1245. Great German Short Stories, edited and introduced by Stephen Spender (23 Sep 1973) I thought it might be appropriate to read this book, but too many of the stories were reminiscent of the obscure German symbolism which leaves me ignorant. "Lenz" by Georg Buckner (1813-1837) was comprehensible, at least. A novella called "Brigitta" by Adelbert Stiftner (1805-1868) was quite good in its evocation of Hungarian isolation, even though I found the wolf attack incredible. It tells of the separation of a couple reunited by harm to their son. I disliked Heinrich von Kleist's (1777-1811) "The Earthquake in Chile" intensely--bigoted and repulsive. I skip mention of three stories which made no impression on me. Rainer Maria Rilke's (1875-1926) "Gym Period" did not impress me. Thomas Mann's "Gladius Dei" is the story of a reincarnation of Savonarola in Munich and is well done. Franz Kafka's "In the Penal Colony" is too awful, even though it preceded nazidom by years. The rest are not worth mentioning: too modern, too requiring of deep interpretation. ( )