The Life And Opinions Of The Tomcat Murr (1999) - Plot & Excerpts
E.T.A. Hoffman, the author of this odd, unfinished book, was born in 1776 and died in 1822. Experts in Literature describe ‘The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr’, of which Part One was first published in 1819 and Part Two was published in 1821, as proto-postmodernism because it shares many of the characteristics that define such novels. The link below describes those characteristics.http://www.writing.com/main/view_item...I am not a Literature expert of any kind, but I have been reading some of the books which are considered early ‘masterpieces’ or simply examples of early novels which inspired experimentation and development of the format ‘The Novel’. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NovelIf you don’t have time to read the above link, I’ll simply say I feel the Novel format that our generation is comfortable in reading began in the 18th century. The invention of the printing press in the middle 1400’s meant the printing of stories (The Gutenberg Bible) began in the 15th century, but I would not say these ‘books’ are comfortable to read, speaking as an ordinary person of grocery store aisle tastes. However, I must recommend making an effort to read these earlier ‘novels’ because so many books refer to them, if not steal the basic plots. But, again speaking as an ordinary person, I try to pick up Literary Canon versions with lots of notes, which means reading a book published by a respectable publishing company and making sure the editor has a long descriptive foreword prefacing the story. I have struggled to read these early ‘novels’, so I was happy that the Penguin English translation of Hoffman’s book is comfortable to read. It is not too far from our own time, so that many details are familiar. That said, I was shocked to see the protagonist is a cat.A literate cat!Murr tells the story of his birth, youth, education and maturity. At the same time, he is clearly a kitty from beginning to end of his autobiography. He lives a cat life, and he tries to hide his literacy from his master, Master Abraham. He loves eating a nice fish head after digesting one of his owner’s books.. “For the edification of hopeful young tomcats, I cannot neglect to remark that if I wanted to study I would leap at my master’s library with my eyes closed , then tug out the book to which I was clinging and peruse it whatever its contents. Through this mode of studying, my mind acquired that wide-ranging flexibility, that diverse and brilliant wealth of knowledge, which posterity will admire in me.”Hoffmann, E.T.A. (2006-02-23). The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr (Penguin Classics) (p. 45). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition. On his explorations of the roof of the house where he lives, he mets a hottie, a female with a lovely singing voice.“It is the first duty of an honest biographer to be scrupulous and not on any account to spare himself. In all honesty, therefore, paw on heart, I will confess that despite the inexpressible zeal with which I devoted myself to the arts and sciences, yet the thought of lovely Kitty would often rise suddenly before my mind’s eye, wholly interrupting my studies.”Hoffmann, E.T.A. (2006-02-23). The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr (Penguin Classics) (p. 167). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition. Murr also falls in with a cat crowd of clubbers.“Let it suffice to say that for some time I continued to lead a cheerful, merry life on the roof-tops of the neighbourhood as a feline fraternity member, in the company of Muzius and other excellent, honest, trustworthy young fellows, white, ginger and tabby.”Hoffmann, E.T.A. (2006-02-23). The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr (Penguin Classics) (p. 205). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition. Murr makes an astonishing friendship with a poodle, and on that account learns ‘poodlish’.“My new friendship had made a deep impression on me, so that as I sat in sun or shade, on the roof or under the stove, I thought of nothing, reflected on nothing, dreamed of nothing, was aware of nothing but poodle, poodle, poodle! I thereby gained great insight into the innermost essence of poodlishness which dawned upon me in brilliant colours,…”Hoffmann, E.T.A. (2006-02-23). The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr (Penguin Classics) (p. 47). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition. “I adduced several examples from the two languages, drawing the reader’s attention to the identical roots of bow-wow– miaow-miaow– yap-yap – snap – grrr – purr – huff-huff – hissss, and so forth.”Hoffmann, E.T.A. (2006-02-23). The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr (Penguin Classics) (p. 47). