Thüringer Naturen, Charakter-Und Sittenbilder in Erzählungen/Die Heiterethei Und Ihr Widerspiel

Thüringer Naturen, Charakter-Und Sittenbilder in Erzählungen/Die Heiterethei Und Ihr Widerspiel, Frankfurt. 1857.

THIS is one of the numerous imitations of the celebrated “ Dorfgeschichten,” by Berthold Auerbach. The latter introduced, in a time of literary poverty, a wide range of new subjects for epical treatment,-the life of German peasants, with their simple, healthy, vigorous natures undepraved by a spurious civilization. In painting these sinewy figures, full of a character of their own, he was very felicitous, had an enormous success, and drew a host of less gifted followers after him. Herr Ludwig is one of these. We shall not despair of his becoming, at some future time, a second Auerbach; but he is not one yet. There is, in this work, too much spreading out and extenuation of a material which, in itself not very rich and varied, requires great skill to mould into an epic form. But the author has a remarkable power of drawing true, lifelike characters, and developing them psychologically. It is refreshing to see that the German literary taste is becoming gradually more realistic, pure, and natural, turning its back on the romantic school of the French.