Bemmann, Hans Books

The Stone and the Flute

Hans Bemmann

List Price: $17.00 By: Penguin (Non-Classics) Amazon Marketplace: 35 new & used starting at $0.01

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Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Foreign Language Fiction -> German
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

It has something... 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is certainly not your "classic" fantasy book. Action, adventure wonder and breathtaking scenery are definitely missing, and even the characters are quite "run of the mill". It' s more of a "philosophical" book who tells the story of a sligthly fantastic and very simple world. And here' s the catch: this book actually has a charm of its on, is written in a very fluid way, and can be even somewhat inspiring, but it 's overall too simplistic and superficial. The characters, the world, the ideals, the morals, the drama end up feeling fake and shallow compared to what real existence is. It has a value though, like a little. light, fresh flute musical diversion.

Book that changed my life 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I rescued this book off my best friend's shelf over a decade ago. It had been a gift to him the Christmas before and at the time it was almost the next Christmas. I remember seeing the cover and thinking that I like the imagery of it and wondered if the book was the same. It actually exceeded all my expecations....

I have since had almost all my friends read it and at some point in time they all considered it their favorite book they have ever read.

For me it was a truly beautiful story with a very rich and imagative world. It was almost an entire mythology. And yes the book is long and I know one friend who had some trouble with the first 100 or so pages, but in the end you will be very richly rewarded with one of the most beautifully written tapestries that literature has ever provided.

The book conveys several life lessons not in a preachy manner but since it covers the life of one character is shows you how he is changed by the lessons that life tries to teach you and how he grows as a person or fails to grow in some areas for much of the book, much like we all do in our own lives. I also want to echo the reader review comment made previously about how they are sad that they can never have that feeling when they first read the book again. For me it's been over 10 years since I read it and it still stays with me today. I have since re-read it once at a time of my life I thought I was missing the lessons that are in it to learn and it helped me again immensely.

I am sure some might have been lost in the transalation from German to English but this truly is one of those diamonds in the rough and deserves to be read and cherished by everyone.

Editorial Review:

Setting out to find his grandfather, Listener carries with him a mysterious stone which takes him far away to do great harm. But, through the magical powers of the stone and his grandfather's flute, he also comes to find happiness and to possess a power greater than life itself.

The Broken Goddess

Hans Bemmann

List Price: $9.00 By: Roc Trade Amazon Marketplace: 22 new & used starting at $0.01

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Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> World Literature -> German
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Contemporary
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Funny, Poignant, and Profound 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Are these fairy tales "true"? As the protagonist stumbles through a landscape of half-familiar fairy tales and hilariously-debased Roman gods in search of his transformed lover, he (and we) begin to realize the difference between worshipping a perfect ideal and loving an imperfect human being. With all the authors delving into folklore and marchen these days, Bemmann's approach to the material is surprisingly fresh and touching. One of my all-time favorite books, and one that I've recommended to all my friends.

A beautiful novel of myth and folktale. 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This is a wonderfully gentle exploration of how myth and folktales function as real parts of our lives. An intellectual college professor meets a beautiful woman at a convention and, in his growing infatuation with her, is plunged into a series of strange experiences proving the reality of the stories that he's studied as only dry subject matter for dissertations. Growing through his comic and frightening experiences, he is mature enough to at last approach the woman and begin to love. It's a well-done story, with that happy blending of reality, the magical, and the power of story that makes movies like "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" so moving.

Editorial Review:

A complacent young teacher finds his life irrevocably changed when a beautiful woman demands to know if he believes in fairy tales and then draws him into one, setting him on the trail of magical creatures and an elusive princess. Reprint.