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94th out of 254 books
—
219 voters
The Blue Flower
In eighteenth-century Germany, the impetuous student of philosophy who will later gain fame as the Romantic poet Novalis seeks his father's permission to wed his true philosophy -- a plain, simple child named Sophie. The attachment shocks his family and friends. This brilliant young man, betrothed to a twelve-year-old dullard! How can it be? A literary sensation and a best...more
Paperback, 226 pages
Published
April 15th 1997
by Mariner Books
(first published 1995)
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![[P]](http://d.gr-assets.com/users/1368277303p2/3355797.jpg)
"Stop Trevor."
"What is it, Pam?"
"I'm not taking another step."
"Why is that, love?"
"Are you mad? Look!"
Pam pointed towards the path that Penelope had recently trodden; it was bordered on either side by large trees, their overhanging, overreaching, branches giving the impression that were you to walk past them they may tear at your clothes and grab and hold you, like insatiable teenage girls in the front row at a Justin Bieber concert.
"I've come far enough. Let's go home."
There are many dark pat...more
"What is it, Pam?"
"I'm not taking another step."
"Why is that, love?"
"Are you mad? Look!"
Pam pointed towards the path that Penelope had recently trodden; it was bordered on either side by large trees, their overhanging, overreaching, branches giving the impression that were you to walk past them they may tear at your clothes and grab and hold you, like insatiable teenage girls in the front row at a Justin Bieber concert.
"I've come far enough. Let's go home."
There are many dark pat...more
A gorgeous, elliptical book, which I was drawn to by its subject (eighteenth century German philosopher and poet becomes obsessed with unattractive twelve year old girl). I fell in love with The Blue Flower just like Fritz - later known as Novalis - did with Sophie, only the book's positive qualities are slightly more obvious. It's beautifully written, understated, and perhaps more touching than you would expect. Fitzgerald never demands that you like her characters, and there's no sentimentalit...more
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In its first chapters this novel sprays a fine tangy mist over your face, like coming across the sea after many months inland. Hoopla! We're in for some fun. But - after a while this novel becomes the so-amusing toy whose batteries keep it chirping and beeping long after it should have glided behind the chest of drawers of oblivion. Our smile has faded. And finally this novel is like your elderly female relative who has a superstitious horror of naming anything directly, and will use every last...more
May 03, 2011
Natalie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
brave readers who don't care if they are having fun.
Shelves:
fiction-that-takes-itself-seriously,
europe
How dare I refuse to give this book that was named Book of the Year by nineteen British newspapers in 1995 and won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1997 anything less than a five?
NYT reviewer Michael Hofmann wrote of The Blue Flower: It is an interrogation of life, love, purpose, experience and horizons, which has found its perfect vehicle in a few years from the pitifully short life of a German youth about to become a great poet -- one living in a period of intellectual and political u...more
NYT reviewer Michael Hofmann wrote of The Blue Flower: It is an interrogation of life, love, purpose, experience and horizons, which has found its perfect vehicle in a few years from the pitifully short life of a German youth about to become a great poet -- one living in a period of intellectual and political u...more
Why is this a strange and magical book?
One would expect a long novel because it involves history, like a period film. The sentences are not decorative but not too plain, not Hemingway plain.
So how does she do it? Some times the sentences seem modern. I do get a sense of another time and place too.
One would expect a long novel because it involves history, like a period film. The sentences are not decorative but not too plain, not Hemingway plain.
So how does she do it? Some times the sentences seem modern. I do get a sense of another time and place too.
Begins with the house's biyearly laundry tumbling out the windows and ends in cold water. Quirky, sad and atmospheric.
**As usual, spoilers abound**
Toward the end of 'The Blue Flower' Friedrich (Fritz) von Hardenberg, the man who would become the recognised Romantic novelist and poet Novalis, considers the precious few moments in which "[he] felt the certainty of immortality, like the touch of a hand." These include his first entrance into the Justs' house, the sight of a boy with head bowed in meditation in the Weissenfels churchyard, and his first sighting of the 12 year old Sophie von Kühn, who he subsequentl...more
This is my favourite of the three Fitzgerald novels that I've read. In common with Gate of Angels and The Beginning of Spring a wealth of research has gone into this novel.
