Lebensansichten des Katers Murr (The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr)
E. T. A. Hoffmann · 1820
Read Lebensansichten des Katers Murr (The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr) by E. T. A. Hoffmann (1820) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/hoffmann-tomcat-murr-1820.txt.
Description
Hoffmann's last novel, The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr, appeared in German in 1820 and after. No English translation from the time survives in public domain, so the text here is the German original. Murr, a literate tomcat, writes his memoirs on scrap paper meant for a life of Kapellmeister Kreisler.
By a printer's error, the two lives come out mixed, page by page. The cat's smug tales of love and learning mock the earnest artist's sorrows below. Kreisler's story, in fragments, gives the pain behind the joke. Hoffmann built the first collage novel of modern times out of that mix. It is funny, sad, and far ahead of its age.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | E. T. A. Hoffmann |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 1820 |
| COLLECTION | BOOKS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 898204 |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | Public Domain |
| RIGHTS | PUBLIC DOMAIN |
| SOURCE | Project Gutenberg |