Bruges-la-Morte

by Georges Rodenbach, Philip Mosley

Overview

Bruges-la-Morte is the story of one man’s obsession with his dead wife and his soul’s struggle between an alluring young dancer—his late wife’s double—and the beautiful, melancholy city of Bruges, whose moody atmosphere mirrors his mourning.  This hallmark of Belgian symbolist literature, first translated into English by Philip Mosley to great acclaim twenty years ago, is now back in print for the next generation of English readers to discover.

With penetrating psychological force and richly metaphorical language, Bruges-la-Morte draws a haunting picture of love, grief, and murder in what has become a “dead city,” severely Catholic and once proud. The source of the famous opera Die tote Stadt and endless inspiration for Belgian and French artists, this novella will enthrall both the imaginations and heartstrings of an Anglophile audience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781589661592
Publisher:	University of Scranton Press
Publication date:	12/15/2007
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	90
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Georges Rodenbach (1855–1898) was a Belgian poet, essayist, playwright, novelist, and short story writer who was one of the leaders of the Symbolist movement.
 
Philip Mosley is professor of English, communications, and comparative literature at Pennsylvania State University. He is the editor of Anthracite!: An Anthology of Pennsylvania Coal Region Plays.
 
 
 
 
 
 


Philip Mosley is professor of English, communications, and comparative literature at Pennsylvania State University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
 
Introduction
 
Chronology of Works By Georges Rodenbach (1855-1898)
 
Bruges-la-Morte

Editorial Reviews

There is an opiatic quality to the writing which at its best hovers on poetry's border. Hugues's relationship with the dancer who closely resembles his dead wife provides the plot, but the book's real heart lies in the descriptions of Bruges itself, and its 'amalgam of greyish drowsiness'. The Times

A precursor to W G Sebald, a Symbolist vision of the city that lays the way for Aragon & Joyce, and a macabre story of obsessive love & transfiguring horror that is midway between Robert Browning & Tod Browning. Bruges, "an amalgam of greyish drowsiness", is the setting and spur.' Scotland on Sunday

'Bruges evoked in melancholy imagery, in this new translated Symbolist novel.' Summer Reading Recommendations in The Financial Times

From the Publisher