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The Kidnapped Saint and Other Stories
Insight into the secretive author's revolutionary journalistic career in wartime Germany and close relationship with the Mexican Indians and mestijos is provided through short stories and a selection from his novel
- GenresShort Stories
198 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1975
About the author
B. Traven
127 books261 followersB. Traven was the pen name of a German novelist, whose real name, nationality, date and place of birth and details of biography are all subject to dispute. A rare certainty is that B. Traven lived much of his life in Mexico, where the majority of his fiction is also set—including his best-known work, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1927), which was adapted as the Academy Award nominated film of the same name in 1948.
Virtually every detail of Traven's life has been disputed and hotly debated. There were many hypotheses on the true identity of B. Traven, some of them wildly fantastic. Most agree, that Traven was Ret Marut, a German stage actor and anarchist, who supposedly left Europe for Mexico around 1924. There are also reasons to believe that Marut/Traven's real name was Otto Feige and that he was born in Schwiebus in Brandenburg, modern day Świebodzin in Poland. B. Traven in Mexico is also connected with Berick Traven Torsvan and Hal Croves, both of whom appeared and acted in different periods of the writer's life. Both, however, denied being Traven and claimed that they were his literary agents only, representing him in contacts with his publishers.
B. Traven is the author of twelve novels, one book of reportage and several short stories, in which the sensational and adventure subjects combine with a critical attitude towards capitalism, betraying the socialist and even anarchist sympathies of the writer. B. Traven's best known works include the novels The Death Ship from 1926 and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre from 1927, in 1948 filmed by John Huston, and the so-called Jungle Novels, also known as the Caoba cyclus (from the Spanish word caoba, meaning mahogany), a group of six novels (including The Carreta, Government), published in the years 1930-1939, set among Mexican Indians just before and during the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century. B. Traven's novels and short stories became very popular as early as the interwar period and retained this popularity after the war; they were also translated into many languages. Most of B. Traven's books were published in German first and their English editions appeared later; nevertheless the author always claimed that the English versions were the original ones and that the German versions were only their translations. This claim is not taken seriously.
Virtually every detail of Traven's life has been disputed and hotly debated. There were many hypotheses on the true identity of B. Traven, some of them wildly fantastic. Most agree, that Traven was Ret Marut, a German stage actor and anarchist, who supposedly left Europe for Mexico around 1924. There are also reasons to believe that Marut/Traven's real name was Otto Feige and that he was born in Schwiebus in Brandenburg, modern day Świebodzin in Poland. B. Traven in Mexico is also connected with Berick Traven Torsvan and Hal Croves, both of whom appeared and acted in different periods of the writer's life. Both, however, denied being Traven and claimed that they were his literary agents only, representing him in contacts with his publishers.
B. Traven is the author of twelve novels, one book of reportage and several short stories, in which the sensational and adventure subjects combine with a critical attitude towards capitalism, betraying the socialist and even anarchist sympathies of the writer. B. Traven's best known works include the novels The Death Ship from 1926 and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre from 1927, in 1948 filmed by John Huston, and the so-called Jungle Novels, also known as the Caoba cyclus (from the Spanish word caoba, meaning mahogany), a group of six novels (including The Carreta, Government), published in the years 1930-1939, set among Mexican Indians just before and during the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century. B. Traven's novels and short stories became very popular as early as the interwar period and retained this popularity after the war; they were also translated into many languages. Most of B. Traven's books were published in German first and their English editions appeared later; nevertheless the author always claimed that the English versions were the original ones and that the German versions were only their translations. This claim is not taken seriously.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 19, 2016
How strange that such great vignettes of the lives of Mexicans be written by a German anarchist in the early 20th century in English. This collection has a great informative introduction that provides a great crash course to the mystery that is B Traven. As the first I've read of him, he offers cutting poker faced observations into his travels through Mexico circa revolution through these small fictions. His most common subject through these deal with the nature of the Mexican Catholic faith. Through stories like the title story and "Reviving the Dead" and "Accomplices" he describes the curious blend of superstition, practicality, spirituality, and historicity in the faith of common Mexicans. That he manages to do this without casting aspersions seems to me the truest testament of his empathy for his adopted nation.
Confusingly however, the second story "Submission" offers a heavy dose of mysogyny and machismo delivered in a way that suggests endorsement, which surprised me coming from an progressive anarchist. Sure it's probably reflective of Mexican society especially at the time, but how can Traven square his radical egalitarian beliefs with such rank mysogyny?
Confusingly however, the second story "Submission" offers a heavy dose of mysogyny and machismo delivered in a way that suggests endorsement, which surprised me coming from an progressive anarchist. Sure it's probably reflective of Mexican society especially at the time, but how can Traven square his radical egalitarian beliefs with such rank mysogyny?
August 7, 2017
Damn! Some of the best stories about Mexico ever, and that Germany essay! I've got to read more B. Traven.
March 31, 2020
Beautifully crafted stories set in Mexico. As in much of B. Traven's fiction that I've read, women don't fare very well. One story in particular, "Submission", is just awful, but I'll never forget it.
September 28, 2015
More short stories set in Mexico. Not as good as the collection in "The Night Visitor etc."
October 15, 2022
The kidnapped saint,The story of a bomb and Submission were my favorites.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews