Beyond Recall (novel)
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| Beyond Recall | |
| Author | Theodor Fontane |
|---|---|
| Original title | Unwiederbringlich |
| Translator | Douglas Parmée. |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Verlag Wilhelm Hertz |
| Publication date | 1892 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | NA |
Beyond Recall (German: Unwiederbringlich, 1892) is one of realist Theodor Fontane's mature German novels. As with some other of Fontane's novels (including Effi Briest), its heroine is believed to be based roughly on a real person whose demise Fontane heard about, and it deals delicately with near taboo (at the time of writing) topics including adultery and suicide. Long a popular classic to German readers, this novel has scarcely ever been available to English readers. One out-of-print translation has been published. There also is a German made-for-TV movie (1968, director Falk Harnack).
As for translating this haunting novel into English, even deciding on a translation for the title presents many choices in English (irrecoverable, unrecoverable, irretrievable, unrepeatable, beyond recall, past retrieval, beyond retrieval and irreparable, just to name a few). The subtle wordplays and linguistic motifs which add to the power of its German text are challenging to render into English.
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
The novel takes place in the years 1859-1861 in Holstein, five years before the German/Danish war, at a time when Holstein was governed by Denmark.
[edit] Plot summary
Count Helmuth Holk lives with his countess Christine and their two children in a lonely valley. Christine was raised by nuns and is serious and pious, whereas Holk is by nature fun-loving. When Holk is called away to the Copenhagen court of the Danish princess, he becomes fascinated by a young companion of the princess, Ebba von Rosenberg, who flirts violently with him.
By contrast, his marriage with Christine begins to seem unbearably dull, and he rashly seeks a divorce from his wife before realizing that Ebba's attentions were not serious.
A long separation of Holk and Christine ensues, and only after years and great efforts by friends is a reconciliation between husband and wife engineered. Although on the surface all seems well, Christine is haunted by the previous rejection and drowns herself in the sea.
[edit] Editions (from German equivalent of this page)
- Book: Verlag Wilhelm Hertz, Berlin 1892; previously published in Deutsche Rundschau Nr.66/67, January June 1891; many subsequent editions, for example: Aufbau, September 1996, ISBN 3-7466-5283-9.
- Audio book: read by Gert Westphal, 8 CDs, Deutsche Grammophon, ISBN 3-8291-1357-9.
- Radio play: with Paul Edwin Roth, Rosemarie Gerstenberg, Christine Schoenfelder, Martin Hirthe and Edith Heerdegen, treatment: Palma, direction: Ulrich Lauterbach, Hessische Rundfunk 1957.
- TV-film: with Lothar Blumhagen, Hans Timmermann, Alexander Kerst, Tilo von Berlepsch, Walter Buschhoff, Karin Hübner, Lil Dagover and Käthe Braun, book: Max Gundermann and Falk Harnack, direction: Falk Harnack, Berliner-Union-Film, Federal Republic of Germany 1968.
- One out-of-print English edition ("Beyond Recall").
