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I found this novel a long, hard read - the ideas and interrelationships are dense. But by the end of it I loved all the characters, they are part of my family. It is no wonder that Hoffmann had such a great impact in the world of music - his writing can get right under your skin - well, it certainly got under mine. I will read this novel again. It is simply so good, so captivating...


A Masterpiece   December 20, 2002
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

A remarkable example of the simply astoundig gifts of Hoffmann's writing, one of the few unquestionable genius in literature's history. E.T.A Hoffmann manages to blend, with overpowering skill and boldness, fantasy, wittiness, irony, sharp political criticism and lyricism, giving to the cultivated reader an endless cornucopia of sophisticated, intelligent gladness.


The first Post-Modern novel?   October 9, 2001
 10 out of 11 found this review helpful

Hoffmann was one of the most influential writers of the early 19th cventury. A composer and critic as well as writer of often bizarre fiction, Hoffmann set the tone for much of Romantic literature (especially the combination of the bourgeois and the supernatural), and provided the plots for operas and ballets (including Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker). This novel, which intersperses the memoirs of a cat (appropriately named Murr) with the "random pieces of wastepaper" the cat shredded out of a biography of the composer Kreisler (Hoffmann's alter ego?). In the late 20th century, we came to take the idea of intercutting two unrelated narratives for granted as a Post-modern breakdown of narrative authority. Yet here is the same device, in 1820! Just when you're emotionally invested in one story, it abruptly shifts back to the other. Moreover, Murr's "cat's eye view" of human interaction turns the entire book into a sly critique of the declining aristocrats and rising bourgeois of Europe at the time. A brilliant, compelling, often hilarious read. You'll understand why Schumann, Brahms, and so many others thought of Hoffmann as their favorite writer.


Great, weird book by German romantic master   January 31, 2001
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

I learned about ETA Hoffman by reading some articles he had written on Mozart and Beethoven (the A in is name is for Amadeus, he idolized Mozart). Little did I know that he he was a brilliant and captivating writer of fiction as well. Although markedly less frightening than many of his short stories (such as the Sandman), this book is nevertheless exciting as well as thought provoking (Hoffman makes about 400 references to the literature and music of the his time and before). Additionally, it an example of literary bravado I have not seen elsewhere, namely, the writing of two books in one. In it, a bourgeois 'genius' of a tomcat (murr), creates a wonderful palimpset by writing on shreds of the biography of brooding romantic composer Johannes Kriesler. As such, interspersed betwee the cat's opinions are excepts of the rather odd story of Krieler and his friends, such as the magician Master Abraham. Each time either of the two stories begins building to a climax, Hoffman pulls the rug out from under you and changes narratives. The only fault I find with the book is that it is unfinished (Hoffman wanted to publish a third volume which would tie up loose ends), it even ends mid-sentence. Regardless, this is a wonderful book, and I would recommend it to just about anyone.


A great book for lovers of Romantic eccentricity   February 1, 2000
 18 out of 20 found this review helpful

This book, as the cover states, is probably one of the strangest novels of the 19th century. It is actually two books: the autobiography of the very self-important tomcat Murr which is in turn written on random back sides of a biography of Hoffmann's alter ego, the Kapellmeister Kreisler (see his Kreisleriana). Hoffmann is a master of building up your interest and sympathy in one storyline and then abruptly turning to the other, leaving you hanging and wanting more. The book is very entertaining and the translation is great, with very helpful notes at the end (there are many quotes in the book which were well known at the time, but these days...). I highly recommend this book to any one who is interested in early romanticism, fantastic flights of imagination and biting satire. The only possible problem with this work is that it is unfinished and the end of the second of three projected books does leave you hanging somewhat.