Book description
This selection of Hoffmann's finest short stories vividly demonstrates
his intense imagination and preoccupation with the supernatural, placing
him at the forefront of both surrealism and the modern horror genre.
Suspense dominates tales such as Mademoiselle de Scudery, in which an
apprentice goldsmith and a female novelist find themselves caught up in
a series of jewel thefts and murders. In the sinister Sandman, a young
man's sanity is tormented by fears about a mysterious chemist, while in
The Choosing of a Bride a greedy father preys on the weaknesses of his
daughter's suitors. Master of the bizarre, Hoffman creates a sinister
and unsettling world combining love and madness, black humour and
bewildering illusion.
Hoffmann (1776 - 1822) studied law and entered the Prussian civil
service, but his over-riding ambition was to beomce a graphic artist
and painter. He turned to fiction only in his thirties and became one
of the most influential authors of his time.
R. J. Hollingdale has translated eleven of Nietschze'sbooks and
published two books about him. He has also translated works by
Schopenhauer, Goethe and Fontane.
