Baron Bagge Count Luna

by Alexander Lernet-Holenia

This book includes two short novels by Alexander Lernet-Holenia, dealing with the experiences of a military officer at the close of World War I, and with the guilt of an industrialist who inadvertently causes Count Luna to be sent to a concentration camp in war-torn Europe..

The thin line between life and death, between reality and fantasy, is skillfully explored in these two short novels. As a writer, Alexander Lemet-Holenia combines the best of the classic tradition in literature with a surprisingly contemporary understanding of structure and language. Passages in Count Luna tracing lineage and metaphorical relationships are brilliant.

Genres: Literature

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

Alexander Lernet-Holenia (1897 — 1976) was an Austrian poet, novelist, dramaturgist and writer of screenplays and historical studies who produced a heterogeneous literary opus that included poetry, psychological novels describing the intrusion of otherworldly or unreal experiences into reality, and recreational films. He was born and died in Vienna.

Reviews

[S̶e̶a̶n̶ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found both of these somewhat underwhelming, especially in light of various glowing reviews of them by GR friends. It was almost as if I'd read totally different books. I enjoyed Baron Bagge slightly more, so rounding up to a 3 for both.

[Hannah Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If a book is to turn into a dream this is the perfect way to write it, seamless and timeless Barron Bagge travels through his dream as reality and you would never guess it was not. I questioned whether what he had said was in fact a dream at all because it felt real to read.

[Jeff Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating for Baron Bagge only.

[Kwan-Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strangely fairytale-like in its vivid scenes, internal predictions and storytelling - as if we already know what is going to happen. Even the landscape and the descriptions are so dreamlike, with a mesmerising depth

[Andrew Weitzel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two interesting and weird short novels. I had not heard of this guy when I randomly picked this up at a book sale. I will definitely be reading more of him in the future.

[Agnes Erlandsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bagge och Henry från Stay hade bondat som fan

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baron Bagge: 4/5. quick, easy read. The military lingo was a bit confusing so I just skimmed. The story was good and the ending was really interesting.

Count Luna: 2.5/5. The beginning was really captivating but the main story itself didn’t interest me as much as Baron Bagge did. There were too many discourses such as the 15 pages spent on the history of Rome and it’s catacombs including the etymology of the word catacomb. The ending was also interesting but I felt bogged down by the discourses by the time I reached it. The messages of both novels are unique and do make you think for a bit after finishing, though Baron Bagge more than Count Luna.

[Reid · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read only Baron Bagge (oddly enough, though there are editions where these two stand alone, they are not included on Goodreads). An odd little contemplation on war and death. A book of its time, published in 1956, through a more modern lens it is rather melodramatic and emotionally bombastic. No spoilers here, but the central conceit has been done many times and better. Baron Bagge is not by any means unreadable and, at around 100 pages a quick read, but I find the reverence which some seem to have for it rather perplexing.

[Steve Wilkerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baron Bragge only

Baron Bragge, a first lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian army, is a member of a squadron on patrol searching for the Russian army. His captain is Semler-Wasserneuburg. Bragge is telling his story to an unsuspecting individual. The squadron crosses a river expecting Russian fire but instead of soldiers, the village is full of revelry. Bragge falls in love with a Charlotte Szent-Kitalys near the village Nagymihaly. They are married as the squadron heads out to continue its search. It’s a very well told ghost story.

[Richard Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The people of Aldeburgh, a town on the cold East Coast of Suffolk, are all reading Baron Bagge, a novella by the Austrian Alexander Lernet-Holenia, set in the Carpathian Mountains in the First World War. Lernet-Holenia was a friend, almost pupil, of Stefan Zweig, who wrote about the book first published in 1936: “Truly you wrote this unforgettable novella in a state of grace.”

My blog: https://richardswsmith.wordpress.com/...

[Harrison Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short but real novellas, hard to believe an entire story can fit into such few pages. Baron Bagge is a beautiful tale of love in conflict, examining the choices of war and thoughtless conditioning of soldiers. Artillery, bullets and rocks seem so similar to Lernert-Holenia; the dream phase appears to real, perhaps it must be to the lieutenant as the alternative is far worse.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Baron Bagge only. Well written, short, and somewhat interesting. Not something that I would want to read much more of. Gave an interesting glance of early 20th century Hungary and Central Europe during WW1.

[Marina DeCotiis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Baron Bagge only (for some reason goodreads doesn’t have the standalone translation - the copy I read had a forward by Patti Smith and letters of the author’s at the end that were quite interesting)

[Biophilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I have ever read in my life.

[Robert Reinhard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deceptively seductive phantasmagoria and ghost story

[Richard Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly haunting novella.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baron Bagge only

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

[guy who has only read Le Grand Meaulnes]: getting some real Grand Meaulnes vibes from this novel

[Jack Gormley · Rating 2 out of 5]

‘and he woke up and it was all a dream’… ffs

[Gürkan Çoşkun · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/10

[Paige Ramsamy · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHAT THE FUCK? That ending absolutely destroyed me in the best way possible…

(Baron Bagge)

[Paulette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just not my day for this one.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this book as a teenager, and have never ceased to the two novellas fascinating.