Ageing interns at Cahners Business Associates who will outlive any opinions they give need not be condescending by pushing the entire product line of conglomerate media franchises.

Written in the late19th century, these stories show their age. They abound with high-class officers and lowly maidens. But in their careful search for thoughts and meanings, they presage Freudian analysis.

In ?Night Games?, Lieutenant Willi Kasda has to come up with 1?000 gulden within 24 hours. Seeing no other way, he joins a card game. But the devil in disguise is dealing the cards and the night spirals toward a disastrous ending. The description of the all-night game alone is an unforgettable piece of literature. Willi?s descent into hell is described in minute and gripping detail.

?The Dead are Silent?: Franz and Emma go for a night ride to the outskirts of town. There is an accident. leaving Emma to her own devices. How does she get home before her husband? A cliffhanger.

?Blind Geronimo and his Brother?: Geronimo and his brother Carlo are panhandlers. Geronimo plays the guitar and sings, while Carlo collects the offerings. When they were children, an accident caused by Carlo resulted in his brother?s blindness. Now Carlo sees the sole purpose of his life in caring for Geronimo. But can a blind man trust Carlo? Slowly but surely things fall apart.

?A Farewell?: Albert waits for his beloved Anna, who is closely watched by her husband. And he waits, getting more desperate by the hour and the day. What could possibly have happened? The story goes from bad to worse, carefully analyzing Albert?s frame of mind.

?The Second?: It shows us the idiocy of dueling and its code. The narrator is an almost professional second on such occasions. At the present one, Eduard Loiberger gets killed - who is to bring the news of this senseless death to Agatha, his widow? The narrator, who feels an attachment to Agatha, tries to accomplish this task.

?Baron von Leisenbogh?s Destiny?: The baron is deeply in love with Clara Hell, a singer. For ten years he follows her throughout Europe, without coming close to his goal. Will he be rewarded in the end? That is where the surprise comes in, deftly maneuvered by the author.

?The Widower?: Richard?s wife suddenly dies and he is devastated. But was she really the saint he imagined her to be? What about his best friend Hugo? And how to handle him? The solution is not exactly Freudian.

?Death of a Bachelor?: Three friends are called to the bedside of the bachelor who, however, just had died. He has left them a confession concerning the wives of each one. How do they deal with the letter? Three situations - can there be just one solution? Each friend has to examine his relation to his wife.

?Dream Story?: Fridolin and Albertine have an open marriage, telling each other what normally would be kept secret. But there is a difference. Fridolin has a nightly adventure that is quite real but sounds like a dream. He decides not to tell his wife about it. Albertine has a dream involving an unknown man and she tells her husband about it. Can Fridolin take it? Will the dream, to him, have some basis in fact?

The stories and novellas are old fashioned and may not be to everybody?s taste. They are superbly written, though, and a document to the times. Kudos also to the translator.

Arthur Schnitzler is today a fairly obscure Austrian novelist and playwright of the early 1900's. He's received some attention recently because his novella "Dream Story" inspired Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut". ("Dream Story" is also excellent and can help you understand the movie.) "Casanova's Homecoming", if you can find a copy, is well worth reading--compact, simply told, carefully plotted, thoroughly thought-provoking. It relates a fictitious episode in Casanova's life when he has become an old man of 53. Most of his charm and all of his money are gone, but his cravings and amorality remain. Quite by chance, he comes to visit the home of an old acquaintance who is much indebted to him, and immediately sets out upon a dark seduction. It is a story about growing old, about how one's struggle to remain young can become pathetic and ugly even when it succeeds. Schnitzler likes to write about sex, dreams, coincidence, free-thinking, and deep mysteries of the soul--"Casanova's Homecoming" gets you thinking about all these themes, mainly because it's very hard to ascertain Schnitzler's attitude toward Casanova--does he like him? Loathe him? Pity him? Does he have any feeling toward him at all? After reading this, you may find yourself asking many such questions. This may have been the author's intent: his writing seems designed to provoke questions rather than provide answers. He does it well!

»Traumnovelle« is the book on which the fantastic movie »Eyes Wide Shut« is based. It is written as early as in 1926, and it does not take place in New York but in Vienna.

A VERY beautifully written short story which is much more a poetic dream journey than an erotic story. Very interesting book!

