A Shot from the Pulpit (criminal novellas from German classic)
In this compilation, there are four prominent authors of German realism – Franz Grillparzer, Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, Conrad Ferdinand Meyer, Theodor Fontane, with their stories with a criminal motif. As the depiction of the wrongdoer’s motifs does not come easy in literature, it would be inappropriate to narrow them down to a single dimension.
Abel Hradscheck, inkeeper and trader in a village near Odra, comes across a skeleton of a French soldier when digging in a garden. When the travelling salesman Szulski stops by briefly to demand debts, Hradscheck, who is a failing trader, gets a brilliant idea. A carriage fell down into Odra, rumours in a village have it. There is not a single trace of the Pole left. Does Hradscheck have anything in common with his disappearance? The narrative shows that human crime has been both repelling and fascinating since time immemorial and that also criminal literature has its own history. In this compilation, there are four prominent authors of German realism – Franz Grillparzer, Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, Conrad Ferdinand Meyer, Theodor Fontane, with their stories with a criminal motif. As the depiction of the wrongdoer’s motifs does not come easy in literature, it would be inappropriate to narrow them down to a single dimension. They do not have anything in common with a classic detective story, however, they do not lack suspense, even though we know the wrongdoer since the beginning or we suspect them, at least.
Details
Pectus publishing house, Košice 2017
ISBN: 978-80-89435-30-2
hardcover, number of pages: 264
format: 120 x 190 mm
wholesale price with VAT: 9,10 €