The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr
Authors and Contributors      By (author) E.T.A. Hoffmann
Translated by Anthea Bell
Introduction by Jeremy Adler
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:384
Dimensions(mm): Height 198,Width 129
Category/GenreLiterary studies - c 1800 to c 1900
Classic fiction (pre c 1945)
ISBN/Barcode 9780140446319
ClassificationsDewey:833.6
Audience
General

Publishing Details

Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Imprint Penguin Classics
Publication Date 29 April 1999
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Tomcat Murr is a loveable, self-taught animal who has written his own autobiography. But a printer's error causes his story to be accidentally mixed and spliced with a book about the composer Johannes Kreisler. As the two versions break off and alternate at dramatic moments, two wildly different characters emerge from the confusion - Murr, the confident scholar, lover, carouser and brawler, and the moody, hypochondriac genius Kreisler. In his exuberant and bizarre novel, Hoffmann brilliantly evokes the fantastic, the ridiculous and the sublime within the humdrum bustle of daily life, making The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr (1820-22) one of the funniest and strangest novels of the nineteenth century.

Author Biography

E T A Hoffmann (1776 - 1822) was born in Konigsberg and became one of the best known and influential authors of his time. He exploited the grotesque and the bizarre in a manner unmatched by any other Romantic writer. Jeremy Adler is Professor of German at King's College London. Anthea Bell has received many awards for her translations including the Mildred L. Batchelder Award in 1979, 1990 and 1995.