Book Description
The Swiss writer Robert Walser is one of the quiet geniuses of twentieth-century literature. Largely self-taught and altogether indifferent to worldly success, Walser wrote a range of short stories, essays, as well as four novels, of which Jakob von Gunten is widely recognized as the finest. The book is a young man's inquisitive and irreverent account of life in what turns out to be the most uncanny of schools. It is the work of an outsider artist, a writer of uncompromising originality and disconcerting humor, whose beautiful sentences have the simplicity and strangeness of a painting by Henri Rousseau.
Customer Reviews:
Shy of recondite, but completely enjoyable.......2004-04-26
Jakob von Guten is akin to reading verses stolen from the center of a Dylan Thomas stanza, lacking the illumination that arrives with the entirety of the poem. Yet beautiful and provoking haphazard thought, nothing is ever cement. The story twists and floats from one meaning to the next, like a dream where rules no longer apply. If they exist, they are in constant change.
Although many attempt it, the book is most certainly an experience without compare. Walser's idiosyncratic and strangely humble Jakob makes an alluring and touching account of his life, one I appreciated intimately sharing with him.
A strange wonderful book.......2004-01-08
Jakov von Gunten is not like any novel I have read before and not, despite all the comparisons, like any novel of Kafka's. It is more like a series of first person reflections, with only the repeating cast of characters and the narrator to hold the novel together. Kafka's novels all have a certain narrative drive, and here there is very little, although the story of the slow dissolution of the school is strangely moving.
Bernard van Dieren once wrote that every original mind is a cosmos in itself: Walser gains nothing from being continually advertised as Kafka-lite. He is his own writer. By any standard, he is not as great a writer as Kafka, but his outlook is much more genial - less insular and more human - despite the fact that Walser and not Kafka was the one who ended up in the insane asylum. This book is his long masterpiece. The episodic rambling quality of the novel betrays Walser's roots in the short story, but the material never feels scattershot or forced together.
Something Jakob says gets at what Walser might be trying to do - he's writing about the hair of the students in the school: "And because we all look so charmingly barbered and parted, we all look alike, which would be a huge joke for any writer, for example, if he came on a visit to study us in our glory and littleness. This writer had better stay at home. Writers are just windbags who only want to study, make pictures and observations. To live is what matters, then the observation happens of its own accord."
A strange thought for someone writing in a diary! But maybe the diary form is the closest that any writer can come to approximating the feeling of life, and letting the reader make his or her own observations. Walser does seem to have a certain distrust of the intellect, but he is not a naive, untutored talent; what he sees, though, is the limitations of intellect, which is perhaps his closest relationship with Kafka - "One is always wrong when one takes up with big words," he writes, and produces a masterpiece using all small ones.
An Eccentric, Kafkaesque Novel Written Before Kafka.......2002-04-29
In 1910, Franz Kafka began writing his journals. This was one year after the publication in Germany of Robert Walser's eccentric little novel, "Jakob von Gunten". The fact is worth noting because Kafka had read Walser and liked his writing, writing which can be characterized as "Kafkaesque" even though it preceded the publication of Kafka's work by several years. The resemblances between Walser and Kafka-- in sensibility, in prose style, in eccentricity of thought and syntax--are remarkable.
"Jakob von Gunten" is the first person journal of a student at the Benjamenta Institute, a school for butlers in an unidentified city. In young Jakob's words, "one learns very little here, there is a shortage of teachers, and none of us boys of the Benjamenta Institute will come to anything, that is we shall all be something very small and subordinate later in life."
The Institute is run by Herr Benjamenta and all classes are taught by his sister, Fraulein Lisa Benajamenta. There are no other teachers, all of the others being either "asleep, or they are dead, or seemingly dead, or they are fossilized." It is a narrowly circumscribed world full of students who are enchanted with the most mundane and trivial matters. But it is also a mysterious world, a world alienated from reality, a dreamlike projection of Jakob's mind expressed in the concrete language of the real. "The Benjamentas are secluded in the inner chambers and in the classroom there's an emptiness, an emptiness that almost sickens one."
