First published in German in 1804, under the nom de plume
"Bonaventura," "The ""Nightwatches of Bonaventura "is a dark,
twisted, and comic novel, one part Poe and one part Beckett. The
narrator and antihero is not Bonaventura but a night watchman named
Kreuzgang, a failed poet, actor, and puppeteer who claims to be the
spawn of the devil himself. As a night watchman, Kreuzgang takes
voyeuristic pleasure in spying on the follies of his fellow
citizens, and every night he makes his rounds and stops to peer
into a window or door, where he observes framed scenes of murder,
despair, theft, romance, and other private activities. In his
reactions, Kreuzgang is cynical and pessimistic, yet not without
humor. For him, life is a grotesque, macabre, and base joke played
by a mechanical and heartless force.
Since its publication," " fans have speculated on the novel's
authorship, and it is now believed to be by theater director August
Klingemann, who first staged Goethe's "Faust. "Organized into
sixteen separate nightwatches, the sordid scenes glimpsed through
parted curtains, framed by door chinks, and lit by candles and
shadows anticipate the cinematic. A cross between the gothic and
the romantic, "The Nightwatches of Bonaventura "is brilliant in its
perverse intensity, presenting an inventory of human despair and
disgust through the eyes of a bitter, sardonic watcher who draws
laughter from tragedy.
Translated by Gerald Gillespie, who supplies a fresh introduction,
"The Nightwatches of Bonaventura "will be welcomed by a new
generation of English-language fans eager to sample the night's
dark offerings.
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