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.The book title is a satire of another book, also an early satire, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, while the content satirizes a type of novel circulating in Germany at the time, ‘Romances’. (One of the confusions for today’s readers in determining what an earlier century’s book is about is they used the descriptor Romance or Comedy to describe what we would call a Fantasy or Adventure Drama.)Unfortunately for the General Reader (my opinion), Murr’s funny autobiography is mixed in with ‘waste paper’ Murr used to blot his opus, a biography of another person, a human by the name of Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler. Murr accidentally sends in the ‘blotting’ paper to the printer with his own pages, and so his printed book ends up in alternating pages between his own writings and that of the biography of Kreisler.I did not enjoy Kreisler’s pages so much. Kreisler’s life was written in a dull dull dull manner, despite the fact it was a satire of German gothic novels. Kreisler fixes organs, and he is a musician. His skills permit him access to various classes of society, as well as involvement in various adventures. He is of a nervous disposition, a bit of a frail personality; but this was a time period when some artists were considered to be of delicate emotional constitutions. His acquaintances are aristocrats, some of whom go mad, common folk, religious priests, and merchants. Psychology was a new science, lately introduced to European society, and it was interesting to read a book which was one of the first to use psychological terms, not just elements, as part of a gothic story. There is a magician (Master Abraham, a character in both intermingled pages), a seeress who sees the future, automatons, possible ghosts, attempted murder, etc. The aristocrat family is full of the arranging of marriages and other corruptions which were usual at that time and in previous centuries.As befits a novel written for the educated European reader, who were considered elites of these times, there are also tons and tons of literary and cultural references of high-culture Art books and theme paintings, especially those of German, French, Latin and some Greek studies, although satirically inserted and used.Many historians think of 1815 as the date when our modern times began, so that places this book on the cusp between medieval world values and the beginning of the industrial ages. In my opinion, that makes this book an interesting novel, seeing a bit of the intersection of the two periods of European/German idea and philosophical development. I also adored Murr. However, I did not enjoy reading about Kreisler; I thought his sections a chore to read through. Other readers have felt exactly the opposite of what I felt. If you read this book, let me know which protagonist you liked best!
It's always rewarding when you read a book like this - two hundred years old and full of references to bourgeois German society - and find that it is genuinely funny, that the humour transcends cultural and historical boundaries. Here, the characteristics of the pretentious, deluded cat Murr and the intense, anti-social composer Kriesler are easily identifiable in any era. Murr engages in a sort of bildungsroman, starting off as a precocious kitten fond of half-reading classics and amusing himself with "naughty pranks" and passing through marriage, fraternity life and a dabble with high society. Kriesler wanders into the banana republic of Sieghartsof only to find himself drawn towards the haunted Princess Hedwiga and her charming friend Julia, and drawn into a gothic mystery featuring mysterious figures in the woods and sinister princes. The deliberately haphazard cutting between the stories and the surreal nature of the stories give the novel a distinctive feel; a proto-magic realism novel. The abrupt ending, necessitated by Hoffman's death, leaves the book forever incomplete. Still, if you can countenance a lack of narrative closure, there's a lot to enjoy in this witty, inventive work.
What do You think about The Life And Opinions Of The Tomcat Murr (1999)?
They’ll do, to be sure. And in their walks they are capable of passing all the Seven Bridges, despite the fact that only three remain today. I wonder which one is the bridge from romanticism to magic realism…
—Sergei
One of the first magical realist novels and 'one of the strangest novel of the nineteenth century'. A fun read with some surreal moments and some rather rambling bits that ended up being a little tiring. Some bits were laugh-out-loud hilarious (hint hint!) with a little more than a sprinkling of gothic horror plus some very tear-jerking moments (especially if you are a cat lover, which Hoffman was). The introduction is very interesting and worth a read too, but I would read it after the reading the novel to obtain its full benefit. Hoffman was very interested in madness and his writings contained some of the first descriptions of various psychosis. The title drew me in and having read some of Hoffman's other stories, I sort-of knew what to expect. The weaving of the two stories is ingenious and keeps you reading so as to get to where the story left off (that is, if the reader wasn't put off by the off-topic ramblings).
—Yrinsyde
Если судить по названию, то можно предположить, что это прадедушка "Записок кота Шашлыка". Но нет. Точнее, не только.Записки кота как будто бы являются основным поводом к книге. Как водится (хотя скорее всего именно Гофман и ввёл эту традицию), мир с точки зрения тщеславного самодовольного кота достаточно понятен и ограничен. Еда - женщины - кошки - самовыражение - отношения с хозяином - отношения с обществом (котовым и собачьим). Вот и всё. Хотя при этом автору удаётся даже в кошачьи главы впихнуть изрядную долю критики на современное ему общество. А кроме этого половину книги занимает какая-то романтическая и мистическая история о принцессах и принцах маленьких княжеств, страшных тайнах, пороках и чистоте, в общем - о капельмейстере Крейслере. Учитывая, что Иоганнес Крейслер - псевдоним самого Гофмана, под которым он писал музыку, эта история - невероятно грамотный и современный самопиар. Прочитав эту книгу, полную заманчивых недомолвок и неприкрытых восхвалений завораживающих творений капельмейстера, я готова броситься слушать. Что уж говорить о впечатлительных барышнях XVIII века, наверняка за его ноты дрались в магазинах.
—Kate
