Geschichten aus dem Bürgerkrieg

by Ambrose Bierce

Hardcover, 1989

Rating

½ (49 ratings; 4)

Library's rating

User reviews

LibraryThing member ocgreg34

Ambrose Bierce served during the American Civil War, serving as a cartographer and officer for the Union. In these 16 compelling tales, Bierce conveys the sights and sounds from a soldier's perspective of the war, ranging from being in the heart of battle in "What I Saw of Shiloh" to a young boy

lost in the woods in "Chickamauga" to tales of the supernatural and of odd events, including "One of the Missing" -- a chilling tale of a soldier in an abandoned house -- and his famous "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge." Bierce's no-nonsense style puts the reader in the heart of the action, making the reader take an active part in the events.

Show Less

4 more

LibraryThing member JLittlefield

No other writer puts the reader into the soul of the soldier better than Mr. Bierce. His experience as a reconnaissance officer gave him the training to observe and repair to the rear with detail etched in mind, which he transcribed into his short stories. Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is a prime

example as is Chicamauga. One of the very few America authors appreciated by the Brits in the 19th century. And with good reason

Show Less

LibraryThing member lamour

Bierce served in the Union Army and was seriously wounded. After the war, he became a journalist and writer. These stories are gleaned from his publish collections so the editors probably considered these his best. I found them uneven but there were several that will stick with me especially the

story, " A Horseman in the Sky", in which a father and son find themselves on opposite sides although the reader is not made aware that the father is in the army until the final line of the narrative. The concluding line reminded me of an O. Henry story ending.
Bierce was noted for his dark view of life and it is very evident in this collection. Some of the descriptions of battlefields & the wounds suffered by the soldiers could have been taken from the WW II memoir, "With the Old Breed".

Show Less

LibraryThing member snash

A collection of short stories from the civil war by someone who was there. Too gruesome and enamored with war for my taste. Stories end with an ironic twist but often the same twist.

LibraryThing member JBreedlove

Personal account of the Civil War through short stories. An early O. Henry w a number of surprising and jarring endings. The early stories were better because the later stories were so similar. But a good account of a major destabilizing and long lasting upheaval which changed the country as told

from a personal point of view.

Show Less

Fewer

Genres

All Topics

General Fiction

Fiction

Publication

Haffmans (1989), Gebundene Ausgabe

Description

Newspaperman, short-story writer, poet, and satirist, Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) is one of the most striking and unusual literary figures America has produced. Dubbed "Bitter Bierce" for his vitriolic wit and biting satire, his fame rests largely on a celebrated compilation of barbed epigrams, The Devil's Dictionary, and a book of short stories (Tales of Soldiers and Civilians, 1891). Most of the 16 selections in this volume have been taken from the latter collection. The stories in this edition include: "What I Saw at Shiloh," "A Son of the Gods," "Four Days in Dixie," "One of the Missing," "A Horseman in the Sky," "The Coup de Grace," "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," "The Story of Conscience," "One Kind of Officer," "Chickamauga," and five more. Bierce's stories employ a buildup of suggestive realistic detail to produce grim and vivid tales often disturbing in their mood of fatalism and impending calamity. Hauntingly suggestive, they offer excellent examples of the author's dark pessimism and storytelling power.… (more)