Questions tagged [german-language]

Questions about works of literature that were originally written in the German language, regardless of whether they were written or published in Germany or elsewhere.

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Is it possible that Bastian's journey to Fantastica was purely metaphysical?

The first half of The Neverending Story is about Bastian reading a fantasy story about Atreyu's adventures in Fantastica. The second half is about Bastian's own adventures in Fantastica, a world which ...
Rand al'Thor's user avatar
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28 votes
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When and why did the Brothers Grimm start collecting fairy tales?

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are well known for authoring multiple collections of traditional folk tales in the late 18th/early 19th century. Their first major collection of stories was published in 1812. ...
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10 votes
2 answers
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What are all the stories left unfinished in The Neverending Story?

A recurring phrase in Michael Ende's The Neverending Story, often seen when some character or characters drop out of the story, is ".. but that's another story and shall be told another time"...
Rand al'Thor's user avatar
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8 votes
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Why is Josef K.'s last name never revealed?

Throughout the novel, the main character's name is given only as "Josef K." In fact, as I recall, several characters even actually refer to him as Josef K. Why isn't he given a last name? Is this ...
EJoshuaS - Stand with Ukraine's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
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Why are letters hostile to the Childlike Empress?

When the Childlike Empress reaches the home of the Old Man of Wandering Mountain, she has to climb a ladder made out of letters, his message to her. Her wide white gown was in tatters, for it had ...
Rand al'Thor's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
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Why do the names of the first two characters introduced in "The Neverending Story" start with B and C?

I only recently started the book, so I'm hoping that I'm not missing something that's made clear in the book later, but the first character introduced in the book is named Bastian Balthazar Bux (whose ...
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7 votes
1 answer
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In which year was Frühlingsbotschaft by Heinrich Heine published?

I have been searching the entire internet (or mostly) and can't find when Frühlingsbotschaft by Heinrich Heine was first published. I double-checked and it is not part of his collections Gedichte, ...
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6 votes
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What is the significance of the name Bastian Balthazar Bux?

Apart from being triply alliterative (BBB), what is the significance of the name Bastian Balathazar Bux (or Bastian Balthasar Bux in the German original), the protagonist of The Neverending Story? ...
Rand al'Thor's user avatar
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3 votes
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238 views

Who rebutted Raul Hilberg's allegation that Man's Search for Meaning was a deception?

Man's Search for Meaning by psychiatrist Viktor Frankl is a well-known book in which the author described his experiences in several concentration camps (including Auschwitz) and discussed the ...
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2 votes
1 answer
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Is there much critical analysis of "The Hunger Angel"?

Herta Müller, the Romanian-born-German-novelist, won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature. In the same year, her novel The Hunger Angel (Atemschaukel) was published and received much laudation. Despite ...
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2 votes
1 answer
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What did Goethe mean by "each situation, each moment, is of infinite worth"?

Each situation, each moment, is of infinite worth; for each represents a whole eternity. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. I lit upon this on p. 395 of National Geographic Stunning Photographs. I can't ...
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1 vote
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What is the inner meaning of "A Common Confusion"?

"A Common Confusion" is a very short story by Franz Kafka, only three paragraphs long with an English translation available in full online: A common experience, resulting in a common ...
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