Pater Filucius

Busch, Wilhelm, 1832-1908Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 35K words
Chapters: 4

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.Pater Filucius by Wilhelm BuschAuthor: Busch, Wilhelm, 1832-1908,Language: German, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Dec 13, 2004

Editor's review

Wilhelm Busch was a major nineteenth-century German satirical cartoonist and poet whose illustrated narratives stand apart in German-language literature. Pater Filucius belongs to his later narrative works with religious satire, unfolding in verse with pictures; the language is witty and rhythmic, combining cartoonish exaggeration with the edge of moral satire. This is Project Gutenberg's public-domain German e-book, preserving the original language and serving as a usable text for studying Busch's style and the nineteenth-century German satirical tradition. Because it is a German original with period background and religious-cultural allusions, it demands some language ability and background knowledge. It suits supplementary reading in German literature, cartoon history, or satirical literature, and readers who love Busch's drawing style and want the original text can read and look things up on an e-reader. It is not long overall; read it closely with notes and background material to appreciate its puns and irony.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Intermediate and advanced German learners who want nineteenth-century German verse originals
Literature students studying German satirical literature and illustrated narrative traditions
Art lovers who admire Wilhelm Busch's cartoon style and want his written works
Cultural-history readers interested in nineteenth-century European religious satire

Not a good fit for

General readers without German reading ability who cannot find a reliable translation
Readers wanting light entertainment and impatient with satire and religious allusions
Advanced researchers needing systematic scholarly annotation and complete research materials

Reading tips

Learn about Busch's life and the nineteenth-century German church-state context first; the targets of irony will be clearer.
Read the verse alongside the illustrations and note the contrast and mismatch between image and text—key to Busch's humor.
Mark allusions and puns as you go, then look them up together after finishing to avoid breaking the rhythm.
Read alongside other Busch works to observe how his satirical methods continue and change across subjects.

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 in German or English? What language level is needed?

According to the Gutenberg record, the book is in German and classed under German literature. The text is nineteenth-century verse with period allusions and puns; intermediate-to-advanced German is advisable, with a dictionary and background material at hand. Beginners will find it hard going.

Is this a cartoon or a text-only work?

Wilhelm Busch is known for illustrated narratives, and this is one of his illustrated verse narratives. The Gutenberg edition is released as an electronic text; how illustrations appear depends on the specific file format, so check whether your downloaded version includes them.

Is it suitable for studying Busch's style?

It can serve as a supplementary text. It shows Busch's late satirical subjects and verse-with-pictures manner, but the Gutenberg edition usually lacks scholarly annotation; for systematic research, use it alongside authoritative annotated editions and secondary literature.

Comments

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About the author

Busch, Wilhelm, 1832-1908 Author

Wilhelm Busch (1832–1908) was a German poet, illustrator, and writer of satirical stories, known for humorous narratives that combine pictures and verse. His best-known work, Max und Moritz, tells in rhyming lines and sequential illustrations the seven pranks of two boys; brisk in rhythm and sharp in tone, it is regarded as an important precursor of the early comic strip and has had a lasting influence on later comics and children's literature. He also created Hans Huckebein, Kritik des Herzens, Hernach, and other works, whose subjects are mostly human folly and weakness, in a style poised between humor and satire. Ten of his works are held here, including German originals and English and Dutch translations. As public information is limited, biographical details are omitted, with emphasis on the narrative character and influence of his works.