Masquerade and Other Stories

by Robert Walser, Susan Bernofsky (Translator)

Born in Switzerland in 1878, Robert Walser worked as a bank clerk, a butler in a castle, and an inventor's assistant before discovering what William H. Gass calls his "true profession." From 1899 until he was misdiagnosed a schizophrenic and hospitalized in 1933, Walser produced nine novels and more than a thousand short stories and prose pieces. Walser's contemporary admirers were few but well-placed. They included Franz Kafka, Hermann Hesse, Robert Musil, and Walter benjamin. Today Robert Walser is widely regarded as one of the most important and original literary voices of the twentieth century. In "Masquerade" and Other Stories , Susan Bernofsky, presents a representative selection of Walser's work, from his first published fiction to the stately prose of the last years before his voice vanished forever behind the asylum walls. Written between 1899 and 1933, these 64 sketches, scenes, stories, and wanderings through landscapes and dreamscapes are characterized by startling, skewed comparisons, warpings of syntax, vagaries or perspective, and a delight in contradiction. Quirky, playful, and sometimes bizarre, Walser's texts were unconventional by the standards in the context of today's fiction.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Literature, Short Story Collection, German Literature, Germany

232 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1990

About the author

Robert Walser, a German-Swiss prose writer and novelist, enjoyed high repute among a select group of authors and critics in Berlin early in his career, only to become nearly forgotten by the time he committed himself to the Waldau mental clinic in Bern in January 1929. Since his death in 1956, however, Walser has been recognized as German Switzerland’s leading author of the first half of the twentieth century, perhaps Switzerland’s single significant modernist. In his homeland he has served as an emboldening exemplar and a national classic during the unparalleled expansion of German-Swiss literature of the last two generations.

Walser’s writing is characterized by its linguistic sophistication and animation. His work exhibits several sets of tensions or contrasts: between a classic modernist devotion to art and a ceaseless questioning of the moral legitimacy and practical utility of art; between a spirited exuberance in style and texture and recurrent reflective melancholy; between the disparate claims of nature and culture; and between democratic respect for divergence in individuals and elitist reaction to the values of the mass culture and standardization of the industrial age.

Reviews

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Walser is a masterful writer, echoing Kafka and Buchner, and died on a pathway in the Alps after some years of madness, found by two children and their dog. His story always touches me and his story __Kleist in Thun___ describes a historical event where Kleist rented a small cottage on the edge of Lake Thun in the Swiss Alps, and set about writing. Similar in phrasing and tone to Georg Buchner's Lenz, and echoing the re-telling of a writer's struggle in the face of the alpine sublime, the wrestle with self-expression and spiritual/physical yearnings. If you find this story interesting, Lenz will captivate you, and if the story of Kleist intrigues you, then Christa Wolf's No Place On Earth, which imagines a long conversation between Kleist and the poet Gunderrode, is a wonderful next read. One of my favorite writers, favorite stories.

[M. Sarki · Rating 3 out of 5]

The very short stories of Robert Walser in no way thrill me as much as his longer fiction does. Even though, I do like to read them. It is amazing to realize for oneself the same as the critics say about his work in the short form. That though he often repeats himself each story seems fresh in its own way. And not too long after finishing, the story is forgotten, which I find very strange indeed. There seems to be many short stories of Robert Walser available to read and even more on the way. I suppose I will keep circling his wagon for some time to come.

[Rick Seery]

A rating would seem futile.

[Zappster]

One for the Walser completionists? Probably. It hasn't deterred me from trying more from the author as some of the pieces landed with me. On the whole though a bit of a slog. Stopped at pg 50ish. Probably not one intended to be read in extended sessions and, rather, to be dipped in and out of, as the mood strikes. Hard to say if I'll come back to it however.

[Lulu]

his first published story, “Greifen Lake” (1899)

[Gideonleek · Rating 5 out of 5]

💌

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

is it actually, uh, somewhere in these stories that the phrase "petite sublime" is used? probably—which makes the idea of deciding the phrase is a decent description of them rather too easy. regardless, it's rather good—both complimentary and also, in its undercurrents, bleak & constricting. sublime doesn't seem like a concept that should be subject to spatial qualifications and petite is far too thoughtful and qualifying of an adjective, feels like a fancy curly bow. like the conventional adjectives of beauty and delight walser is fond of, especially in the earlier pieces. (decent of gass to point and tease that characteristic out, in an essay that's remarkable mostly for how much it sounds like, well, a glass short story.) probably best read with other books at the same time, oops. somehow (well, actually, it's clear how) walser is more concentrated on its own, jangling among other contrasting printed matter, than with a whole lot more walser.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for a crazy collection of prose pieces - dozens upon dozens of them! - many only one page long, seemingly pointless, undisciplined & thoroughly confusing?!? you better believe it!! I find reading Walser to be one of the great pleasures. certainly there are some mystifying throw-away pieces here & there, but who cares? just go to the next & you're sure to find some observation or turn of phrase that stops you in your tracks & (re-) awakens in you the ridiculous ecstasy of being in the world. a great deal of these writings actually appeared in newspapers, which is mind-blowing in itself. many of these sketches flow organically as a leisurely walk through mountainous landscapes and villages, which is how Walser spent much of his time, and some pieces achieve the precious quality of hidden treasure. all of them provide insight into Walser's singular brain, and therefore are all worthwhile, even essential. constantly surprising, occasionally hilarious, and even at times cutting to the sweet core of existence itself. just don't get hung up on silly ideas like plot, relevance, or resolution, & enjoy these simple meanderings for what they are. after all, the journey's the thing, not the destination!

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

remarkable - despite what feels like too-cute victorian coqueteria, one realizes that walser´s work is probably even more radical than stien, for example in ¨Tender Buttons...¨ in terms of arepresentational writing(???am i allowed)...his texts opperate horozontally and vertically, not falling heads-over-heels forwards like an ordinary narrative, instead they often break at the point of an elipsis before re-connecting with a prior point, til the vignettes are stitched up into insane, delicate snarls...on the other hand, when walser trys to play nietzsche his platitudes taste like rock candy. gass has a good essay on walser in ¨finding a form,¨which is included in this hopkins collection.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seems like this one would be better titled "Masquerade and Other Prose Pieces" instead of "Masquerade and Other Stories" as Walser appears to have his own idea what constitutes a story just as he definitely has his own idea about the way to do a lot of different things in writing. Calling these prose pieces just might make it easier and I think Walser is better just to enjoy as opposed to having to debate about anything. These pieces tend to wander. Walser starts where he likes, goes where he likes, and stops things when he feels like he's done. He definitely did his own thing, which I do enjoy. It just seems better to avoid nitpicking about it.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible

[Donald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sat down with this again last night, truly sublime, what a pleasant way to spend the evening.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended ten times over.

[Clarina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must!