Dream Story
I just finished reading the Dream Story by Arthur Schnitzler - almost a week after I wrote the exam about it, naturally :P! Because whyever would I read a book for academic reasons - that would be madness! Anyway, I actually really enjoyed it, which is a bit unusual for me in respect to German literature. Usually, I come away from reading German books feeling rather gloomy and downcast. The general tone of the stories tends to be rather depressive and sometimes I get the feeling that that's because if the book doesn't end in tragedy it wouldn't be considered literature by German critics. It's not that I think that they're bad stories because of that - I just wish that there was some room for some more light-hearted books in too.
The reason that I liked the Dream Story is that it sort of breaks with that tradition. It does have an angst-y feeling to it throughout the story, but for once this tension is actually released in an uplifting way at the end, rather than just killing everybody off, etc. And let's face it: that's what happens the majority of the time. Also, for once the characters in the story come across like actual people to me - that's another thing that annoys me about most German literature. Most of the people that are described and the experiences they go through are just unrelatable to me - for example, how are you supposed to relate to the tragic prince who falls in love with his step-mother and then gets locked away into a dungeon by his tyrannical father (yes, I am looking at you Mr. Schiller). Like I already said, this doesn't mean that they are bad stories - but if your entire literary culture is made up of stories like that, then it does get a bit tedious to read.
In the Dream Story you do however get a wonderful feeling of the inner workings of the mind of the two protagonists. There is depth to these characters and there is more to their storyline than just them regretting their position in life. And yes, it does end in a good way :D (alright, I admit, I am a sucker for happy endings ...)!
But I've harped on about the book for long enough now I think :). I wish everyone an enjoyable and relaxed Sunday! I hope you'll get the chance to read something nice :D!
The reason that I liked the Dream Story is that it sort of breaks with that tradition. It does have an angst-y feeling to it throughout the story, but for once this tension is actually released in an uplifting way at the end, rather than just killing everybody off, etc. And let's face it: that's what happens the majority of the time. Also, for once the characters in the story come across like actual people to me - that's another thing that annoys me about most German literature. Most of the people that are described and the experiences they go through are just unrelatable to me - for example, how are you supposed to relate to the tragic prince who falls in love with his step-mother and then gets locked away into a dungeon by his tyrannical father (yes, I am looking at you Mr. Schiller). Like I already said, this doesn't mean that they are bad stories - but if your entire literary culture is made up of stories like that, then it does get a bit tedious to read.
In the Dream Story you do however get a wonderful feeling of the inner workings of the mind of the two protagonists. There is depth to these characters and there is more to their storyline than just them regretting their position in life. And yes, it does end in a good way :D (alright, I admit, I am a sucker for happy endings ...)!
But I've harped on about the book for long enough now I think :). I wish everyone an enjoyable and relaxed Sunday! I hope you'll get the chance to read something nice :D!