Badearzt
Doktor Graesler
29.
zve Tronsorint
Boston Mess
June 28-50
Tgrasp, arouses more Irritation than sym¬
pathy, but even the relentless imper¬
Dr. Grdesler
sonality of the writing cannot destroy
the pathos of the delicate, merry Kath¬
Arthur Schnitzler’s Story of a Middle¬
arina, who understands so well her
place in the doctor’s affections and gives
Aged Doctor
all her love with so poor a return,
While Dr. Graesler“ lacks the fan¬
Dr. Graesler. By Arthur##r. 31.50.
Neu- Tork: Simon and Schuster.
tastie charm of“Rhapsody“' it possesses
a unity and a truth of description that
#will be a pleasure for Artnur
P. L.
give it poignant reality.
Schnitzler’s admirers to learn that
Dr. Graesler,“ originally published
" in this conntry in 1923, is now re¬
issued in the black and gold format, uni¬
form with his other novelettes. This
form, of which he is an undoubted mas¬
ter, has advantages which make one
wonder why it is so seldom used. Long
enough to admit of character develop¬
ment as well as character portraynl, a
novelette is yet short enough to be easily
read at one sitting, It can, therefere.
while able to pertray more than a single
mood or ineident, run uninterrupted by.
sections, thus preserving a sense of unlt#
seldom found in a novel.
Dr. Gr.,ecler“ is a qulte perfect
handling of inis form. It carries a mid¬
dle-aged doctor through a series of in¬
eidents leading un to a belated marrlage.
Graesler had been contented to be a
bachelor with occasional hrief amorous
adventures. Since his unmarried nister
had relleved him of all household or
material responsibilities, the thought of
domestielty, which included a wife had
never entered his head. Gradually he
had lapsed into the independent selfish
seclusion of a reasonably successkul
bachelor doctor. The death of his si#ter
leaves him with the realization of the
lonely narrowness of his life. The book
deals with his belatedly aroused need
for love and a home. But his indepen¬
dence has become a habit and he shrinks
from ang honds. Twice during the book
he walks un to the edge of matrimony
and then flees in terror ät the thought
of relinquishing his liberty, In the end
it is a. somewhat unserupulous but de¬
termined woman who succeeds in catch¬
ing him.
Told in a completely impersonal man¬
ner, the story gives a splendid Ceilnea¬
tion of a middle-aged character attempt¬
ing a new adaptation. The amorously
awakened but priggish doctor is dealt
with in a coldly analytieal manner. As
shown in his play,The Affairs of
Anatole“ and his superb novelette,
Rhapsody,“ Schnitzler is a perfect mas¬
ter or the whlmsies and caprizes of love
In all its variations. In turn the doctor:
falls in love with Sabine, the perfect
wife, ccol and managing, devoted but
not eestatie, with Katharina, a charm¬
ing little working girl passionately in
love with him, and lastly with sophisti¬
cated Frau Sommer. Each is a convine¬
ing and sharply differentiated type, add¬
Schnitzler’s already well filled
ing to
gallery of women. The egotistical
doctor, snatching ut happiness but wav.
ering when it is almost within his
box 4/9
HEMSTREET
96 WARREN STREET
NEW VORK CITY
JUN ? 8. 1930.
SAT REVTEN OF LTTHKATÖRG,
Diagnosis of a Physician
DR. GRAESLER. By Akrnun Schyrrzur.
New York: Simon & Schuster. 103o. H1. 50.
Reviewed by Tuzoponz Pukor, Ik.
NHE melancholy cynicism and studied psy¬
chological subtleties of Schnitzler’s prose
have seldom been better displayed than in
the novelette which his American publishers are now
adding to the steadily lengthening list of his work
in English. Dr. Graesler'’ has, in fact, been printed
before this in translation, but so long ago as 1023,
when the fame of the Viennese master had not been
spread abroad by the# cess of" Fräulein Else,? and
it scems to have passed more or less unnoticed. It
is a far more convincing example of his art than
the books he has written since, and one more likely
to be classed with the best in present-day German
writing.
The three love affairs of the typically Schnitzlerian
hero are not, perhaps, interesting in themselves.
Neither the man northe women seem to expect
much from them and are willing to resign them¬
selves to fate when things appear to go against their
happiness, nor is any one of the affairs notable in
any way for its spiritual quality. Fräulein Sabine
never seems quite real even to her lover, while
Katharina is merely a caprice that turned out badly.
The final disposal of Dr. Grzesler upon Frau Som¬
mer is the triumph of disillusionment rather than
love. In these circumstances the distinction of
Schnitzler’s method is that it reduces all these cases
to a low common denominator of actuality, making
them so incredibly clear and lifelike that only the
most prejudiced will be unwilling to admit their
truth. The clarity is a little too dazzling to be
moving, perhaps, but Schnitzler has other and more
scientific ends in view. It is safe to say that in this
case a medical man is treated with medical thorough¬
ness, yet never with the complete detachment from
his character which makes the later work of Schnitz¬
ler something scarcely literary, bordering rather
upon the case notes and charts of a hospital. Here
the author presents an accurate and not unsympa¬
thetic diagnosis of his patient.
