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Bruges-la-Morte

Bruges-la-Morte

Author(s): Georges Rodenbach

Location(s): Bruges

Genre(s): Fiction

Era(s): 1890s

Location

Content

“Bruges-la-Morte” is the story of one man’s obsession with his dead wife and his soul’s struggle between an alluring young dancer – his late wife’s double – and the beautiful, melancholy city of Bruges, whose moody atmosphere mirrors his mourning. This hallmark of Belgian symbolist literature, originally published in 1892 and first translated into English by Philip Mosley to great acclaim twenty years ago, is now back in print for the next generation of English readers to discover. With penetrating psychological force and richly metaphorical language, “Bruges-la-Morte” draws a haunting picture of love, grief, and murder in what has become a “dead city,” severely Catholic and once proud. The source of the famous opera Die tote Stadt and endless inspiration for Belgian and French artists, this novella will enthrall readers with its dark portrait of fin-de-siecle Europe.

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Lead Review

“This is an iconic and indeed defining work of decadent fiction, as well as the consummate example of fin-de-siecle experimentation with sustained poetic prose.” – Donald Flanell Friedman, Winthrop University”

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