Die Traumnovelle is a psychological novel (in fact Schnitzel and Freud were often in touch) who deals with the need for transgression. The two main characters, married, get bored with their everyday life and routine and so they start longing for what I'd call "adventure". But eventually, they understand that adventure isn't what we really want, it's just a temptation and once we satisfy it, it seems much less exciting than we thought. In fact what the two characters really want is exactly their everyday life and eventually they get back to it... I'm sorry, I could have explained this a lot better in Italian ;-)

"Traumnovelle" is a fine novella which masterfully employs the epic mythological structure to send it's main character Froidlin on a psychosexual odyssey. The character struggles with an attempt to engage in meaningless sexual debauchery in order to cuckold his wife. He finds, however that he can not divorce himself emotionally from sexual activity. Schnitzler is a masterful hand at creating an adult fairy tale the moral of which remains poignant today.

David Hare's dry humor underlies most lines in this play and, as a result, it is a funny enough read. Prior to reading Hare's adaptation of La Ronde, I saw the Broadway version. The audience at the theater failed to laugh at the underlying humor as it was not emphasized. The text, however, brings out this facet of the play very well. Overall, however, there is nothing special about the the play itself. It is a cursory analysis of sexuality and sexual politics. But it's not the Kinsey report.

David Hare's adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's "La Ronde" is nothing short of amazing. The twisting strand of relationships that course through the scenes is filled with mirror images of ourselves. Either in the lives we lead, what we invision in our mind, or in the world we see around us. There are so many difference's between the ten characters, but what makes it truly interesting is when you realize just what might be the same about them.

This play is a first rate pick!

I for one adored this play. Did not see the Broadway play but from what I heard it apparently cheapened this excellent work by David Hare. It goes into the before and after scenes from which the curtain closes. It is not about the sex but how society and individuals view sex and how commmon day our culture holds it. Any open minded individual interested in how individuals and societys behaviors correlate must read this play. It is short and easy reading for anyone to enjoy.

Anybody interested in Viennese culture before World War I and between the wars ought to read this book. It portrays the atmosphere of a city that was one of the most influential centers of European culture, where contributions by the Jewish community were epoch-making and masterful. A must for anybody wanting to understand the marvel that was Europe.

Ah, Schnitzler. That magnificent chronicler of old Imperial Vienna - the Vienna of sweet young things (usually working- or middle-class), slightly neurotic but charming young men (usually upper-class), and their fleeting love-affairs, terminated so easily once ennui starts to exceed pleasure, the Vienna of walks in the Prater and talks in the cafes (ever so full of interesting artistic types), the Vienna where the nostalgic strains of Johann Strauss provide a suitably bittersweet accompaniment to the beginning (or the ending) of the abovementioned love-affairs ...

All of which occur in The Road into the Open; nevertheless, the Vienna depicted here does not only consist of only the sweetened tableaux so frequently dismissively (and unfairly) attributed to Schnitzler. The easy charm of the Vienna here is extant, but by no means idealised - it masks the artistic impotence that seems to afflict nearly all of its inhabitants, haunted as they are by the sense of being epigonal; grandiose artistic projects are continually being talked about, but never executed, whether because of an aversion to actually setting them down on paper, or simply because of what is commonly called a "lack of inspiration". More sinisterly, it also masks the habitual anti-Semitism of what one of the characters wittily calls those of "indigenous physiognomy"; though written in 1908, there are passages that almost foreshadow the rise of Nazism. Schnitzler subtly intertwines the study of the individual with ruthlessly objective social commentary and evocation of the atmosphere (both artistic and political) of fin de siecle Vienna, to produce a fascinating book highly recommended not only for those with an interest in the period, but also for anyone who fancies a thought-provoking book

Arthur Schnitzler's play "Hands Around" was first published in 1897, but (according to the brief prefatory note in the Dover edition), its controversial nature prevented it from being performed until 1920. The Dover edition contains an English translation of the play.

"Hands Around" is a cycle of ten dialogues, each of which is linked to the previous and following dialogue through one or the other speaker. Thus, "The Girl of the Streets and the Soldier" is followed by "The Soldier and the Parlor-Maid," which is in turn followed by "The Parlor-Maid and the Young Man," etc. The couple in each dialogue is about to have, or has just had, a sexual encounter.

Through his characters, the Vienna-born Schnitzler holds up a harsh mirror to the dishonesty, hypocrisy, and loneliness of life. There are some passages of truly dark cynicism. Consider this statement of "the Count" to "the Actress": "Happiness? There really is no such thing as happiness. All the things that people talk about most, don't exist... for instance, love."

Schnitzler paints a rather bleak portrait of human nature. His characters' disturbing inner lives are ironically complemented by surroundings that are either sadly shabby or elegantly decadent. Overall, "Hands Around" is a fascinating, if uneven, work of European theater.

