Review: Hölderlin. A Novel by Peter Härtling

Review of the book «Hölderlin. A Novel» by Peter Härtling.

«Hölderlin. A novel” is a work by the German writer Peter Härtling, originally published in 1983. The novel is based on the life of the German poet Friedrich Hölderlin, one of the great exponents of German romanticism of the 19th century.

What makes the life and work of Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843) so fascinating and moving? How can one narrate the career of a brilliant and unsuccessful poet who suffered the incomprehension of his time and the madness? These are some of the questions that Peter Härtling asks in his novel Hölderlin, published for the first time in 1976 and recently republished by the publishing house Piel de Zapa.

Härtling does not intend to write a typical biography, but rather a novel that recreates with imagination and rigor the key moments of Hölderlin’s existence: his childhood marked by the death of his father, his training in the Tübingen seminary with Hegel and Schelling, his passion for Greek poetry and Kantian philosophy, his impossible love for Suzanne Gontard, the wife of a French banker for whom he worked as a tutor, his trip to France during the Revolution, his friendship with Schiller and Goethe, his failure as a writer and translator, his mental crisis and his confinement for almost forty years in a carpenter’s house in Tübingen.

The novel is based on extensive historical and literary documentation, but also on a deep empathy with the character. Härtling strives to understand Hölderlin’s thoughts and feelings, his dreams and his anxieties, his ideals and his contradictions. The author does not judge or idealize the poet, but rather shows him with all his humanity and complexity. The result is a masterpiece of biographical narrative, which brings us closer to the figure of Hölderlin with unusual sensitivity and beauty.

Hölderlin. A novel is an essential book for lovers of poetry and German literature. It is also a tribute to one of the great poets of all time, who knew how to express like no one else the desire for harmony between man and nature, between art and life, between the divine and the human.

The novel begins in Hölderlin’s old age, when he is confined in a tower in the German city of Tübingen. From there, the novel develops in two different temporal planes: on the one hand, Hölderlin’s present, his mental illness and loneliness, and on the other, his past, from his youth to his time as a student at the University of Tübingen and his later friendship with the poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Through simple and poetic language, Härtling presents us with a complex and emotional Hölderlin, who struggles to find his place in the world and his own poetic voice. The author manages to capture the essence of German romanticism and the complexity of the poet, presenting his work and his life as two sides of the same coin.

The novel also focuses on Hölderlin’s interpersonal relationships, from his unrequited love for the young Susette Gontard, to his friendship with the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Through these relationships, Härtling shows the poet’s vulnerability and loneliness, as well as his struggle to find a place in the world.

One of the most interesting aspects of the novel is the way in which Härtling intertwines Hölderlin’s life and work. The author uses fragments of Hölderlin’s poetry to illustrate the most emotional moments of the novel, which makes the work even more poetic and emotional.

In short, «Hölderlin. A novel” is a poetic and emotional work that presents the life and work of one of the great poets of German romanticism. Through simple and emotional prose, Peter Härtling manages to capture the essence of the poet and his struggle to find his place in the world. It is a recommended work for those interested in poetry and German literature of the 19th century, as well as for those looking for an emotional and poetic work about the life and work of an exceptional poet.