Humorous and absurd, disturbing and, at times, childlike in its simplicity, "Jakob von Gunten" is the work of an undeservedly obscure master of modern prose. Thus, Christopher Middleton, the translator, in his fascinating and useful introduction, describes Walser as "in significant ways untutored, something of a primitive." More precisely, Middleton notes that Walser's prose "can display the essential luminous naivete of an artist who creates as if self-reflection were not a barred door but a bridge of light to the real." It is, in other words, prose which seeks to rewrite the "real" in the distorted image of the narrator's mind, making simple descriptions of mundane experience absurd. It is Kafkaesque writing before the advent of Kafka, a diminutive precursor of the Master of Prague.
indeed.......2002-04-01
Any true lover of literature will love Walser. The only complaint that can possibly be made is the poor paper quality of this edition of this book. The publisher should re-print.
Jacob the Unique.......2001-10-16
Jacob is a young man attending a bizarre school to train servants (butlers) for upper class families. We are never certain if it is the school that is so odd or Jacob. He decides the other teachers "either do not exist, of they are still asleep, or they seem to have forgotten their profession" for the teaching responsibilities are taken solely by Herr Benjamenta or his dying sister Fraulein Benamenta.
This slim novel is Jacob's soliloquy to us. He is charming, buoyant, perhaps mad, and never intimidated. He reflects upon himself, his fellow students, his family and the Benjamentas with interest, sympathy, and occasional sadness.
Even when Jacob is frightened (rarely), he is intrigued and fascinated at what is happening to and around him, as when he incurs the ire of Herr Benjamenta:
"I'm writing this in a hurry. I'm trembling all over. There are lights dancing and flickering before my eyes. Something terrible has happened, seems to have happened, I hardly know what it was. Herr Benjamenta has had a fit and tried to-strangle me. Is this true? I can't think straight; I can't say what happened is true. But I'm so upset it must be true-"
I ended this novel very fond of Jacob. I know I will find him unforgettable. I believe the translation must be very good as the prose is fluid with Jacob's idiosyncrasies of speech intact. Highly recommended.
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Jakob Von Gunten
R. Walser
Manufacturer: Suhrkamp Verlag
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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LInstitut Benjamenta: (Jakob von Gunten)
Walser R
Manufacturer: Gallimard
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Jakob Von Gunten
Robert Walser
Manufacturer: University of Texas Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MRFRPE |
Customer Reviews:
very steamy........2005-08-02
I thought this was written very differently, because of the two story lines in 1 book. I liked the twins Toste and Vagn they were pretty funny.I enjoyed this story a lot.
Funny as Usual..But..........2004-10-29
I hated to give my favorite author four stars instead of five, but this story IMO was not like the others in that excellent respect. It was still great, but not excellent. What I mean by that is this.
It was two stories rolled into one book, told back and forth every few chapters she would switch. So in all, it was some 357 pages and each story got more of a 'short story' treatment. Each was about 178 pages or so. In all, it didn't seem like enough time to tell the stories of two Viking characters that belong in this long series.
These twins were introduced mainly in "The Blue Viking" and were fun and interesting, in their own stories, the only one I found interesting was Vagn. Toste was a little cold and aloof. For twins who would die for one another and felt each others pain and sadness, Vagn seemed the only one who was willing to try and find his brother and mourned his supposed death the entire book. Toste seemed more interested in sleeping with the nun who saved his life, lol.
Again, this is all my humble opinion. I almost wish Ms. Hill would've left them as secondary characters. This is the 7th book in this series and the series is still going strong with this entry being the least interesting. The great part? Playing catch-up to all the former main characters from previous books. The only missing ones were Rurik and Meg from "The Blue Viking," the 5th book.
Told each other was dead on the mangled and bloody battlefield, identical Viking twins Toste and Vagn each are saved separately and are in two different places and go on two completely opposite journeys to get home. Problem? They sense one another still, even though they are told the other is dead. Deep down they both must find out the truth before they can really live.
Toste is saved by a nun who seems to be in trouble with her father and brothers. He is so taken with her, he vows to help her no matter what it takes. The 'nun' isn't really a 'nun' in the sense, she has been at the Abby for nearly 15 years now and hasn't taken her vows. Her dilemma is that she tends to swear, break the commandments on occasion and has a desire for tall and gorgeous Vikings. So trying to dodge someone trying to kill her for her land and accepting help from said Viking, Esme is in trouble...
