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Wally, Die Zweiflerin- Wally the Skeptic: Introduction and Translation by Ruth-Ellen Boetcher-Joeres
Excerpt from Wally, die Roman
Qbeit entfernt aber bon einfeiiiger Qterfechtung he5 %rauenrechtß, gibt her 9toman unerfchrocten realiftifche 23eitriige 3ur 'ßftuhologie her mohernen ra u. Baesmae ner ann um mit Goethe au fprechen ineift hiefe Seite heß 9tomanä unberlennbar auf hie literarifche (entboieblung her Gegrntoart bor. Qbelch ein 'llbftanh bon her früheren 3healifrerung her {frau, wenn ißallh „sch muß mich, ich muß hie {frauen haffen; bon Eliatur finh mir graufam unb au hen Gefühlen, welche tote au äußern wohl unter Ilmftiinhm fähig wären, haben tbit urfpriing= lich nur hie bloßen ülnlagen u. F. F. Im neunten Ra pitel heß erften ßueheß.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Qbeit entfernt aber bon einfeiiiger Qterfechtung he5 %rauenrechtß, gibt her 9toman unerfchrocten realiftifche 23eitriige 3ur 'ßftuhologie her mohernen ra u. Baesmae ner ann um mit Goethe au fprechen ineift hiefe Seite heß 9tomanä unberlennbar auf hie literarifche (entboieblung her Gegrntoart bor. Qbelch ein 'llbftanh bon her früheren 3healifrerung her {frau, wenn ißallh „sch muß mich, ich muß hie {frauen haffen; bon Eliatur finh mir graufam unb au hen Gefühlen, welche tote au äußern wohl unter Ilmftiinhm fähig wären, haben tbit urfpriing= lich nur hie bloßen ülnlagen u. F. F. Im neunten Ra pitel heß erften ßueheß.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
- GenresGerman Literature
130 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1835
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
i-want-money
November 13, 2016I mean just holy... who is this guy? He's all over Bottom's Dream. And even with my smattering of Germanistik, I've never heard of the guy. Neither have you. Nor anyone else here outside of course of possibly Friend Matt. And Friend Michael (I assume). A few others? Did Schmidt do a dialogue about him? One might suspect.... He gets a nice Reclam here ; knowing the Germans, there's probably a Gesammelte Werke or something. Any Englishings? I doubt I'd want to read him ; but still.
BURIED.
BURIED.
April 21, 2018
Gutzkow shows himself as having certainly profited from Balzac, more ostentatiously than his compatriots like Heine and Börne. His tribute to Balzac's characterization tricks are the best part of this book, especially the unhappiness of marriage tempted by impossible true love, which Gutzkow could've lifted right out of Duchesse de Langeais. It is there that we can see why he gets the reputation for bringing French-style realism to German literature, albeit at times a flatteringly direct impersonation thereof.
The book works best when Cäsar is Gutzkow's hilarious mouthpiece. My favorite part is when Wally and he fall in love over ideas. Gutzkow reminds us of the difference between French realism and German naturalism: the Germans, no matter how serious they're being, always have the heart full. It reminds me of some moments from my own youth.
However I can't say that Gutzkow succeeded fully in connecting the dots that he set up. Imagine if Gutzkow's homie Büchner had lived, maybe he'd have paid Gutzkow back for publishing Dantons Tod with a solid edit.
The book certainly tested my German, but I'm not sure if I ever got a really good idea of why Wally is so conflicted/interested/perplexed by Christianity. Is it nineteenth-century hysteria or ennui? The scene where she and Cäsar commiserate about their love being locked up in other marriages is clear enough, and she seems jealous of his unreligious wedding since it's between a Jewish and a Christian, but then what?
In the last third we get a series of earnest cracks by Gutzkow, disciple of Hegel, at a critique of Christians' various philosophical problems, but it's distributed throughout Wally's diary, then a huge philosophical narration in the form of an article from a friend; a trick with which Balzac only gets away at the FRONT of his books and not in the last twenty percent. At least now I learned where Thomas Mann learned to pull shit like that. Gutzkow seems to have lost the grip on plotting through philosophical swamps that Balzac and Stendhal used to steer their stories.
After the story ends, nevertheless, in the HUGE section for zeitgenössischen Literaturstreit, are some really good documents from the time that're worth reading. Notable are Gutzkow's indignant response to the cultural forces who called his book heretical and dangerous, which contains raging sentences that would make Marx shut up, grin and take a breath; and Hermann Marggraf's hilariously backhanded defense of the book and its readership. I guess I have a German sense of humor inherited from my grandparents: no matter how thick a German text is, I always know when they speak with the best intentions, even and especially while blasting the subject's shortcomings.
I suppose all in all that the book is best read as an indictment and a grito against the lack of freedom in nineteenth-century Germany, who never had a revolution and by 1850 was seething, fed up, with absolutism and religion. The book is just as risky and admirable for its courage as anything by Heine and the rest, Marx and the rest; just not that fun to read.
The book works best when Cäsar is Gutzkow's hilarious mouthpiece. My favorite part is when Wally and he fall in love over ideas. Gutzkow reminds us of the difference between French realism and German naturalism: the Germans, no matter how serious they're being, always have the heart full. It reminds me of some moments from my own youth.
However I can't say that Gutzkow succeeded fully in connecting the dots that he set up. Imagine if Gutzkow's homie Büchner had lived, maybe he'd have paid Gutzkow back for publishing Dantons Tod with a solid edit.
The book certainly tested my German, but I'm not sure if I ever got a really good idea of why Wally is so conflicted/interested/perplexed by Christianity. Is it nineteenth-century hysteria or ennui? The scene where she and Cäsar commiserate about their love being locked up in other marriages is clear enough, and she seems jealous of his unreligious wedding since it's between a Jewish and a Christian, but then what?
In the last third we get a series of earnest cracks by Gutzkow, disciple of Hegel, at a critique of Christians' various philosophical problems, but it's distributed throughout Wally's diary, then a huge philosophical narration in the form of an article from a friend; a trick with which Balzac only gets away at the FRONT of his books and not in the last twenty percent. At least now I learned where Thomas Mann learned to pull shit like that. Gutzkow seems to have lost the grip on plotting through philosophical swamps that Balzac and Stendhal used to steer their stories.
After the story ends, nevertheless, in the HUGE section for zeitgenössischen Literaturstreit, are some really good documents from the time that're worth reading. Notable are Gutzkow's indignant response to the cultural forces who called his book heretical and dangerous, which contains raging sentences that would make Marx shut up, grin and take a breath; and Hermann Marggraf's hilariously backhanded defense of the book and its readership. I guess I have a German sense of humor inherited from my grandparents: no matter how thick a German text is, I always know when they speak with the best intentions, even and especially while blasting the subject's shortcomings.
I suppose all in all that the book is best read as an indictment and a grito against the lack of freedom in nineteenth-century Germany, who never had a revolution and by 1850 was seething, fed up, with absolutism and religion. The book is just as risky and admirable for its courage as anything by Heine and the rest, Marx and the rest; just not that fun to read.
August 3, 2025
Eines der umstrittensten Werke der deutschen Literatur der ersten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts. Ein guter Wilder, der durch den tödlichen Einfluss des Zweifels der Aufklärung korrumpiert wird. Zahlreiche Parallelen zu Madame Bovary. Vielleicht etwas flach im ersten Teil.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews