Paul Heyse (1830–1914)

Paul Heyse, who was awarded the Nobel in 1910 at the age of eighty, was a prolific writer of German short stories, also known for his work in collecting and translating Spanish and Italian lyrics (set by people like Robert Schumann and Hugo Wolf). He was associated with writers like Fontane and Storm in the "Tunnel" group in post-1848 Berlin.

"L'Arrabbiata" (1854) is one of Heyse's most famous early stories, the pared-down tale of a wilful girl from Sorrento who has sworn off men after seeing the disaster of her parents' marriage, but who is nonetheless courted by the lovely boatman Antonino, with predictable results. "The girl of Treppi" (1858) is another story about a couple who seem fated never both to be attracted to each other at the same moment: the activist lawyer Filippo, on the run from political oppression, finds himself hiding out in a country inn kept by a woman he had attempted to seduce seven years earlier. She has apparently been pining for him ever since, whilst he has forgotten all about her. Trouble ensues.

Both stories are set in an idealised, operatic kind of Italy, but they have interesting ways of exploring the conflict between our desire to lead independent, self-determined lives and our desire to tie ourselves up in another person's life. The Reclam student edition also comes with a couple of interesting excerpts from essays in which Heyse writes about the history and theory of the short story form.… (més)