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hoffmann_fanatic's review
5.0
I rarely write reviews, but this book deserves more advocacy simply because of its sheer brilliance.
Tomcat Murr originates from a fantastically bizarre premise that could only spring from the mind of E.T.A. Hoffmann. At some point in the 1820's, a cat, Murr, is born, and is rescued as a kitten by Abraham Liscov, a man of many trades. The bibliophile Murr becomes convinced that he is God's literary gift to the world and begins reading every book he can in Abraham's study, all while evading the evil Herr Lothario and his poodle, Ponto--who it turns out is also among the intelligentsia. By the middle of the novel, Murr has involved himself with the feline litterati, and I won't spoil the rest of the hilarious high drama that occurs.
Anyway, as Murr tells us at the beginning, as an old and wizened tomcat he starts writing his autobiography (it's a great struggle to learn to write with paws, but Murr of course manages it) but, struggling to find paper, writes his all-important accounts directly on top of Meister Abraham's carefully-written biography of the composer Johannes Kreisler, inserting his self-aggrandizing episodes directly before and after the most dramatic episodes of Kreisler's life. And thus Hoffmann created the cliffhanger.
Kreisler, himself, is a fascinating character--a mad genius who has to balance his fear that he'll turn into a suicidal lunatic with his love for Julia, the daughter of his employer Madame Benzon. The "court" he works for is a sharp satire on the German society of the day: Prince Irinaeus, unhappy at having his lands taken away from him, purchases an estate in the countryside and tries to play royal for the rest of his life, which is the reason Kreisler and Abraham are employed. Kreisler's hapless encounters with the Prince and various princelings are made more enjoyable by the reality-show-type plot twists that engage his attention for the rest of the novel. (Throughout the book, Murr's account slowly yields in proportion to Kreisler's, somewhat of a sly jab at the cat who thought he had everything to say but couldn't find more than a couple chapters.)
The story itself would make for a decent thriller, but the novel's true value comes from its structure and intertextual references. It's an extremely carefully constructed book, making sure to follow conventional form in terms of development of plot, but at the same time interrupting this smooth development with abrupt viewpoint jumps. In many ways, it's like a Beethoven sonata, if plot were sonata form and viewpoint corresponded to key. Adding to the hilarity are the many references to bad authorship made by Murr, which include excessive flowery language, rampant plagiarism, and a love poem inspired by Ovid's treatise on how to get rid of women.
In short, a mad romp through the absurd world of Hoffmann's mind, a psychedelic hypothesis of literate cats and dancing royals, a rebuke of royalism and bad Romanticism, an anticipation of Borges and Calvino. 5/5.
Tomcat Murr originates from a fantastically bizarre premise that could only spring from the mind of E.T.A. Hoffmann. At some point in the 1820's, a cat, Murr, is born, and is rescued as a kitten by Abraham Liscov, a man of many trades. The bibliophile Murr becomes convinced that he is God's literary gift to the world and begins reading every book he can in Abraham's study, all while evading the evil Herr Lothario and his poodle, Ponto--who it turns out is also among the intelligentsia. By the middle of the novel, Murr has involved himself with the feline litterati, and I won't spoil the rest of the hilarious high drama that occurs.
Anyway, as Murr tells us at the beginning, as an old and wizened tomcat he starts writing his autobiography (it's a great struggle to learn to write with paws, but Murr of course manages it) but, struggling to find paper, writes his all-important accounts directly on top of Meister Abraham's carefully-written biography of the composer Johannes Kreisler, inserting his self-aggrandizing episodes directly before and after the most dramatic episodes of Kreisler's life. And thus Hoffmann created the cliffhanger.
Kreisler, himself, is a fascinating character--a mad genius who has to balance his fear that he'll turn into a suicidal lunatic with his love for Julia, the daughter of his employer Madame Benzon. The "court" he works for is a sharp satire on the German society of the day: Prince Irinaeus, unhappy at having his lands taken away from him, purchases an estate in the countryside and tries to play royal for the rest of his life, which is the reason Kreisler and Abraham are employed. Kreisler's hapless encounters with the Prince and various princelings are made more enjoyable by the reality-show-type plot twists that engage his attention for the rest of the novel. (Throughout the book, Murr's account slowly yields in proportion to Kreisler's, somewhat of a sly jab at the cat who thought he had everything to say but couldn't find more than a couple chapters.)
The story itself would make for a decent thriller, but the novel's true value comes from its structure and intertextual references. It's an extremely carefully constructed book, making sure to follow conventional form in terms of development of plot, but at the same time interrupting this smooth development with abrupt viewpoint jumps. In many ways, it's like a Beethoven sonata, if plot were sonata form and viewpoint corresponded to key. Adding to the hilarity are the many references to bad authorship made by Murr, which include excessive flowery language, rampant plagiarism, and a love poem inspired by Ovid's treatise on how to get rid of women.
