UNDINE

by Friedrich de la Motte Fouque ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1971

On the fiction shelves where it must lodge, this will be an exotic anomaly: a slender volume composed of small spidery type and an occasional sultry painting; 19th century German Romanticism embodied in a tragic fairy-tale romance. One cannot however deny Undine -- either in her joy at having gamed a soul by her marriage to Huldbrand or in her despair on discovering that other souls, long accustomed to wrongs, are not as pure as hers. As a water spirit, she is a coquette and petulant; as a bride, she is womanly -- sweet and loving; threatened by Bertalda who also loves Huldbrand, she is alternately submissive and beseeching: it is a lovely role (played by Audrey Hepburn in Giraudoux's Ondine). Mrs. Schwebell has condensed Fouque's story considerably, as she notes in the Afterword, eliminating many of the 1811 excrescences. Purists may cavil but it is now viable -- to the extent that the indeterminate format permits.

Pub Date: March 1, 1971

ISBN: 8132005007

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1971

Categories: FICTION