During a large clean sweep and rearrangement of my bookcases, I came across all sorts of books which I hadn't read for a long time. A few of them I want to reread, because it has been a while. Nachtstücke by E.T.A. Hoffmann is one of them.

E.T.A. Hoffmann
The writer, Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann, lived from 1776 until 1822 in Germany and falls in the category of (late) German romanticism. His stories and novels are characterized by bizar personages, the supernatural and the fantastic. Personally I find his stories nightmare-like: incoherent, weird, sometimes a little hysterical, and inexplicable.

E.A. Poe is often named as the founder of the horror genre. But the much lesser known Hoffmann, who lived and wrote just a few years earlier than Poe and who influenced and inspired great names like Thomas Mann and Franz Kafka (and even E.A. Poe himself!) might just as well claim this title. Those who like reading Poe, Mann and Kafka should try Hoffmann.

Hoffmann's collection of stories, Nachtstücke, consists of thirteen stories, amongst them some of his best known ones: Der Sandmann and Das öde Haus. To give an impression of all of these 13 stories is quite a task. I'd rather prefer choosing one and describe it in detail. I choose Der Sandmann.

The sandman
The story begins with three letters. The first letter is one from Nathanael to this friend Lothar. In this letter, he announces that something terrible has happened, that he feels that fate will strike. It starts when a man named Coppola knocks at Nathanael's door. This Coppola sells weather glasses (a sort of weather station, filled with water instead of mercury). Nathanael is under the impression that he knows this man, from the past. When he was young, the children were told the story of the sandman, who would come when children wouldn't go to sleep. He would sprinkle sand in the children's eyes until the eyes would pop out. The sandman would then take the eyes with him and give them to his own brood.

Around that same time, Nathanael regularly heard noise and thumping on the stairs, and it scared him. He thought he had heard the sandman. One day, he wanted to see the sandman with his own eyes and he took up all his courage. He hid behind the curtains and saw eventually that the 'sandman' was none other than the lawyer Coppelius, who regularly visited his father. Coppelius now, was not very liked by the family. He didn't like children and he let it appear very clearly. Coppelius found Nathanael hiding behind the curtains and yelled: "Here, those eyes!". His father came in between the two and saved Nathanael from Coppelius. Then one day, when Coppelius came to visit them again, they heard an explosion in their father's room. When they hurried up, Coppelius had disappeared and their father was dead.

Nathanael is convinced that the weather glass salesman who knocked at his door is the same person as Coppelius and that he now travels around under the name Guiseppe Coppola ('coppola' means 'eye-socket' in Italian).

The next letter is from Klara, sister of Lothar and fiancee of Nathanael, to Nathanael. In this letter she comforts him and weakens his suspicions and thoughts in a rational manner; his father and Coppelius have probably dabbled in alchemy and have accidentally caused the explosion, for instance. She also says:

"Es ist das Phantom unseres eigenen Ichs, dessen innige Verwandtschaft und dessen tiefe Einwirkung auf unser Gemüt uns in die Hölle wirft, oder in den Himmel verzückt."

["It is the phantom of our own selves, the close relationship with which, and its deep operation on our mind, casts us into hell or transports us into heaven."]

In other words: "It's all in your head".

In a next (and last) letter from Nathanael to Lothar he writes that he now is willing to believe that his imagination is playing tricks on him, and that, as soon as he recognizes them as such, his idle fancies will vanish by itself. He also writes that Spalanzani, a professor that lives across the street, told him that the weather glass salesman has left town. According to Nathanael, Spalanzani is an odd fellow: he keeps his daughter hidden in his house.

This is where the letters stop and the story continues in third person perspective. Nathanael's relationship with Klara is outlined. Klara is a rational woman, who has problems with her fiancee's strange thoughts. Nathanael thinks that Klara is just a cold, emotionless automaton.

Then one day, Coppola knocks at Nathanael's door again. At first, he doesn't want to buy anything from Coppola. But then Coppola takes out a telescope. Through the telescope, Nathanael sees Spalanzani's house across the road, and he sees Spalanzani's daughter Olimpia sitting behind one of the windows. Through the glass, he can see her quite clearly and he is very much impressed by her. He buys the telescope and Coppola leaves.

A little later he sees that Spalanzani is making preparations for a party. He wants to introduce his daughter to society. Nathanael is also invited, and at the party he falls in love with Olimpia. Spalanzani allows him to visit Olimpia whenever he wants, and he does visit her often. He recites from his own stories and poems, and she listens. Not like Klara, who, when he reads to her, knits, or pets the dog, or stares out of the window. Olimpia really listens to him, looks at him and he feels understood. Klara is slowly being forgotten. Nathanael's friend Siegmund just can't understand what he sees in Olimpia, 'that wooden doll', as he calls her. She is beautiful, but she is empty as a shell. Nathanael eventually asks Spalanzani if he can marry Olimpia and he gives the marriage his blessings. Nathanael then decides to ask Olimpia the next day. When he arrives the next day, he hears a lot of tumult. Unmistakebly he hears Spalanzani and Coppelius fight:

"'Laß los - laß los - Infamer - Verruchter! - Darum Leib und Leben daran gesetzt? - ha ha ha ha! - so haben wir nicht gewettet - ich, ich hab die Augen gemacht - ich das Räderwerk - dummer Teufel mit deinem Räderwerk - verfluchter Hund von einfältigem Uhrmacher - fort mit dir - Satan - halt - Peipendreher - teuflische Bestie! - halt - fort - laß los!'"

["Let go - let go! Rascal! - Scoundrel ! - Body and soul I've risked upon it! - Ha, ha, ha! - That's not what we agreed to! - I, I made the eyes! - I made the clockwork! - Stupid blockhead with your clockwork! - Accursed dog of a bungling watch-maker! - OR with you ! - Devil ! - Stop ! - Pipe-maker! - Infernal beast! - Stop ! - Get out! - Let go!'"]

"Let go!" and "I, I made the eyes!", "I made the clockwork! ". They are both pulling at Olimpia, who turns out to be an automaton. Her eyes have fallen on the floor and stare at Nathanael. Then Coppelius runs off with the eyeless automaton.

Nathanael returns to Klara, who is happy that he has come to his senses. One day, they are taking a stroll around town and Klara wants to climb up the tower of the town hall, so she can see the mountains. When they reach the top of the tower, Klara points at a grey figure below. Nathanael takes out Coppola's telescope and glances down. He turns mad and starts to scream: "Wooden doll, turn around, turn around!" He grabs Klara to throw himself off the tower with her; she barely manages to get hold of a railing and her brother rescues her. Nathanael is running around like a madman, up on the tower. Down below, on the market square, the people want to get the lunatic off the tower. Coppelius' voice emerges from the crowd: "He will soon come down of his own accord". Moments later Nathanael lies lifeless on the pavement of the market.

Even though the collection of stories is titled Nachtstücke (=night pieces), it's not advisable to put them on your nighttable. You might find yourself in a nightmare...

Title: Nachtstücke
Author: E.T.A. Hoffmann
ISBN 3442076781
Price: € 9,95 (at Amazon.de)