Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Dedalus Limited (2011), Edition: 2, Paperback, 172 pages
Description
Comic, fantastic and grotesque, Walpurgisnacht uses Prague as the setting for a clash between German officialdom immured in the ancient castle above the Moldau, and a Czech revolution seething in the city below. Written in 1917, Walpurgisnacht continues the message of The Green Face, of a decadent society on the brink of collapse and of a Europe past salvation. In it we see Meyrink's exceptional narrative powers at their height.
Media reviews
knjigainfo.com
Radnja Valpurgijske noći je smeštena u Meyrinkov voljeni Prag, Zlatni grad prožet tajnama i magijom, i započinje sablasnim događajem koji se jedne večeri odigrao u palati Elzenvanger. Pojava mesečara Zrcadla, koji prekida partiju vista grupe dokonih plemića, označava početak košmara koji
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će uskoro progutati Prag i njegovu okolinu.Naime, uskoro se ispostavlja da je Zrcadlo samo marioneta kojom upravlja neka misteriozna i zloslutna sila.
Od groteske, jeze i onostranog satkana je mreža u koju se, poput leptirova što će nahraniti pauka, upliću junaci Valpurgijske noći. Vremešni carski lekar Tadeus „Pingvin“ Flugbajl i njegova bivša ljubavnica „češka Lizl“ suočavaju se s greškama prošlosti, dok ih iza svakog ugla vrebaju zamke i smrtonosne opsene.
Siromašni violinista Otokar i plemkinja Poliksena se u kovitlacu nemira i vlastite sputanosti bore za zajedničku budućnost. Uskoro postaje jasno da izlaz iz začaranog lavirinta nije lako pronaći... Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member paradoxosalpha
Myerink's Walpurgisnacht is set in the castle district (Hradschin) of Prague during World War I. The aristocratic inhabitants of the district don't view themselves as residents of Prague, and they are oblivious to the brewing civil unrest and the obsolescence of the Austrian political order. To
The narrative is impressionistic and mysterious, full of portents and wry observations. The flavor of the novel reminded me a lot of Moorcock's Brothel in Rosenstrasse, which is set in the same part of the world during a previous war, with similar social myopias afflicting the characters, as well as twinning the themes of decadence and senescence. Walpurgisnacht has elements of the supernatural missing from the Moorcock book, though. Lucifer's soliloquy in Chapter Seven is a piece of theological insight on a par with the similar exposition of Janicot in Cabell's The High Place, but it goes further, in providing a glimpse of important magical doctrine.
The technique of aweysha, or magical domination of the personality, is important to the plot of the novel, but one of its fascinating features is the ambivalence of agency in such occult transactions. To what extent are those manipulating others themselves psychic puppets? The occult conundrum meshes perfectly with the moribund persistence of social custom and the horrors of violent revolution.
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this setting, add an apocalyptic occultist sensibility, according to which an ancestor possesses her descendent through the medium of a painted portrait, the one-eyed Hussite general Jan Žižka returns from the grave, and Lucifer visits the dreams of a retired court physician.The narrative is impressionistic and mysterious, full of portents and wry observations. The flavor of the novel reminded me a lot of Moorcock's Brothel in Rosenstrasse, which is set in the same part of the world during a previous war, with similar social myopias afflicting the characters, as well as twinning the themes of decadence and senescence. Walpurgisnacht has elements of the supernatural missing from the Moorcock book, though. Lucifer's soliloquy in Chapter Seven is a piece of theological insight on a par with the similar exposition of Janicot in Cabell's The High Place, but it goes further, in providing a glimpse of important magical doctrine.
The technique of aweysha, or magical domination of the personality, is important to the plot of the novel, but one of its fascinating features is the ambivalence of agency in such occult transactions. To what extent are those manipulating others themselves psychic puppets? The occult conundrum meshes perfectly with the moribund persistence of social custom and the horrors of violent revolution.
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LibraryThing member JHemlock
Superstition, lust, witches, lucifer, incest and European revolution through an indifferent and fish eyed lens. 1917 is one of those years that defined the 20th century and pushed Europe's borders to a breaking point in which the cracks still ripple beneath the worlds feet today. The Russian
This is classic literature at its finest. Coming off the gloomy, spiderweb encrusted stories of the Victorian era Gustav Meyrink paints a picture that is both drab but has a silver lining(a very difficult to see silver lining)that is having a very difficult time finding the eye of the needle. Very good literature that has been overshadowed by many other celebrated stories. A hidden gem.
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Revolution, the rise of communism and the building blocks of WW2. This bizarre political and supernatural tale takes place in Prague on the eve of a revolution which just so happens to arrive at the time of Walpurgisnacht. A jaded and indifferent group of aristocrats learn, all but too late, that a peasant uprising is closing in on them through what might or might not be a personal appearance made by the devil himself. Is he real, does he influence the happenings or is the imagination of this catalyst just another reason for bloodshed? Either way it is time for change in the city of Prague. The world turns as it must and those who die will rot where they fall.This is classic literature at its finest. Coming off the gloomy, spiderweb encrusted stories of the Victorian era Gustav Meyrink paints a picture that is both drab but has a silver lining(a very difficult to see silver lining)that is having a very difficult time finding the eye of the needle. Very good literature that has been overshadowed by many other celebrated stories. A hidden gem.
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Language
Original language
German
Original publication date
1917
1993 - English (Mitchell)
Physical description
172 p.; 5 inches
ISBN
1907650172 / 9781907650178