Forgotten Classics and Other Lesser Known Books (or No One Has Read this but Me!) discussion

A buddy read of The Black Spider by Jeremias Gotthelf will be starting here around mid-November. It is an 120 page gem first published in 1842. If you're planning on joining, let us know here!

carissa wrote: "My copy is here. I'll read it mid-month."

Perfect. I’ve got my copy, too. I’d like to finish 3 books first, but can start whenever you’re ready.

The German version is free on Kindle. I will try it.

Christopher wrote: "The German version is free on Kindle. I will try it."

Excellent.

Here's a link to the wiki bio for our Swiss clergyman and author, Albert Bitzius (4 October 1797 – 22 October 1854) who assumed the name, Jeremias Gotthelf, from his first published work, Der Bauernspiegel Und Die Kaserei in Der Vehfreude, first published in 1837. He is a contemporary of Balzac and Dickens.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremia...

I started it today and am around page 32. The first 24 pages are the set up for a character telling the story behind a piece of black wood that is part of a house, presumably the story of the black spider, but we'll find out shortly. It's interesting that the translator, Susan Bernofsky, also is the translator of Jenny Erpenbeck's novels, among other works originally penned in German. While the start of The Black Spider was difficult for me, after 3 - 4 pages, I adjusted to the plethora of adjectives and flowery sentences until they didn't bother me at all and/or I swear Gotthelf toned it down a tad.

Have either of you started it yet? Any initial thoughts or comments?

I started this in German, but I don't know what to expect here.
As far as I could tell, it was about a Swiss mountain household getting ready for Easter..

Christopher wrote: "I started this in German, but I don't know what to expect here.
As far as I could tell, it was about a Swiss mountain household getting ready for Easter.."

That first 24 or so pages - about the Christening, and the godmother (the mother isn't permitted to attend her own child's christening), etc. is a very long set-up for the story. I bumped into a couple of articles that stated one of the reasons Black Spider is so significant is because of the Bernese vernacular, but that's not coming through in the English translation. Did you read enough to have a thought on that?

Actually, I did notice a glass on some words- die Gotte (Patin), which wasn't much help- but "Gotte" (feminine) is Bernische for "godmother."

Hebamme- "midwife"

Here's a passage which confused me:

Neben den Käse stellte sie die mächtige Züpfe, das eigentümliche Berner Backwerk, geflochten wie die Zöpfe der Weiber, schön braun und gelb, aus dem feinsten Mehl, Eiern und Butter gebacken, groß wie ein jähriges und fast ebenso schwer; und oben und unten pflanzte sie noch zwei Teller. Hochaufgetürmt lagen auf denselben die appetitlichen Küchlein, Habküchlein auf dem einen, Eierküchlein auf dem andern. Heiße, dicke Nidel stund in schön geblümten Hafen zugedeckt auf dem Ofen, und in der dreibeinigen, glänzenden Kanne mit gelbem Deckel kochte der Kaffee.

With the google translation:

Next to the cheese she made the mighty sticks, the peculiar Bernese pastry, plaited like the braids of women, beautiful brown and yellow, baked from the finest flour, eggs and butter, big as a year old and almost as heavy; and up and down, she planted two plates. Highly piled on the same lay the appetizing cakes, little cakes on one, egg cakes on the other. Hot, fat Nidel was standing on the stove, covered in a pretty flowered harbor, and the coffee was boiling in the three-legged, glossy jug with a yellow lid.

Berne Backwerk sounds a lot like Challah bread... or are they just pretzels?
"Nidel" appears to be Swiss German for "cream."- but who heats cream?

(and who cares? (sorry not sorry))