It was a pleasure to read this short play that involves 8 people whose affairs or near-affairs link to each other. (For example, A is the wife of B who is in love with the chambermaid C who has a passioa for businessman D who is still lonely and seeks out prositiute E....etc.) The writing is clear and concise, and full of tension and erotic suggestion. For eighty cents, this is the best bargain in the entire Amazon catalog.

Though the last reveiw was good enough to compel me to read this play, the writer is a bit off. Hands Around involves 10 people who each have affairs with two lovers. Each scene involves the dialouge between the lovers before and after they have sex. It starts with the "girl of the streets", who has sex with a soldier, who forces himself upon the maid, who is suduced by the young man, etc. and ends with the girl of the streets... I found the play not only intruiging because of its bold approach torwards promiscuity but also because of the time it was written; 1890. It was only first publicly presented in the 20's and even then was condemed for the scandal it created. I read this in one sitting, first because it's short and you could easily finish it in under an hour, but also because I couldn't put it down. If this play is ever performed near where I live, I will have to see it. Everyone should have the privledge of enjoying this work and now that it's in dover-thirft editions you can get it for less than a what a sandwich might cost you.

Published in 1926, Arthur Schnitzler's DREAM STORY ("Traumnovelle") is a novella of dark Freudian images and plays on the merging of the conscious and subconscious in human life. Forgotten for several decades, it has returned to print with Stanley Kubrick's last film EYES WIDE SHUT, which was a somewhat faithful adaptation set in the present day. DREAM STORY tells of a married couple in Vienna, perhaps at the turn of the 20th century though the date is unspecified. While having what begins as a friendly conversation one evening, Albertine confesses to her physician husband Fridolin that during a vacation in Denmark the previous summer she felt she could leave him and their daughter behind for a handsome naval officer who was staying in the same hotel. Fridolin, shocked that his marriage isn't terribly stable and that his wife could maliciously leave him, is then called to visit a patient. From there he encounters several women in his journeys through Vienna and eventually gains entrance to a upper-class orgy (presented somewhat differently than the black mass of Kubrick's film). The action takes place over only two days, and this slim volume can be read in a mere two hours. I can't comment on this translation, having read the translation into Esperanto by Michel Duc Goninaz, but the novel's meaning is based on symbolism that wouldn't lose much in translation, though one must be aware that the German names of the characters (and the Schreyvogelgasse, a Viennese street) are linked. People owning a German dictionary will get a little more out of this novella.

Arthur Schnitzler was quite enamoured by the theories of Sigmund Freud, so much so that Freud joked that he would never meet the novelist because of the belief that one would die upon encountering his double. DREAM STORY is full of allusions to Freudian psychology, and the orgy is both a real event and a representation of Fridolin's subconscious. Albertine's dream recounted to Fridolin afterwards, told in unrealistic detail that shows Schnitzler is trying too hard for a roman a clef, echoes the previous action eerily and hence the title of the novella. It is because of its Freudian basis that DREAM STORY is ultimately disappointing. Freudian psychology has been taken some heavy blows in favour of the theories of Jung and Lacan, so this story shows its age. And while it would seem at first that Schnitzler is being progressive in saying that women do indeed think of sexuality, it is apparent that Schnitzler believes that women unhealthily desire sex only as a tool to hurt and strike out, as Albertine insinuates several times that she would take great pleasure in abandoning Fridolin for a purely physical relationship with a younger man. As a result of this basis, DREAM STORY is quite out of date and misogynist.

I really couldn't recommend DREAM STORY, unless one has an interest in Freudian psychology and its application, in which case this novella is a treasure of the thought of the period. While recommending the movie over the book is a reversal of the usual order of things, I'd recommend simply watching EYES WIDE SHUT. Stanley Kubrick was aware of many of the flaws of the source material and fixed a few of them, and the art direction and cinematography are superb. The novella doesn't have much going for it.

Arthur Schnitzler's "Dream Story", is a psychological novel which explores the relation of dreams and fantasies to reality. The principle characters, Fridolin and Albertina, are a happily married couple who confess their sexual might-have -beens to one another. However, whether or not the events are reality or merely dreams is not known. The book puts it this way, "no dream is entirely a dream." This book was optioned by film director Stanley Kubrick, director of "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "A Clockwork Orange", and is being filmed under the title, "Eyes Wide Shut". Kubrick described the book this way, "It explores the sexual ambivalence of a happy marriage and tries to equate the inportance of sexual dreams and might-have-beens with reality."

