Besprechungen / Reviews J AMES N. B ADE : Fontane’s Landscapes. Fontaneana, Band 7. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2009. 172 pp. € 28. This study introduces itself at the outset as «aimed primarily at English-speaking undergraduate students of German literature, but also with graduate students and a general readership in mind […]» (9). It is not a comprehensive discussion of Theodor Fontane’s prose works, but rather devotes its three central sections to the most popular ones: Schach von Wuthenow; Irrungen, Wirrungen; and Effi Briest. It admirably fulfills its task of introducing English-speaking students to this formidable yet rewarding writer or, as Bade cites another critic, to the «delicate and thorough realism» of this «simplest [and] subtlest of novel writers» (101). Detailed yet never tiresome plot summaries orient the first-time reader and set the stage for more detailed textual observations, which stress especially the author’s technique of employing leitmotifs. Photographs and discussions of castles, churches, waterways, and Fontane’s own sketches of the actual sites of the action lend real-life authenticity; one can follow in Bade’s footsteps and go there today. The meaning of «landscapes» is capacious, including not only landscape descriptions in the narrower sense. In Schach, for example, even the reader relatively familiar with the work might be surprised to learn how much of the action is bathed in the peculiar sunshine and shadows of sunset, with the significant exceptions of the Paretz and Charlottenburg sections, where encounters with the Prussian monarchy are bathed in the brightest sunshine. The memorable sunset flotilla of swans is appropriately juxtaposed to the king’s military review at Tempelhof in the following chapter. Nor are the landscapes always idyllic; the view during Botho and Lene’s walks to Wilmersdorf in Irrungen, Wirrungen, whose route they choose explicitly because by using it they are unlikely to meet acquaintances, includes rubbish and a pile of «angel’s heads, rejects from a stonemason’s yard» (74-75). Even Hankels Ablage, picked for its out-of-the-way charm, is spoiled by the unexpected intrusion of Botho’s fellow officers and their «ladies,» so the harmony of Lene’s mood and the exquisite landscape view from her window is short-lived (81-82). Bade is also a conscientious chronicler of Fontane criticism, citing widely in the secondary literature, thus making his study a useful bibliographical guide. As a result, this reader was struck by the sheer quantity of commentary that Fontane’s most famous novel has attracted. Here once again, the sites of the plot - Hohen-Cremmen, Kessin (fictitious but recognizable in Hinterpommern), Berlin’s Keithstrasse (the apartment that Effi chose and where she falls ill) - buttress yet another rewarding reading. Of particular interest is the Rügen chapter (24); the author follows Effi on her Sassnitz walk «an Häusergruppen und Haferfeldern vorüber» and comments: «The mention of the word ‹Haferfelder› immediately triggers the leitmotival associa- CG_42_1_s1-96_End_Korr.indd 93 CG_42_1_s1-96_End_Korr.indd 93 19.08.11 17: 57 19.08.11 17: 57 94 Besprechungen / Reviews tions of ‹Strandhafer› with the Chinese grave, the dunes where Effi and Crampas pursued their affair, and the site of the duel between Crampas and Instetten - illicit love, banishment, and sacrifice» (133). A special feature of the Rügen narrative is Effi’s and her husband’s excursion to the Herthasee, echoing the name of Effi’s playmate, recalling the legend of the Germanic goddess Hertha with its sacrifice of slaves who witnessed the religious ceremony, and including the two ominous «Opfersteine» that one actually finds there. A photograph reproduces Fontane’s sketch of the geography that leads from the shore to the lake, including the stones (already by Fontane’s time a tourist trap) and his own comment, employing his favorite adjective: «Alles kolossaler Schwindel» (140). Who wouldn’t want to know what Fontane really thought about the «Opfersteine»? With this volume Germanists have an eminently useful reference and interpretive work to press into the hands of students wishing to approach this author. A final question, however, addresses the entire Fontane project. Back during the seven «fat» (or at least «fatter») years, my university library sprang for both post-war West German editions, the Nymphenburger (green) and the Hanser (yellow), where they now occupy considerable shelf space. Although using them when necessary (he cites Meine Kinderjahre twice, once from green and once from yellow - 43, 56), Bade employs the Grosse Brandenburger Ausgabe now produced in Berlin by Aufbau, along with its commentary. The Hanser, at least, certainly aspired to scholarly completion, and I wonder how this new edition, made possible by the Wende, will fare; during these lean years, I surely cannot justify asking my library to buy it. University of Kentucky Michael T. Jones H ANS -M ICHAEL B OCK AND T IM B ERGFELDER (E DS .): The Concise Cinegraph. Encyclopedia of German Cinema. New York: Berghahn Books, 2009. 574 pp. $ 150. The recent interest in German film in the United States has produced a host of publications, among them Sabine Hake’s German National Cinema, Tim Bergfelder’s essay collection The German Cinema Book, Stephen Brockmann’s forthcoming Critical History of German Film, and Reinhard Zachau and Robert Reimer’s German Culture through Film, all of which provide essays on representative German films. Only Robert and Carol Reimer’s Historical Dictionary of German Cinema is an encyclopedia similar to The Concise Cinegraph. The Concise Cinegraph is based on Cinegraph, a German-language encyclopedia published by edition text + kritik in Munich. Cinegraph began in 1984 and consists of biographies and filmographies of actors and directors in German cinema history collected as loose-leaf entries in a ring binder that are updated at regular intervals. The idea for Cinegraph was copied from the Kritisches Lexikon zur deutschsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur (KLG), the benchmark publication for keeping information on contemporary authors current by supplying biannual updates. At forty-eight updates the sister publication Cinegraph now has swollen to eight binders containing more than one thousand biographical entries on nearly twelve thousand pages. It is CG_42_1_s1-96_End_Korr.indd 94 CG_42_1_s1-96_End_Korr.indd 94 19.08.11 17: 57 19.08.11 17: 57