Malpertuis

Malpertuis is a 1943 incurred fantastic novel by the Belgian author Jean Ray. The novel was filmed in 1971 under the same title by Harry Kümel.

Content

A narrator tells the story as he passes through the theft in a monastery of the "White Fathers " in the possession of a number of manuscripts that tell the story of the house Malpertuis and its inhabitants. The novel is the fictional rendering of these texts, which is accompanied by a commentary by the narrator. Focus of these manuscripts are the memoirs of young Grandsire, which deal with the death of his great-uncle cassava, the owner of Malpertuis. This is his heir, the condition in Malpertuis to live if they want to inherit his large fortune. So gather in the eerie building a series of forms, which can be seen as ancient Greek gods and demigods with their respective power attributes. The novel ends with a report of the narrator, who stayed on the road to Malpertuis in a hostel and a quarreling old couple named Eisengott and mother Groulle observed behind their masks to hide Zeus and Hera.

Topic

The novel can be seen as literary travesty of ancient mythology. The great-uncle Cassava turns out to be a Rosicrucian, who succeeded in the 19th century to salvage the remains of the Greek gods and give them new life by means of secret sciences. However, the attempt in Malpertuis to build a new dynasty gods fails because of the power of the Moirai. Fate can not manipulate or defeat.

Expenditure

• First edition: Malpertuis. Les auteurs associés, Brussels 1943
• Werkausgabe: Oeuvres complètes. Vol 3: Les contes de Canterbury Derniers, Les Nouveaux contes, Malpertuis. R. Laffont, Paris 1964
• German edition: Malpertuis. German of pure A. Zondergeld. Afterword by Jörg Krichbaum. Insel Verlag Frankfurt am Main 1974, ISBN 3-458-05822-2
• Re: Translation and afterword by Rein A. Zondergeld. Festa Vlg, Leipzig 2004, ISBN 3-935822-97-9