Our reasons for liking a novel are often subjective and unreasonable. In my case the place and time of the setting and the intellectual firmament of the characters overlap with things that make me happy. The end of the Enlightenment and the shattering of the Ancien Regime (at least in mainland Europe) that provides the intelle...more
Our reasons for liking a novel are often subjective and unreasonable. In my case the place and time of the setting and the intellectual firmament of the characters overlap with things that make me happy. The end of the Enlightenment and the shattering of the Ancien Regime (at least in mainland Europe) that provides the intelle...more
This is a strange and beautiful short novel, which revolves around the young poet Friedrich Von Hardenberg's (the 18th century German poet Novalis) inexplicable love for the somewhat slow, not particularly lovely 12-year-old Sophie Von Kuhn, who would become his fiancee. The novel's genius lies in its complete lack of interest in explaining/examining the WHY of Hardenberg's love. This is not a love story or a romance. It is an observation of the sort of ineffable human forces that produce not on...more
I enjoyed Fitzgerald's economy of prose, as I had when reading her novel "The Bookshop." The historical setting (late 1700's Germany) and the influence on the plot of German Romanticism made for a densely rich reading experience. I plan to read more by this author.
(As for the occasional comparisons between Jane Austen and Penelope Fitzgerald, I would say that I find Fitzgerald more psychological and Austen more social. That is to say, it seems to me that there is somewhat more investigation into...more
(As for the occasional comparisons between Jane Austen and Penelope Fitzgerald, I would say that I find Fitzgerald more psychological and Austen more social. That is to say, it seems to me that there is somewhat more investigation into...more
I found this by chance, while randomly searching through books in my local library, and was excited to see it was a historical fiction about 18th Century German romantic poet and philosopher Novalis (Georg Phillip Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg to his parents). Really, who doesn't love Novalis?
The novel is primarily concerned with Novalis/Hardenberg's relationship with Sophie von Kühn, whom he met when he was 22 and with whom he fell obsessively in love.
Sophie was 12. Awkward.
Fitzgerald tell...more
The novel is primarily concerned with Novalis/Hardenberg's relationship with Sophie von Kühn, whom he met when he was 22 and with whom he fell obsessively in love.
Sophie was 12. Awkward.
Fitzgerald tell...more
Fitzgerald's last novel, and, quite frankly, the praise it receives often seems to be more a result of her dying after writing it than the novel itself. Often described as 'strange,' 'magical,' and 'short,' The Blue Flower is certainly concise. But strange? It's a reasonable faithful depiction of Novalis's falling in love with a 12 year old. Yes, *that's* strange, but that doesn't mean the novel is. Magical? In the sense that psychotic episodes might be enchanting, maybe.
None of which is to tak...more
None of which is to tak...more
I feel like kind of a knothead, but I didn't really like this book as much as everyone else on the planet does. There were so many German words that I kind of had to guess at and so many names that changed from scene to scene, that I got confused. I think I understood the love story. Actually, there were many love stories: two brothers in love with the same little girl -- Sophie; a more appropriate girlfriend for the writer who would become Novalis, who was actually in love with him, I think. Th...more
In short, cheeky, pithy, and splendidly torturous. I was drawn in by the tone and language of Fitzgerald. The subject matter came second. This is my first reading of hers, so I'll see if it holds true across other novels.
Favorite quotes:
"'A word of advice. If, as a young man, a student, you are tormented by a desire for women, it is best to get out into the fresh air as much as possible.'" (6)
"How heavy a child is when it gives up responsibility." (13)
Fabulous come-on line - "'You are the thesis...more
Favorite quotes:
"'A word of advice. If, as a young man, a student, you are tormented by a desire for women, it is best to get out into the fresh air as much as possible.'" (6)
"How heavy a child is when it gives up responsibility." (13)
Fabulous come-on line - "'You are the thesis...more
I just finished The Blue Flower this morning. It was a slower read than I anticipated....due to the many German words and the the use of more than one name for a single person. The story was wonderful...wonderful sad. But the times they lived in.....the beginning of a more modern world...,he was a poet, a philosopher and a civil engineer...This is the story of Friedrich von Hardenberg--Fritz,a young man of the late 18th century who was to become one of Germany's great romantic poets. The book is...more
A weird, elliptical, hilarious book. Has a lot of fun with the idea that historical fiction often attempts to fill in details that its subjects would have been at a loss to describe. I will stop now, before I start gushing and embarrass myself. Here is an excerpt, one of my favorite parts of any book I've read (in 18th century Germany, the painter, Hoffman is explaining to 20-something Fritz why he couldn't paint his unremarkable 13-year old love interest):
"Hardenberg, in every created thing, wh...more
"Hardenberg, in every created thing, wh...more
Set in the late eighteenth century Germany, The Blue Flower is based upon the life of Friedrich Von Hardenberg (Fritz) in the years before he became the famous romantic poet and philosopher Novalis.