Vagn is taken in by Gorm, a powerful Viking who wants him to marry his daughter...Helga the Homely. Vagn is horrified. He is being held nearly prisoner unless he agrees. His problem? Helga is no longer 'homely.' She is tall and gorgeous. But a little on the independant side and thinks he is his big mouth brother who teased her as a child. Vagn is further perplexed when Helga tries to seduce him but wants no marriage, can he keep his wits?
Like I said, both great tales, but one was a little more interesting than the other. Vagn was a lot more warm and charming IMO and seemed to miss Toste a great deal. Helga was more fun to read with her insane schemes to seduce him. They had such passion and sympathy for one another, it was hard to miss, these two deserved an entire book to themselves.
Tracy Talley~@
Go Sandra!!!!!!!.......2004-05-03
I love Sandra's Viking books! This is no exception. Toste and Vagn have been some of my favorite characters all along.
The twins join the Jomvikings and in a battle both think the other is killed. They have never been apart for long and both are devestated.
Toste is saved by nuns, one of which is Lady Esme or (Eat me) as Toste hears her name.
Vagn is saved by Gorm who wants Toste (mistakenly thinking Vagn is Toste) to marry his daughter, Helga, the homely.
Bolthar is along to entertain us with his wonderful sagas.
To many details spoil the plot, but you will not be disappointed.
All of our favorite characters are back to aid the brothers to find true love at last. Not without a laugh or two, or more.
Funny!.......2004-04-28
The twin bond is never more strong than between twin Viking brothers, Toste and Vagn Ivarsson. It is almost more tragic than death for them to be parted, but in a battle they are separated. Vagn finds himself in the care of Helga who his twin dissed and ditched, naming her Helga the Homely. For once, he disagrees with Toste, finding her anything but, and desperate to convince her he's not the other brother. Toste, though believed dead, is not, but in the care of a novice nun. Lady Esme finds she has a lot more to confess, if that's possible, since the virile Viking came into her care.
***** Broad, slapstick comedy rollics across the pages as these two brothers learn how to be individual men and win their ladies' hearts. Esme's story is a bit more intriguing than Helga's, but on the whole, the novel will remind you of one of Shakespeare's comedies. *****
1930s screwball romantic comedy set in the tenth century.......2004-04-28
Except for three foolish months as nine year olds, identical twins Toste and Vagne Ivarsson might as well have been Siamese because they were never apart for the thirty-one years they have lived so far. In 964 in the Land of the Saxons, the brothers are in the midst of a berserker battle, but become separated; each thinks the other died.
Toste soon finds he is amidst the nuns of St. Anne's Abbey where he is immediately attracted to frequent "sinner" Lady Esme, a resident in hiding form her father for over a decade. Knowing it is time to confront dear old dad, Esme has the champion to do so as Toste agrees to help her obtain her rightful inheritance. He prays to Odin that will give him the time to obtain what he wants, Esme.
Gorm Sigurdsson has Vagne tied to a bed in his home. He has mistaken Vagne for Toste, who he expects to wed his daughter Helga. However, to his shock, Helga recognizes that the incarcerated male is Vagne who she wants to sire a child with; an arrangement that he finds lacking because he wants to sire several children with the woman he loves.
A TALE OF TWO VIKINGS is a 1930s screwball romantic comedy set in the tenth century as only the incomparable Sandra Hill could sensationally pull off. The entertaining story line combines action with humor as the twins find love once they are split. Historical romance fans who appreciate an offbeat some what whacky tale will want to read (in one sitting not leisurely) Ms. Hills's fabulous funny frolic.
