The Marquise of O -

brilliant discovery. Must read

Heinrich von Kleist's 'The Marquise of O__' is an unusual and intriguing little story which is set in Italy during the Napoleonic Wars and focuses on a beautiful, virtuous young widow who, after being saved from being raped by a group of Russian soldiers, nevertheless finds herself expecting a child after the event. Her rescuer, the handsome Count F__, visits her some weeks afterwards and, telling her he has fallen in love with her, offers his hand in marriage. The marquise, who is not at that point aware that she is pregnant, refuses - but after the urging of her parents agrees to consider his offer if he is prepared to wait until she and her family know more about him. In the meantime and to her intense shock, the Marquise discovers she is pregnant and concludes she must have been raped whilst unconscious - however, despite her appeals to her parents of her innocence, she is banished from the family home and sent back to her own house in disgrace. Although she is initially terribly upset and confused, the Marquise soon takes a grip on herself and resolves to discover the father of her child and, in order to do so, she places a notice in a newspaper for him to come forward. But will the father of her child comply? And if so, what will her reaction be?As mentioned in my opening paragraph, this is an unusual yet intriguing tale in which although the perpetrator of the assault on the Marquise is remorseful and he does his best to make amends for his crime, the outcome of the story still leaves the reader (or this one, anyhow) feeling a little uncomfortable. Are we meant to believe that the reparations made by the culprit enable him to atone for his crime? I would like to discuss this further, but to do so would reveal too much of the story and spoil it for prospective readers. I will, however, mention (and as noted by another reviewer writing here) that the reconciliation between the marquise and her father was very odd and made me wonder whether the author intended the reader to question the exact nature of the marquise's father's feelings for his daughter. Intriguing and I have to say that I was absorbed from beginning to end.4 Stars.

A master of the novella and short story, composed in delicately structured sentences, Kleist was long in need of a proper modern English translation - and here it is. The introduction is first-class, too, setting out the moral themes of the tales. Good Kindle edition with only two or three minor glitches.

This is widely regarded as a European classic. Yet, sadly, I was unable to get into it.

The Wikipedia entry on Kleist describes Kleist's philosophy as "the ironic rebuff of all theories of human perfection". Michael Kolhaas shows its eponymous hero having to resort to criminality in his attempts to achieve 'justice'. A thesis as absurd as it is pertinent. While Kleist's tales are intentionally disturbing they manage also (speaking personally) to be hilarious - a reminder of how closely comedy feeds off of disaster, fear, paradox and chaos. His fiction - which is far from inaccessible - deserves to be far better known.

This is an 'must' read for anyone serious about literature. The two stories everyone should read are 'The Marquis of O' and 'Earthquake in Chilli.' This is up there with all the old classics and the stories are compulsive. As a fiction writer and avid reader they are essential.