In short, a mad romp through the absurd world of Hoffmann's mind, a psychedelic hypothesis of literate cats and dancing royals, a rebuke of royalism and bad Romanticism, an anticipation of Borges and Calvino. 5/5.
eliathereader's review against another edition
2.0
Dünya Klasikleri Okuma Kulübünün Kasım ayı kitabıydı Kedi Murr’un Dünya Görüşü. Adıyla daha önce de dikkatimi çeken bir kitaptı o yüzden okuma fırsatı yakalamak güzel oldu. Bence ağır bir klasik. Tarz olarak okuması aşırı kolay değil. Kitabın bir parçasını kedi Murr’un hayatı bir parçası Kreisler adındaki orkestra şefinin hayatını oluşturmakta. 2 karakter arasındaki geçişler de keskin yapıldığından birden hikayenin sona erip başka bir olaya geçilmesi yorucu oluyor. Ben düz bir okuma yolu seçmiştim ancak önce Murr’un sonra Kreisler’ın kısımları da okunabilirmiş. Muhtemelen böylesi daha sürükleyici olacaktır. Ben Murr’un hayatını okumaktan büyük bir keyif aldım ancak Kreisler’ı okuması hiç keyifli değildi. Bu yüzden onun kısımlarına Murr’a verdiğim özeni gösteremedim. Eğer sadece Murr anlatılsa ve novella olarak kısaltılsa eğlenceli bir klasik olurmuş ama farklı bir tarza sahip olduğundan edebiyatta önemli bir yer edinebilmiş.
k8s's review
4.0
Fabulous! I just wish that Hoffmann had lived long enough to write the third book/section. We're left with a cliffhanger that will never be resolved (although I can imagine all sorts of fan fiction possibilities).
The stories of both Murr and Kreisler are fragmentary, fun, suspenseful, action-filled romps. And with all of that, they also contain fantastical and gothic elements.
I will need to read this again so that I can better explain the ways this book works for me.
The stories of both Murr and Kreisler are fragmentary, fun, suspenseful, action-filled romps. And with all of that, they also contain fantastical and gothic elements.
I will need to read this again so that I can better explain the ways this book works for me.
mplj's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Excellent storytelling, this marks the start of the modern novel for me. ETA Hoffman's Murr is a classic character.
bookishwendy's review
3.0
This was an initially fun read--I love the concept of a cat's autobiography spliced with a human Kapellmeister's shuffled biography, which the cat supposedly found in the wastepaper basket and wrote on the back of. The cat Murr, as are most cats, is very full of himself and his scholarly, poetical abilities and enjoys namedropping constantly in a hilarious manner. The Kapellmeister Kriesler, however, is supposedly a thinly disguised version of the author Hoffman himself, and his story becomes convoluted in the second half and ended up being a real chore to get though.
irina_maria's review against another edition
funny
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Charmingly funny, intricate in terms of form (closely informed by Goethe's Wilhelm Meister and Sterne's Tristam Shandy), filled with rich literary references. Also a bit tedious at times, but overall a fantastic achievement.
marleysclassics's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Der Roman hat mich unterhalten und er hat mich verwirrt. Vor dem Lesen wusste ich weder über das Buch noch über den Autor sonderlich viel und trotzdem konnten mich der (teils ans Ironisch-Sarkastische grenzende) poetisch-ausgeschmückte Schreibstil, die teils sympathischen, teils höchst unsympathischen, aber allgesamt witzig gestalteten Figuren, sowie die durchaus spannende Handlung - trotz, zugegebenermaßen, dem ein oder anderen motivationstechnischen Durchhänger im Mittelteil - packen. Diese Durchhänger hatten ihren Ursprung wohl in erster Linie darin, dass der Kater Murr - wohl bekannter Weise - definitiv nicht klar und übersichtlich konzipiert ist. Da sind zum einen die zahlreichen Referenzen auf Personen und Werke, die ich als a) nicht Leser*in des frühen 19. Jahrhunderts und b) nicht genauestens mit der europäischen Kunst, Musik, Literatur und Geschichte der letzten 2000 Jahre bekannte Person leider meist nicht verstanden (oder überhaupt erkannt) habe. Und da ist natürlich die Form, die Tatsache, dass der Kater Murr eine Zusammenstückelung aus der Biographie des höchst gebildeten Katers und der sehr fragmentarischen, zeitlich und örtlich durcheinandergewürfelten Lebensgeschichte des Kapellmeisters Kreisler (den man im Übrigen scheinbar schon aus den Fantasiestücken Hoffmanns kennen könnte/sollte, ups) ist.
Aufgrund all dieser (Ver-)Wirrungen und der Tatsache, dass mich dieser Roman zwar unterhalten hat, ich ihn aber sicherlich nicht gänzlich verstanden habe (kann man das überhaupt?) oder dazu in der Lage wäre, ihn tatsächlich zu analysieren und zu interpretieren, bin ich sehr glücklich darüber, diese Ausgabe des Werks gelesen zu haben. Das Nachwort, das sich unter anderem mit den Hintergründen der ungewöhnlichen Struktur, dem Humorbegriff, dem Autor und vielen weiteren spannenden Punkten in ein paar Seiten auseinandersetzt, hat mich nämlich - so dämlich das auch klingen mag - unglaublich gepackt. Es hat das Buch zufriedenstellend abgeschlossen (auch wenn ich es natürlich immer noch nicht so ganz verstanden habe, aber vielleicht ist das nicht zwingend das Ziel) und mein Interesse daran und an weiteren Werken Hoffmanns umso mehr geweckt.
Aufgrund all dieser (Ver-)Wirrungen und der Tatsache, dass mich dieser Roman zwar unterhalten hat, ich ihn aber sicherlich nicht gänzlich verstanden habe (kann man das überhaupt?) oder dazu in der Lage wäre, ihn tatsächlich zu analysieren und zu interpretieren, bin ich sehr glücklich darüber, diese Ausgabe des Werks gelesen zu haben. Das Nachwort, das sich unter anderem mit den Hintergründen der ungewöhnlichen Struktur, dem Humorbegriff, dem Autor und vielen weiteren spannenden Punkten in ein paar Seiten auseinandersetzt, hat mich nämlich - so dämlich das auch klingen mag - unglaublich gepackt. Es hat das Buch zufriedenstellend abgeschlossen (auch wenn ich es natürlich immer noch nicht so ganz verstanden habe, aber vielleicht ist das nicht zwingend das Ziel) und mein Interesse daran und an weiteren Werken Hoffmanns umso mehr geweckt.