The eldest son of a large noble family – there are only certain occupations open to Fritz because of his nobility – and Fritz’s father has firm ideas on what will be his future. Fritz’s education takes him to Jena and Leipzig, and then finally his father arranges for him to go to study under magistra...more
The eldest son of a large noble family – there are only certain occupations open to Fritz because of his nobility – and Fritz’s father has firm ideas on what will be his future. Fritz’s education takes him to Jena and Leipzig, and then finally his father arranges for him to go to study under magistra...more
The beginning chapters of this small book, THE BLUE FLOWER, seem so simply and artlessly written, it made me wonder: How did the book win the 1995 Booker Award, and in the same year, be chosen by 19 different publications as the Best Book of the Year? But by the ending chapters, I was brought to my knees: Yes! It is what they said it was.
The book is based on the true story, in the 18th Century, of the young Romantic poet Friedrich von Hardenberg (who was to write as Novalis) and his irrationa...more
The book is based on the true story, in the 18th Century, of the young Romantic poet Friedrich von Hardenberg (who was to write as Novalis) and his irrationa...more
It is fitting that this book ends with the image of a ring actually owned by the real main character of the novel, inscribed to his beloved. The Blue Flower itself is a tiny object--perfectly made--and contains multitudes in its perfection.
The tale of the Romantic poet Friedrich von Hardenberg's (Novalis) love for a fairly ordinary girl of twelve is perhaps one of the most moving historical novels I have ever read. Fitzgerald does more than recreate a bygone era, she conjures it effortlessly, an...more
The tale of the Romantic poet Friedrich von Hardenberg's (Novalis) love for a fairly ordinary girl of twelve is perhaps one of the most moving historical novels I have ever read. Fitzgerald does more than recreate a bygone era, she conjures it effortlessly, an...more
This Booker Prize winner is a fascinating study of life in late 17th-century Germany. One hilarious anecdote concerned washing clothes. Most of the upper-class families did the washing every 3 months. One man on the household owned 69 shirts. Our protagonist, Fridrich's family did the wash only once a year. There were 14 children in the family and numerous servants. This was before washers and dryers were invented. It blows my mind--and that isn't even what the book is about.
The book is a biogra...more
The book is a biogra...more
Ich habe Die blaue Blume aus der Reihe der Süddeutsche Bibliothek bei meinem Bruder aus dem Bücherregal gezogen und war mir nicht sicher ob meiner Erwartungshaltungen gegenüber dem schmalen Bändchen.
Penelope Fitzgerald schreibt ähnlich wie Antonia S.Byatt einen Stil, der an eine Tuschezeichnung erinnert, fein, zierlich, detailgenau - doch nicht wie in The Children's Book, das ein wenig blutleer bleibt, ist die Blaue Blume voll von den Gerüchen, Farben und Atmosphären der Epoche Novalis', Fichte...more
Penelope Fitzgerald schreibt ähnlich wie Antonia S.Byatt einen Stil, der an eine Tuschezeichnung erinnert, fein, zierlich, detailgenau - doch nicht wie in The Children's Book, das ein wenig blutleer bleibt, ist die Blaue Blume voll von den Gerüchen, Farben und Atmosphären der Epoche Novalis', Fichte...more
This was an overgrown novella. I think that actually Dostoevsky would have done this theme more justice as it reminds me of The Idiot in some ways - the girl's innocence and faux maturity perhaps. Thing is if I am going to read about some man's infatuation (can't really call it love, can you?) for a 12 year old girl, which is pedophilia of thought if not action, I want that aspect of it explored. Obviously I wasn't going to get the depth of Nabokov with his distasefully wonderful Lolita but this...more
I did not find this novel quite as beguiling as the book jacket promised it was. I found the narrative was uneven, written at times in a rather academic/biographical tone, and was not able to really connect emotionally with the characters. Having studied Novalis in grad school, I was fascinated with his fascination with Sophie von Kuhn. Fitzgerald's interpretation was, I believe, too much mired in following historical documents and quoting letters. Every now and again there is a well-written sce...more
What would Novalis do? If you like German romanticism, historical fiction, and ill fated tales of love this might be the book for you.
