Waldfried: A Novel

Auerbach, Berthold, 1812-1882Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 787K words
Chapters: 79

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.Waldfried: A Novel by Berthold AuerbachAuthor: Auerbach, Berthold, 1812-1882,Language: English, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: May 20, 2010

Editor's review

Waldfried is a novel by the nineteenth-century German writer Berthold Auerbach, made available as a free ebook by Project Gutenberg. Auerbach was known for depicting rural life and local customs, and this work continues his attention to the fates of ordinary people and regional manners; the narrative is unhurried, and the characterization tends toward realism. For today's readers its value lies more in the documentary and literary-historical dimension: it offers a window onto the thematic interests of the nineteenth-century German novel, the ethical concerns of rural narrative, and how writers of the time handled the relationship between the individual and the community. The English translation bears the marks of its era, with long sentence structures and a slow reading pace; it suits readers willing to read slowly. It does not aim for strong plot excitement but accumulates meaning through everyday scenes and dialogue. Read alongside other works in the tradition of nineteenth-century European regional literature, it gains clearer coordinates. As a public-domain ebook, it is easy to obtain and works well as supplementary course reading or for independent reading, and it is also suitable for readers curious about the original form of German literature before Chinese translation.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in nineteenth-century German literature and rural narrative
Foreign literature students using it as course reading or paper material
Readers who enjoy slow-paced, realist novels
Researchers and collectors interested in public-domain ebook resources

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking strong plot and fast-paced reading
Those unaccustomed to long sentences and old-fashioned expression in nineteenth-century translations
Readers who want only Chinese translations and prefer not to engage with the English original

Reading tips

Read the opening chapters first to get a feel for the narrative pace and language style, then decide whether to read through or select passages.
Read alongside background material on nineteenth-century European regional literature, taking notes on character relationships as you go.
Slow down when you meet long sentences; sort out scenes and dialogue paragraph by paragraph rather than pondering every word.

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 Chinese or English?

This is an English ebook provided by Project Gutenberg; the original is in German, and this version is an English translation. Reading it requires some English proficiency, and the language bears the marks of a nineteenth-century translation.

Can I read it without knowing German?

Yes. This is an English translation and does not require German. The syntax is somewhat old-fashioned, however, with many long sentences, so it is best attempted by readers with some experience of long English-language works, with a dictionary at hand if needed.

Is it suitable as an introductory read?

It is not an easy entry into nineteenth-century German literature: the pace is slow and the plot is not strong. To get acquainted with Auerbach's style first, treat it as selected reading, following the character threads that interest you rather than forcing yourself through from start to finish.

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About the author

Auerbach, Berthold, 1812-1882 Author

Berthold Auerbach (1812–1882) was a nineteenth-century German-language writer. Fourteen of his works are held in this collection, including Black Forest Village Stories, Villa Eden: The Country-House on the Rhine, On the Heights, Joseph in the Snow, and The Clockmaker (in three volumes), Edelweiss, and Waldfried. Public information about his life is limited, and biographical details are difficult to verify, but his works show that he excelled at depicting village and small-town life in a plain, delicate style, often conveying concern for the fate of ordinary people through everyday events. His stories are strongly regional and realistic, written in simple, vivid language, and hold a place in the tradition of German regional fiction; English translations have also brought them to a wider readership.