Short stories
Das Lächeln der Mona Lisa
Not translated into English
Kurt Tucholsky · 1929
Opening lines
Ich kann den Blick nicht von dir wenden.
Denn über deinem Mann vom Dienst
hängst du mit sanft verschränkten Händen
und grienst.
I cannot take my eyes off you.
For above your attendant on duty
you hang with gently folded hands
and grin.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from projekt-gutenberg.org
Synopsis
Eighty-three short texts, columns, satires, reviews and travel pieces, arranged in eight sections and signed sometimes by their author, sometimes by his pseudonyms, Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger, Ignaz Wrobel and Kaspar Hauser. They range from criticism of Prussian militarism to Parisian scenes, from politics and justice to literature, and even to the absurdities of domestic life.
Context
The volume appeared in 1929 in Berlin from Ernst Rowohlt, running to 387 pages, with a laughing Mona Lisa drawn by Ragnvald Blix on the cover. Like the author's previous collections, it brings together texts that had appeared under his various signatures, and it is dedicated to the French satirist Georges Courteline. Four years later, Tucholsky's books were thrown on the fire, and his name called out aloud at the Berlin book burnings.
Who it is for
Nearly four hundred pages of short texts, which can be read in any order; no French translation of the collection has been found.
Prizes and reception
One of the best-known collections by this chronicler of the twenties, and one of the books burned in 1933.
Sources for this page 4
The pages consulted to check this page.