This is perfect Kubrick film making material. Stanley Kubrick's new movie "Eyes Wide Shut" is based on this story wich is the type of material Kubrick makes into a success. This book is very interesting and the main character developement is just perfect. Dream Story is one of the best written work of an author ive seen. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking forward to Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" next year(99). The movie will probably be more modernized, but if you know Kubrick, you'll know that this story will be another one of Kubrick's masterpeice. The story shows how a couple show their love towards each other and how they are willing to talk about their past and possibly future relations with other people. "No dream is entirely a dream"

Schnitzler is known as a representative of the fin-de-siècle generation of Viennese intellectuals, and his name is often mentioned alongside Freud's because of his profound interest in the workings of the human mind. He was, indeed, a trained psychiatrist who seemed to revel in the darker corners of the psyche, all that beneath the shiny surface of "decency."

"Lieutenant Gustl" is presented in the form of the eponymous soldier's stream of consciousness, so there is much skipping among subjects which at the same time reveals a great deal about Gustl's personality, the Austrian society of the time, as well as makes one smile. The narrative begins at a concert where an oratorio is being performed, and Gustl seems to be terribly bored with it, cursing his friend, Kopetzky, for giving him the free ticket. Parallel to that though, he is enjoying the fleeting glances of young women in the audience, and on top of that, he appreciates the fact that he is attending an event that has an ascribed cultural value to it--something respectable, decent and going with his image.

At the same time, he is preparing for a duel with a doctor the next day, the cause for which have been some utterings by the latter insulting to Gustl's sense of patriotism. This is another theme throughout the work: the Austrian militarism as well as its opponents, a dose of anti-Semitism, the belligerence of a "good Austrian."

However, the plot following the concert focuses on an incident in the cloakroom. Gustl becomes restless with a large man blocking his way to retrieving his coat, and that irritates him to the extent of cursing at the large man. He turns out to be the baker who is also a regular at Gustl's coffee-shop, but to our hero's chagrin, he turns out to be stronger than Gustl. The baker grabs Gustl's sabre and whispers into his ear to straighten out or the sword would suffer, with all the disciplinary consequences.

This upsets Gustl so much that he gets launched into lengthy ponderings over whether what he has just experienced was a dream or real. After weighing a number of options to stop any further damage to his reputation (what if the baker tells somebody about the incident?), he resolves to commit suicide at the break of dawn. Until the very end of the story, matters from philosophical of universal scale down to prosaic and technical such as how best to say good-bye to his prostitute-friend preoccupy his mind. I am sure many readers would recognise the pattern in which Gustl's mind keeps jumping from topic to topic--Schnitzler has captured the process of thinking so well.

The ending is very abrupt, just like that which the mainstream consumer of popular culture might have experienced when viewing Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut." I will not give it away, but it is an easy little read that won't take too long for anybody to reach the denouement.

I found it particularly interesting that Kubrick's very adult final movie was based on a short story written back in 1926. Kubrick fans know his movies are full of interesting camera angles and great characters, but underlying all his movies are a combination of temptation and agony. He was a master of titillating the senses and arousing curiousity but not quite giving you what you wanted to see. I was a little surprised, then, when his final movie seemed to leave little to the imagination.

I was surprised by the other reviews on this site that claimed the original story was overly risque. While the story was similar in concept, I found it rather tame compared to the movie. One reviewer said the main character had an infatuation with underage minors. Were we reading the same story here?

I enjoyed the movie but critics complain the movie was too focused on overt sexuality and shock value. Perhaps that's true. It's unlike his previous works which left more to interpretation of the viewer. I do agree that Kubrick attempted to solve the mysteries that were left unanswered in the story. I believe the movie would've received higher acclaim if he remained focused on the tension regarding the affairs of the heart.

One final note, as another reviewer noted, the screenplay differs from the final work. As he/she correctly pointed out, many of Kubrick's works were written "on the fly" as additional ideas and modifications to the original script were incorporated during production.

Anyone confounded by Kubrick's unsuccessful, if interesting, final film should take a look at the book on which it was based. It's one of the greatest books from this century that I've read. It is unfortunate that Kubrick could not transform it into a better movie, as maybe he could have at the height of his powers. The screenplay (or shooting script, anyway) is also included here, and after reading them both, it's easy to see why he failed. Kubrick's movie is basically a transcript of the exterior action that takes place in a book that deals mostly with the internal. Kubrick tries to illuminate the internal struggle with music, set design and mindscreen shots, and while all this adds to the unsettling atmosphere of the film, the core of the book, and the meaning of the events are lost. This is not helped by a sloppy job of updating the novel to 1990s New York. Most of Kubrick's movies (if not all) were based on novels (some great, some not so great), and one of his greatest talents was always to single out what he found to be the core of the novel, and the ability to shape it into his own vision (and in the process, infuriating some of the original writers). But in this case, Kubrick has updated the novel only superfically, and ultimately, he missed the point of the book. It's a shame, because it should have made a marvellous movie, and I feel it could have been one of his greatest achievements. Despite all this, Schnitzler's book stands on its own, and if nothing else, perhaps the movie will lead to something of a rediscovery of this masterpiece.

