E.T.A. Hoffmann The Sandman

Annotation

Three uncanny tales from a master of macabre fantasy whose work inspired Kafka and Poe, translated by J.T. Bealby and Thomas Carlyle. This collection of three uncanny tales highlights the best of a 19th-century German author who is seen by many as the father of modern sci-fi and fantasy. In "The Sandman", young Nathanael grows up terrified of a legendary figure who will steal his eyes if he's caught out of bed at night - but it's only when Nathanael has grown to adulthood, seemingly settled and happy, that the full, terrifying truth unfolds. A living doll, a series of doppelgangers, and the seeds of madness combine in this classic story of self-destruction. "The Cremona Violin" also deals with obsession and thwarted desire, this time between an overbearing father and a musically talented daughter who may die of heart failure if she unleashes the full power of her extraordinary voice. Suppressed passion and possessive control prove a fatal mix in this powerful and claustrophobic story. "The Golden Pot", meanwhile, is a novella-length tale which Hoffmann believed was his masterpiece. Disturbing, exciting and dream-like, it introduces us to the bumbling Anselmus, whose romantic tribulations are complicated by a witch's curse and the fact that he's in love with a girl who also happens to be a snake.