Effi Briest by Theodor Fontane
Telling the tragic tale of a socially advantageous but emotionally ruinous match, Theodor Fontane's Effi Briest is translated from the German by Hugh Rorrison
Unworldly young Effi Briest is married off to Baron von Innstetten, an austere and ambitious civil servant twice her age, who has little time for his new wife. Isolated and bored, Effi finds comfort and distraction in a brief liaison with Major Crampas, a married man with a dangerous reputation. But years later, when Effi has almost forgotten her affair, the secret returns to haunt her - with fatal consequences.
In taut, ironic prose Fontane depicts a world where sexuality and the will to enjoy life are stifled by vain pretences of civilization, and the obligations of circumstance. Considered to be his greatest novel, this is a humane, unsentimental portrait of a young woman torn between her duties as a wife and mother and the instincts of her heart.
Hugh Rorrison's clear, modern translation is accompanied by an introduction by Helen Chambers, which compares Effi with other literary heroines such as Emma Bovary and Anna Karenina.
Theodor Fontane (1819-98) was a German novelist and potitical reporter. Along with Effi Briest, Fontane is remembered for Frau Jenny Treibel (1892), an ironic criticism of middle-class hypocrisy and small-mindedness.
Format: Paperback | 256 pages
Dimensions (cm): 19.8 x 13 x 1.5 | 204g
Publication Date: 30 Nov 2000
Publisher: Penguin Books
Imprint: Penguin Classics
Publication City/Country: London, United Kingdom
Language: English
ISBN10: 0140447660
ISBN13: 9780140447668
Condition: Good
A vintage book that has been read but is in good condition. Very minimal damage to the cover including minor scuff marks along the edges, and a few small patches of the laminating have broken off the bottom edge of the back cover, but no holes or tears. The majority of pages are undamaged with very minimal creasing, but no tearing. No pencil underlining of text, and no highlighting of text. The name of a previous owner is written in blue pen at the top of the title page, but no other writing in margins. No missing pages.