Harriet Klausner
Book Description
In which the villainous Gropmund Grouper devises a dastardly scheme to rob the innocent folk of Reeftown of their homes and money, but is foiled by the efforts of the intrepid Pearl Trout, her fiery brother, Finneus, and brave Corporal Bert of the Soldiercrab Army. Graeme Base, who created Abrams' best-selling Animalia and The Eleventh Hour, now offers The Sign of the Seahorse, a sweeping drama of intrigue and excitement set in the beautiful but fragile underwater world of a coral reef. Beginning at the famous Seahorse Cafe, social hub of the Old Reef, The Sign of the Seahorse takes us on a great journey. We travel from the doomed coral gardens of Reeftown to a sunken wreck and an underwater junkyard, across the barren expanse of the Withered Plain, and into the vast, uncharted chasms of the Deep, before arriving finally at the utmost edge of the Great Continental Shelf. Readers of all ages will delight in the rhyming text and gloriously detailed illustrations of this undersea adventure. The wonderfully drawn characters will capture the imagination as The Sign of the Seahorse is enjoyed again and again.
Customer Reviews:
This is a FANTASTIC book for kids!!!.......2007-03-09
This is easily my favorite kids book of all time. The entire story is written in rhyme, and the charcters are great! The artwork is incredible, from the Combat Lobster 46903 down to the "two largely unnoticed shrimp on every page". Kids of all ages will enjoy this book, its a keeper.
Excellent book!.......2007-02-20
Excellent book...magnificent illustrations! Excellent story but a little too lengthy for a small child. Would recommend for children 5-10 years old.
Great Story.......2007-01-15
The person who received this book enjoyed the "good over evil" premise and the beautiful illustrations.
Graeme Base is a genius!.......2006-03-09
Not only is the book cleverly written, the illustrations are exceptional! I stayed up for hours pouring over the pages. None of his books has yet to bore me. No matter how many times they're read, there is always something new to be discovered. GB is my FAVORITE children's picture book author! Extraordinary! This mystery aspect of this book will interest older children with more advanced thinking skills. But, as a book by itself it still is a fun adventure for kids of any age.
Graeme Base.......2004-11-18
The Book I read was called The Sign of the Seahorse. This book was one of the most detailed picture books I have ever read. It is about fish that own a bar called the Seahorse and how some of them have to save the town from a villain and his thugs. In the book the bar owner's daughter falls in love with one of the heroes, and his son tries to fight the thugs. Will they be able to stop the villain before it's to late? You will have to read it to find out. I would recommend this book to a young child who enjoys adventure, fantasy, or likes reading about fish. This fishy tail was written by Graeme Base. -Jake
Product Description
Collection from the magazine, with Philip Jose Farmer, Manly Wade Wellman, Alfred Bester, Ward Moore, etc. Great stories from the 1940's. Ace D-422
Customer Reviews:
Expanding Science.......2007-04-22
We are children of the world, the universe, the solar system, and ours is a solarian legacy. We are not mere products of natural selection or clay worked by a Maker. We are instrumental parts of a conscious, self-learning universe. The longer we ignore the implications and obscure the facts, the longer we will grope blindly (and dishonestly) through a narrow alley of conscious awareness.
What causes this blind groping? What causes us to block out the idea or realization that we, as holographic portions and children of the universe, are probably endowed with the same miracle producing power we delegate to gods and angels? The cause of our blindness is our steadfast refusal to take responsibility for who and what we are. We deny our identity and buy into the notion that we are victims and lowly creatures... and for all we know, there may have been such a thing as alien intervention at some point in our evolution, which may have fostered this feeling. Nevertheless, we seem to feel secure when we conclude that our best minds have everything figured out. The truth is, we avoid responsibility every time we argue that, "experts say," "science says," "the bible says," "God says!" How many people are in mental chains because of someone who claims to speak for God?
Thousands say they have had encounters with aliens or advanced beings (ABs), yet, instead of seriously studying these encounters in an attempt to develop some understanding of life and consciousness, governments and mainstream scientists write off such claims as delusional or fraudulent. Meanwhile, believers may secretly worship/fear ABs as our good or bad superiors instead of viewing them as our other-dimensional siblings.
Myths, stories and channeled histories of Atlantis persist, yet we make no formal effort to uncover evidence or shed further light. The same goes for investigating the paranormal, uncovering our relationship to plants and animals, or finding whether there was ever life on Mars. These are just a few of the many things written off as unscientific (or at least, not financially profitable). If we study the connections rather than the differences between things, we might uncover important patterns and hidden laws. We've had science, now we need a metascience that looks for dynamics. We need a 21st Century discipline that includes rather than excludes evidence-- in fact, we need to develop a perspective that transcends science and religion. For the remainder of this summary of the book, go to [...]
