The Dedalus Meyrink Reader
2010
First Published
4.47
Average Rating
366
Number of Pages
Gustav Meyrink is one of the most important and interesting authors of early 20th-century German Literature. To establish his reputation in the English-speaking world Dedalus has translated his five novels plus a collection of his short stories and published the first ever English-language biography of Meyrink. Now is the time to produce an overview of Meyrink in a single volume. The Dedalus Meyrink Reader has excerpts from all the translated books and a whole section of hitherto untranslated material, including the stories from the collection Flederm use and autobiographical articles. This volume is perfect companion for both the Meyrink scholar and the first-time Meyrink reader, containing as it does the whole gamut of Meyrink's writing from his love of the bizarre, the grotesque and the macabre to the spine-chilling occult tales and his quest to know what is on the Other Side of the Mirror.Novelist, satirist, translator of Charles Dickens, dandy, man-about-time, fencer, rower, banker and mystic seer, there are many, sometimes contradictory aspects to Gustav Meyrink, who must also be the only novelist to have challenged a whole army regiment to a duel. He has left behind a unique body of work, which can be sampled and enjoyed in The Dedalus Meyrink Reader.
Avg Rating
4.47
Number of Ratings
19
5 STARS
63%
4 STARS
32%
3 STARS
0%
2 STARS
0%
1 STARS
5%
goodreads
Author
Gustav Meyrink
Author · 11 books
The illegitimate child of a baron and an actress, Meyrinck spent his childhood in Germany, then moving to today's Czech Republic where he lived for 20 years. The city of Prague is present in most of his work along with various religious, occult and fantastic themes. Meyrinck practiced yoga all his life. Curious facts: He unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide at the age of 24. His son committed suicide at the same age with success. Meyrinck founded his own bank but was accused of fraud for which he spent 2 months in prison. He worked as a translator and translated in German 15 volumes by Charles Dickens while working on his own novels. Among his most famous works are Der Golem (1914) and Walpurgisnacht (1917).
