|
Hans Fallada (born Rudolf Wilhelm Friedrich Ditzen; 21 July 18935 February 1947) was a German writer of the first half of the 20th century. Some of his better known novels include ''Little Man, What Now?'' (1932) and ''Every Man Dies Alone'' (1947). His works belong predominantly to the New Objectivity literary style, with precise details and journalistic veneration of the facts.〔Matthew Beaumont. ''Concise Companion to Realism'', (page 151 ). John Wiley and Sons, 2010.〕 Fallada's pseudonym derives from a combination of characters found in the Grimm's Fairy Tales: the protagonist of ''Hans in Luck'' (KHM 83) and a horse named Falada in ''The Goose Girl''. ==Early life== Fallada was born in Greifswald, Germany, the child of a magistrate on his way to becoming a supreme court judge and a mother from a middle-class background, both of whom shared an enthusiasm for music, and to a lesser extent, literature. Jenny Williams notes in her biography ''More Lives than One'' (1998), that Fallada's father would often read aloud to his children works by authors such as Shakespeare and Schiller.〔Williams, 5.〕 In 1899, when Fallada was 6, his father relocated the family to Berlin following the first of several promotions he would receive. Fallada had a very difficult time upon first entering school in 1901. As a result, he immersed himself in books, eschewing literature more in line with his age for authors such as Flaubert, Dostoevsky, and Dickens. In 1909 the family again relocated, to Leipzig, following his father's appointment to the Imperial Supreme Court. A severe road accident in 1909 (age 16)—he was run over by a horse-drawn cart, then kicked in the face by the horse—and the contraction of typhoid in 1910 (age 17) seem to mark a turning point in Fallada's life and the end of his relatively care-free youth. His adolescent years were characterized by increasing isolation and self-doubt, compounded by the lingering effects of these ailments. In addition, his life-long drug problems were born of the pain-killing medications he was taking as the result of his injuries. These issues manifested themselves in multiple suicide attempts. In 1911 he made a pact with a friend, Hanns Dietrich von Necker, to stage a duel to mask their suicides, feeling that the duel would be seen as more honorable. This was due to their emerging sexuality, and the views of the society in which they lived - one which was becoming increasingly homophobic, hence the two young men formed their suicide pact. However, because of both boys' inexperience with weapons, it was a bungled affair. Dietrich missed Fallada, but Fallada did not miss Dietrich, killing him. Fallada was so distraught that he picked up Dietrich's gun and shot himself in the chest, but somehow survived.〔A different version of events is given in a ''London Review of Books'' review by Philip Oltermann (March 8, 2012, p. 27), apparently based on ''More Lives Than One: A Biography of Hans Fallada'' by Jenny Williams (Penguin): "With their first shots, they missed completely. With their second, Necker's bullet missed, but Necker himself was hit in the heart, though he remained conscious enough to beg his friend to shoot him again. Fallada, who was short-sighted, fired three more bullets: one for Necker, two for himself. The first entered his lung, the other narrowly missed his heart. Stumbling back down the path to Rudolstadt, he was found by a forester who took him to hospital. His mother's first reaction to her son attempting suicide and killing his friend in the process was: 'Thank God, at least nothing sexual.'"〕 Nonetheless, the death of his friend ensured his status as an outcast from society. Although he was found innocent of murder by way of insanity, from this point on he would serve multiple stints in mental institutions. At one of these institutions, he was assigned to work in a farmyard, thus beginning his lifelong affinity for farm culture. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hans Fallada」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|