I, Erzählende Schriften 31, Fräulein Else, Seite 27

31. Fraeulein Else
ng.
box 5/1
V 692
THE SATURDAY REVIEW OI
VForeign Literature:
o# the other hand, depicts Republican Ger¬
A Schnitzler Masterpiece
many in the confusion of an election cam¬
FRAULEIN ELSE. By ARTHuR SCHNITz¬
paign. Its theme is amusing, the contest
LER. Vienna: Paul Zsolnay Verlag.
between a husband and wife who through
1928.
ome accident are nominated for the same
office, and whose carly courtesy toward each
Reviewed by I. W. G. RANDALL
other as political opponents gradually,
N that well-known work of reference,
under the insistence of their party organiza¬
Geissler's" Führer durch die Deutsche
tions, turns to bitter rivalrv. The chief
Literatur,? the editor, referring to Arthur
interest of the play, however, for the non¬
Schnitzler’s dramas of Viennese life, said,
German reader lies in the light it throws
Byigag all these fashions will be extinct.'
onthe political machinery of present-day
He could not have known—the work was
Germany.
published in rorz—that his prophecy would
K 3
be fulfilled not only by the changes of
In Divagaciones Apasionadas' (Madrid:
fashion, bur by the very extinction of that
Caro Raggio) Pio Baroja brings together
Vienna to###ich Schnitzler devoted his most
some general critical lectures, a few essays
brilliant wit, his most sparkling dialogue,
in dramatic criticism, and an account of the
and his unrivalled gift for psychological
Carlist cabecilla Santa Cruz, Though con¬
analysis. The Anatol“ playlets—what a
taining no work of profound or searching
keen remembrance we have of them before
character the volume is interesting.
the war, when nothing scemed to mirror as
3 3
brightly as they the amorous badinage, the
Under the editorship of Guido Adler the
lighthearted flirtation, the mock and almost
Frankfurter Verlagsanstalt has just issued
passichless intriguc of the Hapsburgs’ capi¬
a stout volume, entitled“Handbuch der
tal—the longer plays, such asDr. Bern¬
Musikgeschichte,? which should prove of
hardi,?' which showed Schnitzler both as
great valuc to all students of music. The
doctor—his original professien—and as se¬
book is a history of its subject, dealing
rious protester against what he conceived
not with personalities but with develop¬
to be political jobbery—these no longer
ments, and its various chapters have been
sparkle so brightly, for they have ceased
contributed by authorities in their different
to be a mirror and jave become an his¬
fields. It covers the annals of music from
torical picture, and at that a picture to
the earliest times to the present day.
which the youngest among us may well
require a key.
3
But if the Vienna of before 1914 no
A book that should command the attention
longer serves Schnitzler as subject for effect¬
of workers in the mediaval field has just
ive drama, human beings remain, also the
made its appearance in R. Menendez Pidal's
artist’s amazing technique, more and more
Poesia Juglaresca y Juglares' (Madrid:
directed, in the last ten years, to the art in
Revista de Filologia Espahola). The book
which, in our opinion, he will go down
deals entirely with the Spanish #uglur, the
to posterity, the art of prose-fiction. Fräu¬
singer and musician. It is characterized by
lein Elsc'’ is the latest example of this side
broad and understanding scholarship, sub¬
of his genius, a short story which you may
tlety, and humor.
*
put side by side with“Un Cocur Simple'
#2
and not regret the comparison, after mak¬
In the second number of Commerce, the
ing allowance for the difference in the
new periodical, Léon-Paul Fargue protests
genius of the two languages. This apart,
with some vehemence against the literary
the technical mastery, the superb economy
exoticism of his friends Morand, Giraudoux,
of words, the perfect unity of form, the
and Valery Larbaud, in whose novels and
illusion of vitality of both works stand
short stories the sleeping-car and the big
practically on an equality. Fräulein Else
caravanserai toc often serve not only as a
is a young girl, staying at a fushionable
background, but as the actual rairon d’être
hotel in the Tyrol. In a hundred or so
of the whole work. The Ritz and Majes¬
pages of monologue—che sustaining of
tic hotels, he says, have become der bouil¬
which shows Schnitzler, the constructor, at
lons de littérature diplomatique.Beware
his best--she tells us all about herself, her
of too many quotations in English, Italian
family, her emotions, her outlook on life,
Vou make me
or Spanish,?’ he adds:
her cricicism of her envircnment. Her
think of a hotel-porter pasting labels on
parents are wealthy, but she has scen through
luggage. If the port de la Villette or
them, thraugh the instability of her father,
che Canal St. Martin were located in Venic
the indulgent weakness of her mother. And
or Amsterdam, you would think them ad
when she hears that her father will be
mirable; but von do not even know them.
faced with imprisonment—he is a lawyer
Fargue aptly recalls that wiren he

and has used his client’s money——unless a
wrote hisBateau Ivre,? Rimbaud, the boy¬
large sum is secured in a few days, it is
poet, had never scen the sea.
nothing less than we expected. Her mother
„ 3
asks her to obtain it from Herr von Dors¬
In his “Hans Hoibein d. J.: Zeichnungen?
day. a friend of the family who is staying
(Basel: Schwabe) Curt Glaser has furnished
in the same hotel. Vielding to an acces
a study of the artist which is deserving of
of generosity toward her parents, crushing
high praise. Confining itself to the dis¬
out her love for her cousin, which she feels
cussion of Holbein’s drawings, it traces the
this step will compromise, she asks Her#
development of the artist’s genius, present¬
von Dorsday for the money. He will give
ing brilliant commentary on individual