Irretrievable
Irretrievable (German: Unwiederbringlich, 1892, also known as Beyond Recall and No Way Back ) is one of realist Theodor Fontane's mature German novels. As with some other of Fontane's novels (including Effi Briest), its heroine is believed to be based roughly on a real person whose demise Fontane heard about, and it deals delicately with near taboo (at the time of writing) topics including adultery and suicide.
Author | Theodor Fontane |
---|---|
Original title | Unwiederbringlich |
Translator | Douglas Parmée (1963 and 2011) |
Country | Germany |
Language | German |
Genre | Novel |
Publisher | New York Review of Books |
Publication date | 1892 |
Published in English | February 2011 |
Media type | Print Paperback |
ISBN | 978-1-59017-374-9 |
The novel has been translated twice into English. The first by Douglas Parmée in 1963 as Beyond Recall, it was re-published in 2011 by New York Review of Books as Irretrievable. In 2010 a new English translation, No Way Back, was published by Angel Classics (London). There also is a German made-for-TV movie (1968, director Falk Harnack).
As for translating this haunting novel into English, even deciding on a translation for the title presents many choices in English (irrecoverable, unrecoverable, irretrievable, unrepeatable, beyond recall, past retrieval, beyond retrieval and irreparable, just to name a few). The subtle word-plays and linguistic motifs which add to the power of its German text are challenging to render into English.
Plot introduction
The novel takes place in the years 1859-1861 in Holstein, five years before the German-Danish War, at a time when Holstein was governed by Denmark.
Plot summary
Count Helmuth Holk lives with his countess Christine and their two children in a lonely valley. Christine was raised by nuns and is serious and pious, whereas Holk is by nature fun-loving. When Holk is called away to the Copenhagen court of the Danish princess, he becomes fascinated by a young companion of the princess, Ebba von Rosenberg, who flirts violently with him.
By contrast, his marriage with Christine begins to seem unbearably dull, and he rashly seeks a divorce from his wife before realizing that Ebba's attentions were not serious.
A long separation of Holk and Christine ensues, and only after years and great efforts by friends is a reconciliation between husband and wife engineered. Although on the surface all seems well, Christine is haunted by the previous rejection and drowns herself in the sea.
Editions
- Beyond Recall, translated by Douglas Parmée, published 1963.
- Re-published as Irretrievable by New York Review of Books in 2011 with new Forward. ISBN 978-1-59017-374-9
- No Way Back, translated by Hugh Rorrison and Helen Chambers: Angel Classics, London. Published September 2010. ISBN 978-0-946162-76-5
- Verlag Wilhelm Hertz, Berlin 1892; previously published in Deutsche Rundschau Nr.66/67, January June 1891; many subsequent editions, for example: Aufbau, September 1996, ISBN 3-7466-5283-9.
- Audio book: read by Gert Westphal, 8 CDs, Deutsche Grammophon, ISBN 3-8291-1357-9.
- Radio play: with Paul Edwin Roth, Rosemarie Gerstenberg, Christine Schoenfelder, Martin Hirthe and Edith Heerdegen, treatment: Palma, direction: Ulrich Lauterbach, Hessische Rundfunk 1957.
- TV-film: with Lothar Blumhagen, Hans Timmermann, Alexander Kerst, Tilo von Berlepsch, Walter Buschhoff, Karin Hübner, Lil Dagover and Käthe Braun, book: Max Gundermann and Falk Harnack, direction: Falk Harnack, Berliner-Union-Film, West Germany 1968.