2. Cuttings
box 38/2
Anum Su
Drag 1130
REVIEWS
Schnitzler, Arthur. Stories und Plaus. Edited with Introduction,
Notes, and Vocabulary by Allen W. Porterfield. Heath's
Modern Language Series. D. C. Heath and Company, Bos¬
ton, New York, etc.: 1930. xxix + 198 pp. of text + 36 pp. of
notes + 68 pp. of vocabulary. 81.36.
Schnitzler, Arthur. Der blinde Geronimo und sein Bruder.
Edited with Notes and Vocabulary by Lawrence M. Price.
* The University of Chicago Junior College Series. The Uni¬
versity of Chicago Press. Chicago: 1929. xili + 32 pp. of
text + 25 pp. of vocabulary +1 map. 8.60.
Of late years much has been said about the persistence of
antiquated modern language texts and of the advisability of in¬
fusing new life into our language classes by the adoption of texts
by representative moderns. Among the steps taken in that direc¬
tion one welcomes particularly the inclusion of the works of Arthur
Schnitzler. These very fortunately combine high literary merit,
sustained interest and a lucid style, and are sufficiently simple
syntactically and from a vocabulary standpoint to be read with
comparative ease in the fourth semester of a college course or per¬
haps even earlier.
Of Schnitzler’s works previously ayailahle in America in edited
texts one might mention: Der grüne Kakadu, Literatur Die letzten
Masken (Editor: Otto P. Schiüinerer. Knopf, 1928), Die dreifache
Warnung (in Modern German Stories. Editor: Allen W. Porter¬
field. D. C. Heath and Co., 1928), and Der Puppenspieler (in
Lust und Leid. Editors: William Diamond and Christel Sclo¬
maker. Henry Holt and Co., 1929). Professors Porterfield and
Price have now enriched the list by Der blinde Geronimo und sein
Bruder, while the former editor’s book also contains the four
Novellen Der Ehrentag, Die Weissagung, Blumen, and Leutnant
Gustl, and the two plays Der Puppenspieler and Große Szene.
Dr. Porterfield’s long introduction summarizes the main events
of Schnitzler’s life and attempts an appreciation of his most im¬
portant works grouped chronologically into four decades. It is
the fruit of an extensive acquaintance with the works of Schnitzler
and the important critical literature, and is told interestingly and
with commendable enthusiasm. The wording, however, does not
always seem felicitous. Thus, when in the discussion of Fräu¬
lein Eise (p. xxiii, lines 3, 4) Dr. Porterfield says“ Though
great art, it is of doubtful value, it is difficult to follow the logie
of this statement. To say that Therese is an intensified Frau
Berta Garlan'' (p. xxiii, lines 25, 26) evidently does not seem a
1 A selection from this work appeared also in Deutsches Geistesleben der
Gegenwart (Editor: Otto Koischwitz. N. Y.: Knopf: 1928), pp. 101—105.
107
box 38/2
Anum Su
Drag 1130
REVIEWS
Schnitzler, Arthur. Stories und Plaus. Edited with Introduction,
Notes, and Vocabulary by Allen W. Porterfield. Heath's
Modern Language Series. D. C. Heath and Company, Bos¬
ton, New York, etc.: 1930. xxix + 198 pp. of text + 36 pp. of
notes + 68 pp. of vocabulary. 81.36.
Schnitzler, Arthur. Der blinde Geronimo und sein Bruder.
Edited with Notes and Vocabulary by Lawrence M. Price.
* The University of Chicago Junior College Series. The Uni¬
versity of Chicago Press. Chicago: 1929. xili + 32 pp. of
text + 25 pp. of vocabulary +1 map. 8.60.
Of late years much has been said about the persistence of
antiquated modern language texts and of the advisability of in¬
fusing new life into our language classes by the adoption of texts
by representative moderns. Among the steps taken in that direc¬
tion one welcomes particularly the inclusion of the works of Arthur
Schnitzler. These very fortunately combine high literary merit,
sustained interest and a lucid style, and are sufficiently simple
syntactically and from a vocabulary standpoint to be read with
comparative ease in the fourth semester of a college course or per¬
haps even earlier.
Of Schnitzler’s works previously ayailahle in America in edited
texts one might mention: Der grüne Kakadu, Literatur Die letzten
Masken (Editor: Otto P. Schiüinerer. Knopf, 1928), Die dreifache
Warnung (in Modern German Stories. Editor: Allen W. Porter¬
field. D. C. Heath and Co., 1928), and Der Puppenspieler (in
Lust und Leid. Editors: William Diamond and Christel Sclo¬
maker. Henry Holt and Co., 1929). Professors Porterfield and
Price have now enriched the list by Der blinde Geronimo und sein
Bruder, while the former editor’s book also contains the four
Novellen Der Ehrentag, Die Weissagung, Blumen, and Leutnant
Gustl, and the two plays Der Puppenspieler and Große Szene.
Dr. Porterfield’s long introduction summarizes the main events
of Schnitzler’s life and attempts an appreciation of his most im¬
portant works grouped chronologically into four decades. It is
the fruit of an extensive acquaintance with the works of Schnitzler
and the important critical literature, and is told interestingly and
with commendable enthusiasm. The wording, however, does not
always seem felicitous. Thus, when in the discussion of Fräu¬
lein Eise (p. xxiii, lines 3, 4) Dr. Porterfield says“ Though
great art, it is of doubtful value, it is difficult to follow the logie
of this statement. To say that Therese is an intensified Frau
Berta Garlan'' (p. xxiii, lines 25, 26) evidently does not seem a
1 A selection from this work appeared also in Deutsches Geistesleben der
Gegenwart (Editor: Otto Koischwitz. N. Y.: Knopf: 1928), pp. 101—105.
107