a historical biography. Read it for its literary technique and characterisation, not as historical material.

Can I read this book without knowing German?

The original is in German, and reading it with no German at all is difficult. A bilingual edition or translation tools can help, but some German is preferable, or read background material in Chinese first before deciding whether to tackle the original.

What are the features of this edition?

It is a public-domain electronic text from Project Gutenberg: easy to obtain and low in cost, but usually lacking detailed notes, introduction and scholarly appendices. It suits independent reading and course selection, not replacing a critical edition.

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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.