A bold call for a new and more inclusive "Science.".......2007-03-29
Being an avid ancient history buff has taken me in some really interesting directions lately. So much is being discovered so fast that it's a real challenge to keep up. It has become quite evident that mankind has been heading down a deteriorating road ever since the stuff really hit the fan somewhere around 11,500 to 13,000 years ago. There is so much of human experience that has been lost. This whole caveman\stone age thing until the birth of civilization 6,000 years ago is ridiculous.It is refreshing to see the disconcerting habit of 'mainstream' science to ignore whatever doesn't fit its entrenched consensus, posing as fact, so rigorously assaulted. Mr Von Ward's call for a new metascience is long overdue. Want to see where your prejudices lie regarding who and what you are, and what mankind has been up to for the last 100,000 years or so? Read this book. A bit dry in parts, but very thought-provoking. The Hermetic principles of the ancient world still have much to teach!
A Book on Modern Paradoxes.......2006-04-13
This is a good book covering the paradoxes of newfangled scientific approaches such as Quantum physics and parapsychology - two "modern" approaches of the last century, which have transformed Humanity's potential perception of both its worldly reality and prior metaphysical concepts. Ordinarily, people tend nowadays to lump all such material as "new age" stuff, along with mumbo jumbo on things such as aliens, reincarnation, aromatherapy, spells and soothing music, etc. No doubt all these are part of the vast new "genre" spawned by such new awakenings, but this book is definitely an upmarket type as it deals in detail with the theoretical and scientific investigative aspects of this new direction. There are of course umpteen such books, and umpteen are fit to be called excellent. During the last 20-30 years of the previous century, the developed world produced a sea of "human potential" literature arising from this new awareness, aimed at self-help and improvement. Thousands of prophets and teachers also appeared, some fake charlatans, some average, some remarkable... Like all such enlightened thinkers, Paul Ward also sees a niche for himself as one such messenger, and suffers from the naivete and idealism of believing in the totality of his solutions to the crises from which modern humanity suffers. These however seem to be the drawbacks of most such enthused teachers. Sugesstions such as "if we just do this" or "if we behave like that" are simply not valid determinants of the course of human fate, and sadly won't cure its maladies with the wave of such a magic wand, even if they succeed in bettering them by 90%, which many modern innovations appear to have done individually as well as collectively, for those affected by them... If that were so, history would be a different tale altogether, and wouldn't suffer from the shortcomings we now lament and call the shackles of reality. Or Francis Fukuyama's "The End of History" concept would be valid... (or perhaps he really meant the end of a certain type of historical process, which is what I forsee eventually). It takes more to effectively better the collective human condition and change history than just adopt new ideas openly. That is the lesson of reality.
Our Solarain Legacy.......2004-08-27
Whether you are a beginner in your search for how we fit into this universe or well down the road, OUR SOLARIAN LEGACY is a "must read." Paul Von Ward has done an extraordinary amount of research for this excellent book. It is broad and comprehensive thus providing and overview of many areas of research for the beginner to further consider and to help the well-traveled pull together loose ends. With insight and clarity he emphasizes that this self-learning universe is a manifestation of conscious energy that has created us as way of experiencing itself, and that we are designed to actively participate in its expression. With that in mind, we never have to feel separate from anything else.
A very informative, encouraging look at ourselves.......2002-11-17
The author presents a very thoughtful, clearminded overview of humanity and and our unique place in the cosmos. This work is really an overview of the many areas of our thought, culture and tradition which require reassesment and change. It is with my most hardy recommendation that you read this book and benefit from Mr. Von Ward's seeming endless supply of wisdom and insight. Because of the liberal references provided it can also serve as a launch point for many areas of further study. The ethical and moral conclusions he draws from an honest and fearless consideration of the broader aspects of ourselves leaves us with a foundation as eloquent as any of the world's great religions, if not more so. Do yourself and perhaps the world a favor; read and learn what this book has to teach us.
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