Doktor Graesler
29.
zve Tronsorint
Boston Mess
June 28-50
Tgrasp, arouses more Irritation than sym¬
pathy, but even the relentless imper¬
Dr. Grdesler
sonality of the writing cannot destroy
the pathos of the delicate, merry Kath¬
Arthur Schnitzler’s Story of a Middle¬
arina, who understands so well her
place in the doctor’s affections and gives
Aged Doctor
all her love with so poor a return,
While Dr. Graesler“ lacks the fan¬
Dr. Graesler. By Arthur##r. 31.50.
Neu- Tork: Simon and Schuster.
tastie charm of“Rhapsody“' it possesses
a unity and a truth of description that
#will be a pleasure for Artnur
P. L.
give it poignant reality.
Schnitzler’s admirers to learn that
Dr. Graesler,“ originally published
" in this conntry in 1923, is now re¬
issued in the black and gold format, uni¬
form with his other novelettes. This
form, of which he is an undoubted mas¬
ter, has advantages which make one
wonder why it is so seldom used. Long
enough to admit of character develop¬
ment as well as character portraynl, a
novelette is yet short enough to be easily
read at one sitting, It can, therefere.
while able to pertray more than a single
mood or ineident, run uninterrupted by.
sections, thus preserving a sense of unlt#
seldom found in a novel.
Dr. Gr.,ecler“ is a qulte perfect
handling of inis form. It carries a mid¬
dle-aged doctor through a series of in¬
eidents leading un to a belated marrlage.
Graesler had been contented to be a
bachelor with occasional hrief amorous
adventures. Since his unmarried nister
had relleved him of all household or
material responsibilities, the thought of
domestielty, which included a wife had
never entered his head. Gradually he
had lapsed into the independent selfish
seclusion of a reasonably successkul
bachelor doctor. The death of his si#ter
leaves him with the realization of the
lonely narrowness of his life. The book
deals with his belatedly aroused need
for love and a home. But his indepen¬
dence has become a habit and he shrinks
from ang honds. Twice during the book
he walks un to the edge of matrimony
and then flees in terror ät the thought
of relinquishing his liberty, In the end
it is a. somewhat unserupulous but de¬
termined woman who succeeds in catch¬
ing him.
Told in a completely impersonal man¬
ner, the story gives a splendid Ceilnea¬
tion of a middle-aged character attempt¬
ing a new adaptation. The amorously
awakened but priggish doctor is dealt
with in a coldly analytieal manner. As
shown in his play,The Affairs of
Anatole“ and his superb novelette,
Rhapsody,“ Schnitzler is a perfect mas¬
ter or the whlmsies and caprizes of love
In all its variations. In turn the doctor:
falls in love with Sabine, the perfect
wife, ccol and managing, devoted but
not eestatie, with Katharina, a charm¬
ing little working girl passionately in
love with him, and lastly with sophisti¬
cated Frau Sommer. Each is a convine¬
ing and sharply differentiated type, add¬
Schnitzler’s already well filled
ing to
gallery of women. The egotistical
doctor, snatching ut happiness but wav.
ering when it is almost within his
box 4/9
HEMSTREET
96 WARREN STREET
NEW VORK CITY
JUN ? 8. 1930.
SAT REVTEN OF LTTHKATÖRG,
Diagnosis of a Physician
DR. GRAESLER. By Akrnun Schyrrzur.
New York: Simon & Schuster. 103o. H1. 50.
Reviewed by Tuzoponz Pukor, Ik.
NHE melancholy cynicism and studied psy¬
chological subtleties of Schnitzler’s prose
have seldom been better displayed than in
the novelette which his American publishers are now
adding to the steadily lengthening list of his work
in English. Dr. Graesler'’ has, in fact, been printed
before this in translation, but so long ago as 1023,
when the fame of the Viennese master had not been
spread abroad by the# cess of" Fräulein Else,? and
it scems to have passed more or less unnoticed. It
is a far more convincing example of his art than
the books he has written since, and one more likely
to be classed with the best in present-day German
writing.
The three love affairs of the typically Schnitzlerian
hero are not, perhaps, interesting in themselves.
Neither the man northe women seem to expect
much from them and are willing to resign them¬
selves to fate when things appear to go against their
happiness, nor is any one of the affairs notable in
any way for its spiritual quality. Fräulein Sabine
never seems quite real even to her lover, while
Katharina is merely a caprice that turned out badly.
The final disposal of Dr. Grzesler upon Frau Som¬
mer is the triumph of disillusionment rather than
love. In these circumstances the distinction of
Schnitzler’s method is that it reduces all these cases
to a low common denominator of actuality, making
them so incredibly clear and lifelike that only the
most prejudiced will be unwilling to admit their
truth. The clarity is a little too dazzling to be
moving, perhaps, but Schnitzler has other and more
scientific ends in view. It is safe to say that in this
case a medical man is treated with medical thorough¬
ness, yet never with the complete detachment from
his character which makes the later work of Schnitz¬
ler something scarcely literary, bordering rather
upon the case notes and charts of a hospital. Here
the author presents an accurate and not unsympa¬
thetic diagnosis of his patient.