A set text for German A level exam 1965, since read again by myself (with use of a good dictionary).
The introduction by Grolman (1888 - 1973) is scholarly and needs a separate review to do it justice.
In Sifter's foreword dated Autumn 1952 he explains he explains why he concentrates on apparently minor subjects and considers those which loudly claim our attention are not as important as the former. Again this is an insufficient precis and requires additional review. One idea that he repeats is that of "das sanfte Gesetz" - that which appears important, example a violent electrical storm should not obscure our sight of the quieter aspects of nature. (Ironically this review follows soon after the "Flutkatastrophe" which has sadly taken so many lives.") Anyone reading this should understand that I have a very limited understanding of Stifter's reasoning.
Regarding the text itself, the story is a simple one. A surveyor working in an unfamiliar region and to him frightful in its unremitting barrenness and plainness encounters a country priest. Neither of these persons are named. Over time they become friends and the surveyor closely observes the priest's poverty and simple life and the latter opens the surveyor's eyes to the interesting features of the landscape which are not at first apparent. When a violent electrical storm threatens the surveyor accepts the priest's offer of shelter under his roof and it now becomes apparent that the priest does live a simple, godly and abstemious life. (please be not thou cynical reader - there is no ulterior motive - there is nothing improper in this overnight stay).
The surveyor's work finally completed he leaves the once forbidding region with a sense of melancholy but continues to keep in the touch with the priest by letter. By this means he learns of the priest's illness and arranges to visit him and during this visit the priest has a request to make of the surveyor but first must acquaint him with the details of his earlier life. On this occasion the priest recovers and he and the surveyor do meet from time to time. Finally, the duty which the surveyor has accepted from the priest needs to be carried out and thi leads to the conclusion of the story.
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Quandary: how to "star" rate this book? Of interest to myself as nostalgia for a book read 50+ years ago. But who would it appeal to now? Stifter had children in mind as his main audience and as key characters. In Kalkstein the narrator observes how the priest guides the children from the flooded bridge across to the bank. It is only at the conclusion that we discover the priest's long desire to make their journey to school less perilous. Perhaps the priest is shown to be an example of someone living a quiet exemplary life. There is no sex, the only violence is from the thunderstorm, and the plot is merely a sketch as outlined above. No lurid cover could be used to represent this book so I am at a loss to know who else would read it now.
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