Simplicius Simplicissimus
Inspired by the events and horrors of the Thirty Years' War which devastated Germany from 1618 to 1648, it is regarded as the first adventure novel in the German language and the first German novel masterpiece. The novel is told from the perspective of its protagonist Simplicius, a rogue or pic...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English German |
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Indianapolis :
Bobbs-Merrill,
[1965]
Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill [1965] Indianapolis : [1965] |
| Series: | Library of liberal arts
186 The Library of liberal arts, 186 Library of liberal arts ; 186 Library of liberal arts 186 |
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| Summary: | Inspired by the events and horrors of the Thirty Years' War which devastated Germany from 1618 to 1648, it is regarded as the first adventure novel in the German language and the first German novel masterpiece. The novel is told from the perspective of its protagonist Simplicius, a rogue or picaro typical of the picaresque novel, as he traverses the tumultuous world of the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War. Raised by a peasant family, he is separated from his home by foraging dragoons and is adopted by a hermit living in the forest, who teaches him to read and introduces him to religion. The hermit also gives Simplicius his name because he was so simple that he did not know what his own name was. After the death of the hermit, Simplicius must fend for himself. He is conscripted at a young age into service, and from there embarks on years of foraging, military triumph, wealth, prostitution, disease, bourgeois domestic life, and travels to Russia, France, and to an alternative world inhabited by mermen. The novel ends with Simplicius turning to a life of hermitage himself, denouncing the world as corrupt |
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| Physical Description: | xxxii, 353 p facsim. 21 cm. xxxii, 353 p. : facsim. ; 21 cm xxxii, 353 pages : facsimile ; 21 cm xxxii, 353 pages : facsimiles ; 21 cm xxxii, 353 pages facsimile 21 cm |
| Bibliography: | Bibliographical footnotes Includes bibliographical references |