3,5

Murr è un gatto colto e intelligente che ama la lettura e si dedica con impegno anche alla scrittura. Il libro, infatti, è un'autobiografia in cui Murr non solo parla della sua vita ma esprime anche le sue considerazioni sulla società. Murr, però, per scrivere la sua biografia, usa dei fogli che contenevano la biografia di Kreisler, un altro personaggio di Hoffmann. Le due biografie in questo modo si sovrappongono e l'editore stampa un libro che contiene le due biografie che s'intrecciano e s More...

Sometimes one good book leads to another, and as 'Tomcat Murr' is referenced in a recent favourite of mine - Andrew Crumey's 'Mobius Dick'- I thought I'd give it a go. It's a really nice idea: two manuscripts, one a satirical biography of a tortured musician and the other an autobiography of an educated cat, get accidentally spliced together at the printers ( so that's where Calvino got his idea from ) into a single book whose narratives constantly interrupt eachother. The problem I found, howev More...

This is one of the few editions (or the only one?) that has the original and full story of the book, even though it's Reclam. It's the best edition of this book I have found so far.

E.T.A. Hoffmann never ceases to amaze me; what he managed to do with this book is something I have not seen/read since.

It was very confusing at first, but once I had sorted the book into two parts, it got less confusing and actually understood what the author was trying to do.

I can only recommend it to students of Ger More...

One of the first magical realist novels and 'one of the strangest novel of the nineteenth century'. A fun read with some surreal moments and some rather rambling bits that ended up being a little tiring. Some bits were laugh-out-loud hilarious (hint hint!) with a little more than a sprinkling of gothic horror plus some very tear-jerking moments (especially if you are a cat lover, which Hoffman was). The introduction is very interesting and worth a read too, but I would read it after the reading More...

It's always rewarding when you read a book like this - two hundred years old and full of references to bourgeois German society - and find that it is genuinely funny, that the humour transcends cultural and historical boundaries. Here, the characteristics of the pretentious, deluded cat Murr and the intense, anti-social composer Kriesler are easily identifiable in any era.

Murr engages in a sort of bildungsroman, starting off as a precocious kitten fond of half-reading classics and amusing himse More...

I've been wanting to read this book ever since I read a collection of ETA Hoffmann's stories 2 years ago-ish. So far it is as enjoyable as I had hoped and expected it to be.

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After finishing: I must say after the initial novelty of the form, characters and setting wore off, I didn't enjoy this book all that much and it was a struggle to see it through to the end. My main criticisms: The Kreisler plot is so convoluted and every time it begins to pick up, a Murr chapter breaks the momentum. More...

Fabulous! I just wish that Hoffmann had lived long enough to write the third book/section. We're left with a cliffhanger that will never be resolved (although I can imagine all sorts of fan fiction possibilities).

The stories of both Murr and Kreisler are fragmentary, fun, suspenseful, action-filled romps. And with all of that, they also contain fantastical and gothic elements.

I will need to read this again so that I can better explain the ways this book works for me.

I am so glad I picked up this book (enticed by the cover engraving of the handsome titular cat). Murr will make you laugh out loud. Highlights were his encounters with Ponto the poodle, especially their first meeting. The other story, about the composer Kreisler, was not as immediately accessible but soon pulled me in. It's really a pretty amazing technical feat for Hoffman to have pulled together these two stories that are so different in tone in such a way that they're pretty much equally enjo More...

This was a strange one. Two interwoven and overlapping stories, one written by a cat about his life and adventures and the other a version of 19th century courtly melodrama. Both were widely interspersed with rambles on Art, Music, Poetry and so on, which made them hard to wade through at times. But there were also sections of sublime foolishness and flights of whimsy (the cat duel is a doozy). I think of this one as fibre in my mental diet. 2.5/5

this dazzling performance proves that recursiveness and postmodernism have occurred time and time again, and are sometimes performed with blood in their veins, positively effervescent blood! This is a wonderful and perplexingly overlooked book.

Loved this book. I get the impression that folks are more familiar with Hoffmann's other works (The Sandman, Tales from Hoffmann etc.) but this too is a gem. Well worth reading if you have an interest in the literary fantastic!

Lebensansichten des Katers Murr - E.T.A. Hoffmann (1820)
Translation by Anthea Bell. (Great translator by the way.)
Described as "One of the funniest and strangest novels of the nineteenth century."

Didn't expect the content would be so sophisticated. Hard to read but definitely worth it. Though ending was very disappointing.

I just couldn't finish this. Not only was the type font frustratingly small, but apparently my brain is, too - or maybe I just don't read 'cat' well. I found it confusing as hell. :P

Thanks, Mike, for the lovely gift. I'm sorry I couldn't do it justice.

Read in Hugarian: Murr Kandúr Életszemlélete (valamint Johannes Kreisler karmester töredékes életrajza)

Its a lol-random type of book from the old days.

Every crazy cat lady must read this book!

Cuando tenga un gato, se llamará Murr.

One of my favorite books.

purr... purr...

4,5

My friend's German boyfriend was impressed that I was even attempting to read this, so points for that. It's whimsical and amusing, but I think it gets tiresome after a while. Also, unsatisfying ending much! I don't think that's giving anything away.

What a genius! I'm so thrilled, I really regret that there's no following 3rd part as announced and planned ... sometimes life's just unfair. But this novel belongs to the best stuff!!!

Didn't finish it yet.. But I'm so much in love with the idea of the book!! <3

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