Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.
I received a comment on a very old post of my mine a few months back. It wasn’t the nicest comment, and I wanted to be angry at it, but I cannot as the poster was right in nearly every way and I’m choosing to view said comment as constructive criticism. The review this person commented on can hardly be considered a review. I did indeed use far too much slang, and I spent more time on the plot synopsis than I did actually reviewing the story. So let’s rectify that. Let’s actually review the story in question.
Please give a warm welcome, once again, to “The Adventure of the German Student” by Washington Irving!
Synopsis time now. As always, a spoiler alert is in order. This is your one and only warning, if you’ve read any other review of this site then you’ll know I love to spoil the entirety of the books I read. Seriously, I’m about to spoil everything about this short story. Now let’s crack in.
The French Revolution is in full swing when our titular German Student, Gottfried Wolfgang, has come to Paris on vacation. Yep, that sounds like a smart decision. Don’t know who told this dude now was the perfect time to vacation in France, but here we are. Anyway, the main character is walking alone one night when he passes the infamous guillotine.
And sitting all alone near this site of death is a young woman. A beautiful young woman Gottfried is instantly smitten with. The nameless young woman is very upset for a myriad of reasons, but one of the main reasons is she has no place to sleep this evening. So the main character offers her his bed. And she agrees as she has nowhere else to go, but she does have one condition: he must marry her. As a single woman she can’t stay in a man’s house by herself; just think of the scandal! Gottfried is so smitten though that he agrees on the spot.
Now this is a horror story, and thus far the scariest thing has been the guillotine. So where and when does the horror come in? I’ll tell you. Upon waking up the next morning, Gottfried discovers his beautiful, young bride dead as a doornail. She is ice cold and her head falls off. This is the point in most stories where he would be arrested for murder and then lose his mind while pleading his innocence, but that’s not what happens here. Nay, nay. Instead the cops are as flummoxed as he is. You see, the woman had been killed at the guillotine the day prior! Dun-dun-dun!
The ending! Ugh, it’s so good! I love that little reveal right at the end. This story is so unassuming when it first begins. The first time I read it, I was shocked. My mind was blown. I was not expecting “The Green Ribbon” vibes this story has when I read it for the first time years ago, but I can clearly see the inspiration “The Green Ribbon” takes from “The Adventure of the German Student."
“The Adventure of a German Student” is an incredibly short short story, but it delivers on every level. The setting of Paris during the middle of the French Revolution creates an unsettling atmosphere where it feels anything could happen. As with all good Gothic lit, there is also an unreliable narrator; though the narrator is my main issue with “The Adventure of the German Student” which we will talk about next. Not to mention, there is this sense that everything is wrong. Right from the start, this story, with its beautifully unsettling atmosphere, makes it feel that something bad is going to happen, that the main character has already made the wrong decision, and the worst is just about occur.
My only issue with this read, as I’ve already said, is the unreliable narrator. All good Gothic lit has one and “The Adventure of the German Student” is no different. But who is this narrator? My favorite part of Gothic lit is the story is always told by someone who heard said story from a friend of a friend’s cousin who read about it in their Great-Great-Great-Grandpa’s journal. It’s camp and I love it. But “The Adventure of the German Student” doesn’t include this little tidbit. The story just jumps right in and there's never any note as to who could possibly be telling the story, or who originally told this story; much to my chagrin. When it comes to Gothic lit, I want that “sit down and allow me to tell you a tale” vibe, and this story could be elevated had it included this staple of the genre. Yes, this is my personal opinion and my personal issue with the story. Realistically “The Adventure of the German Student” doesn’t actually suffer from this issue. I just have a preference against it.
But overall this is a lovely little Gothic story. It’s a perfect read for a dreary November day. I know this post is going live in December, but I read “The Adventure of the German Student” back in November and it set the mood perfectly. There is nothing I love more than some good spooky autumnal vibes. Yes, this is a perfect read if those are the vibes you’re looking for. You should all add it your reading rotation for the spooky months. It’s a great addition as it’s a quick read that only takes ten minutes tops. Highly recommend reading “The Adventure of the German Student” at least once in your life if you love Gothic lit and haven’t read it already.
And with that I shall bid you all adieu. I will see you all again next week with another new review. If you can’t wait that long then you can always check out my podcast Nothing to See Hear. Me and my two co-stars talks everything from ghosts, Disney, Scooby-Doo, weirdos of history, and so much more; there is bound to be something that strikes your fancy.
Until then, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.
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