Heinrich von Kleist - Marquise of O & Other Stories

HEINRICH von KLEIST (1777-1811) was a German poet, dramatist, novelist and short story writer.

Although his oeuvre is small, Kleist was a master of the art of narrative. He wrote his eight novellas later in his life and they show his radically original prose style, which is at the same time careful and detailed, almost bureaucratic, but also full of grotesque, ironic illusions and various sexual, political, and philosophical references. His prose often concentrates on minute details that then serve to subvert the narrative and the narrator, and throw the whole process of narration into question.

Two English translations of Kleist's stories are represented here:

* THE MARQUISE OF O & OTHER STORIES (Frederick Ungar, 1973). Translated with an Introduction by Martin Greenberg; Preface by Thomas Mann (PDF).

* THE MARQUISE OF O & OTHER STORIES (Penguin, 2004). Translated with an Introduction by David Luke and Nigel Reeves (EPUB).