This is an incredible book. To read the original story, "Traumnovelle," is an enthralling experience. To think that it was written in 1926 adds to its mystique. The screenplay was worth looking at, though at times I felt it was more of a transcription than a screenplay. The narrative follows the final movie cut's directing instructions too closely, though there are some very minor deviations. I'd rather read the original script rather than a shooting script. The short story differs from the movie greatly. It a captivating read, and I can see why Stanley Kubrick spent most of his life wanting to see it on the screen. I think reading the short story gave me an appreciation of what Mr. Kubrick added to it to make it a remarkable film. The structure from the original story is vastly improved in that there is a confrontation of what the main character witnessed. In the short story, it is left up in the air as to the true nature of what he saw, with the strongest suggestion being that it was harmless debauchery of aristocrats. One aspect of the short story that was not explored (and thankfully so) in the movie was the main character's obsessive longings after extremely young women (including the young daughter of the rental costume owner). You'll have to see "American Beauty" for those scenes.

Man: Hello. Come in to my small Parisian apartment overlooking the river.
Woman: I can't stay but a minute.
Man: Come closer...take off your corset.
Woman: You're pretty fresh, you are.
Man: A kiss!
Woman: Somebody might see!
Man: We can go somewhere private.
Woman: It's too far...my sister...
Man: Cognac?
Woman: I'm not thirsty.
Man: Stupid thing! My treasure!
Woman: You're tearing my chemise...oooh...
Man: I love you! Let's screw!
Woman: No! Oh, okay.

Later -

Man: (weeping)

Woman: What's your name again?

The play is composed of 10 scenes, and the subtitle of the play is "ten dialogues". In Scene One, a prostitute and a soldier meet up and he attempts to seduce her. She arranges to meet him the next day, but they immediately have sex on a riverbank. His face is hidden. The soldier treats her callously. In Scene Two, our soldier is with a maid in a park, he seduces her and they have sex. Again, his face is hidden. He treats her like an animal. He moves on to the next woman.

In Scene Three, our maid is at the home of a young gentleman. The gentleman and the maid have sex, then the gentleman leaves. In Scene Four, the young gentleman and the young wife have sex. (she is married, but not to him....) He makes elaborate preparations before the encounter. They make a big deal of their relationship. She says that she loves him. They plan to meet again.

In Scene Five, our young wife and her husband are present. Husband tells the wife how hard it is to be a man, how sexual insecurity must be overcome before marriage (what a trial!). The wife challenges him on his double standard. She calms down and they have sex. He tells her everything she wants to hear. In Scene Six, the husband entertains the sweet young miss. In a dining room, no less. Of course, they have sex. The husband is challenged on another double standard. He wants to know if the lady is married, but she isn't supposed to have the same curiousity. He calms her, and she warms back up to him; they plan to do it again in a more private setting.

In Scene Seven, our sweet young miss is busy with a poet. The poet acts like an artistic type. They profess their mutual love. They have sex. He says that he is Biebitz, and he says that he's not. She doesn't care. They act like they are in love. They part. In Scene Eight, our poet is actively romancing an actress in a country inn. The actress is difficult; she makes the poet leave, call up to the window, then he returns to bed. She puzzles him with a riddle, then, in a shocking turn, they have sex. The actress and the poet then bicker about plays, acting, and performances.

In Scene Nine, our actress meets up with the Count, this in the actress' bedroom. The Count is a pompous braggart, but that doesn't stop them from having sex. They are both happy with it and decide to do it again. In the final scene, the count meets up with the girl of the streets (from scene one). He is sitting on the sofa; she is in bed. Apparently, they have already had sex. He acts as if he doesn't believe that he's done it. He tries to advise her on her career and way of life, then reflects that all women are after money. He decides that he likes the honest approach, and announces that he will return. As the count leaves, he and the maid trade greetings.

The playwright apparently was making fun of the Viennese sexual code of the day, which must have been a sort of "everyone does it, but no one talks about it" scene. He portrays a society of shallow narcissists, interested only in pleasure and the maintenance of appearances. Along the way, Schnitzler challenges several assumptions regarding sexual behavior and gender.

I suppose all this was scandalous and forward-thinking for early 20th century Vienna, but it's boring and predictable now. The dialogue of the play is often interesting, but it doesn't rise above interesting in most of the scenes.