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Effi Briest (Penguin Classics)
 
 

Effi Briest (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

by Theodor Fontane (Author), Helen Chambers (Introduction, Translator), Hugh Rorrison (Translator) "To the front of Hohen-Cremmen, country seat of the von Briest family since the time of Elector Georg Wilhelm, bright sunshine fell on the midday..." (more)
3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Classics; New Ed edition (30 Nov 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0140447660
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140447668
  • Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 12.7 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 103,520 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Product Description
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. Considered to be Fontane’s greatest novel, Effi Briest is a humane, unsentimental portrait of a young woman torn between her duties as a wife and mother and the instincts of her heart.

About the Author
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. Hugh Rorrison has published extensively on modern German theatre and teaches German film at the University of Leeds. Helen Chambers organised the first conference on English translations of Fontane in 1992 and teaches German at the University of St Andrews.

Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
To the front of Hohen-Cremmen, country seat of the von Briest family since the time of Elector Georg Wilhelm, bright sunshine fell on the midday silence in the village street, while on the side facing the park and gardens a wing built on at right angles cast its broad shadow first on a white and green flagstone path, then out over a large roundel of flowers with a sundial at its centre and a border of canna lilies and rhubarb round the edge. Read the first page
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Effi Briest (Penguin Classics)
97% buy the item featured on this page:
Effi Briest (Penguin Classics) 3.3 out of 5 stars (3)
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The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum (Vintage classics) 4.0 out of 5 stars (6)
£5.99

 

Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A very good book, 27 Mar 2004
I first read this novel as part of my degree and expected it, like so many other books I've read for the course, to be either dull or too abstract to be enjoyable. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I suspected at first that it was going to be a Jane Austen style period thing, whereas in actual fact it turns out to be a beautifully written and involving tale of the difficulties of fitting in with the norms of a society that leaves no space for the individual.

Effi is a wonderful protagonist because it is so easy to like her. She is not the wet and feeble woman of so many novels in this vein, she is lively and engaging. There is genuine engagement with all the characters, both male and female, which I have never felt with Jane Austen or the Brontes. There is plenty of dialogue, which Fontane was wonderful at writing. It really helps you to get to know the characters, and it is also very entertaining. I would have to disagree with Fontane himself to say that Effi's husband does not come across as the nice guy Fontane was aiming for.

By this point in history we have probably realised that late 19th century society left a lot to be desired in some respects, and so Fontane's social criticism is perhaps unnecessary if you're not studying the period. But it is so well written, and the story is so simple but so involving (based on a true story, so I hear, although there are probably so many true stories of this kind that that's not really very exciting) that it is well worth a read so that you can get to know Effi and go through her troubles with her. Sadly I can't comment on the quality of this translation though because I haven't read it in translation.

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling & good read, 23 Jan 2006
This review is from: Effi Briest (Classics) (Paperback)
An emotive portrayal of the damaging effects of Prussian society, where the opression of the protagonist Effi is Fontane's concern. Effi is forced to live according to society's rules and regulations, after marrying Innstetten to secure her social position. Society's rectitude limits the autonomy of Effi and also her husband Innstetten, although both characters respond to this limitation in contrasting ways. Effi resorts to adultery to escape her oppressive marriage, whereas Innstetten throws himself deeper into the social world. The consequences of both responses lead to the tragic ending of the book. Above all, a great book & well written.
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0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Poor translation, 18 Mar 2008
A pity the translation of this classic novel has to be so stilted. The choice of words and the un-Englishness of the English seriously detracts from the story. My recommendation is: either read it in German or don't read it at all - it can't really be enjoyed by reading this version.
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