This novel came highly recommended to me from by a co-worker who really loved it. It was at times a humorous read and an interesting look at German aristocracy and middle class during the 18th Century.
Novalis falls in love with a young ordinary sickly girl and the novel follows their courtship and correspondance to one another.
Characters such as the poet Goethe...more
This novel came highly recommended to me from by a co-worker who really loved it. It was at times a humorous read and an interesting look at German aristocracy and middle class during the 18th Century.
Novalis falls in love with a young ordinary sickly girl and the novel follows their courtship and correspondance to one another.
Characters such as the poet Goethe...more
I wouldn't necessarily pidge this book as historical fiction, but, as historical fiction, which technically it is, it's probably one of the best I've come across because of how lightly it wears its extensive research. Penelope Fitzgerald's hand is light when she threads in historical detail, such as the eating habits of a certain region of 18th-century Germany (boiled pig snouts in peppermint schnaaps), the laundry habits of German nobility, medical nomenclature (abortionists, for instance, were...more
For Fitzgerald's writing style alone, I gave this 4 instead of 3 stars. She writes as if it's like breathing to her - so unforced and natural and lovely. Really brilliant character exposition, but the plot just wasn't there for me. I never say this but I honestly think this would make a great BBC series simply because her evocation of each character is so well done, it'd translate great on screen and provide an opportunity for a more fleshed-out plot
Book club points:
- Sidonie, Justen and Sophie'...more
Book club points:
- Sidonie, Justen and Sophie'...more
The Blue Flower is a quick, but baffling read. Its semi-post-modern narrative structure creates a fuzzy sense of the passage of time without interfering significantly with the presentation of plot elements. It allows the reader to ponder questions of varying depth such as "Where and why do we bestow love?" and "Is there a virtue in seeing the transcendent in the ordinary?" It contains a colorful cast of characters who both entertain and trouble the reader with their actions and observations. Whi...more
My rating is based on my personal enjoyment of the book, rather than its literary merits. I wish I could give it 2 1/2 stars, something between "It was ok" and "I liked it," because that's where it actually falls for me.
There are things I really like about it, but ultimately I'm a character person, and character is where this book falls a bit flat. The minor characters are great, the themes/ideas explored here are stimulating, there's quite a bit of humor (plenty of it dark) and awe-inspiring li...more
There are things I really like about it, but ultimately I'm a character person, and character is where this book falls a bit flat. The minor characters are great, the themes/ideas explored here are stimulating, there's quite a bit of humor (plenty of it dark) and awe-inspiring li...more
True story. 18th Century poet falls for plain gal.
Tis about inexplicable love. Such as directed at this novel. ;)
Romanticism turned to tedium. *gahs*
Tis about inexplicable love. Such as directed at this novel. ;)
Romanticism turned to tedium. *gahs*
This novel tells the story of the strange love affair that flowered between the 18th century German poet, Novalis, and a twelve year old girl named Sophie. He fell in love with her at first sight, and managed to persuade his and her parents to allow them to be engaged when she was fourteen. A year later, she was dead, and in his grief, he wrote some of the most beautiful and astonishing works in the German Romantic tradition. Four years later, he too was dead. The book is really more like a seri...more
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She was the daughter of Punch editor Edmund Knox (E.V. Knox) and the niece of theologian and crime writer Ronald Knox (Ronald A. Knox), cryptographer Dilly Knox and Bible scholar Wilfred Knox.
"When I was young," Fitzgerald later wrote, "I took my father and my three uncles for granted, and it never occurred to me that everyone else wasn't like them. Later on, I found that this was a mistake, but...more
More about Penelope Fitzgerald...
"When I was young," Fitzgerald later wrote, "I took my father and my three uncles for granted, and it never occurred to me that everyone else wasn't like them. Later on, I found that this was a mistake, but...more
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