The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr

The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr together with a fragmentary Biography of Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler on Random Sheets of Waste Paper is a complex satirical novel by Prussian Romantic-era author E.T.A. Hoffmann. It was first published in 1819-1821 as Lebens-Ansichten des Katers Murr nebst fragmentarischer Biographie des Kapellmeisters Johannes Kreisler in zufälligen Makulaturblättern, in two volumes. A planned third volume was never completed.[1] It was Hoffmann's final novel and is considered his masterpiece. It reflected his concepts of aesthetics, and predated post-modern literary techniques in its unusual structure. Critic Alex Ross writes of the novel, "If the phantasmagoric 'Kater Murr' were published tomorrow as the work of a young Brooklyn hipster, it might be hailed as a tour de force of postmodern fiction."[2]

Tomcat Murr's death, 1864 etching by Ferdinand II of Portugal

An English translation by Anthea Bell was published in 1999 by Penguin Classics.

Jeffrey Ford described the novel as a "complex, truly wild fiction" where Hoffman "pieced together the fragments of his own shattered psyche and commented on the relationship of art and artists to society."[3]

References
  1. Hoffmeister, Gerhart (2006-10-15). "Kater Murr". The Literary Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
  2. Ross, Alex (2009-08-24). "Imaginary Concerts: The Music of Fictional Composers". The New Yorker: 72.
  3. "Curiosities, F&SF, April 1999


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