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The Devil's Elixirs
The Devil's Elixirs | E. T. A. Hoffmann
2 posts | 5 read | 1 reading | 4 to read
Medardus is the Capuchin monk who is ignorant of his family history and what he knows about his childhood is based upon fragments of memory and a few events his mother has explained to him. Medardus cannot resist the devil's elixir, which has been entrusted to him and which awakens in him sensual desires. After being sent from his cloister to Rome, he finds a Count, disguised as a monk as a means of seeing his lover, and pushes him from a "devil's perch". Unbeknownst to all involved, the Count is Medardus's half-brother and the Count's lover is his half-sister. The Count becomes his lunatic doppelgänger and crosses his path multiple times after Medardus abandons his ecclesiastical position, drifting throughout the world.
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review
Jari-chan
The Devil's Elixirs | E. T. A. Hoffmann
post image
Mehso-so

A typical E.T.A. Hoffmann and a good example for Dark Romantic. It was a bit too long for me though, so it lost some of it's suspense. The plot is based on Christian topics, the MC is a monk, but as we deal with Hoffmann a lot is going on a psychological level. Some even say it's one of the earliest dealings of split personalities. It's not my favourite Hoffmann, but it was nice to revisit his dark and atmospheric world.