7 h 58 minAudiobook11 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if another man's life begins to feel more real than your own?
In Gustav Meyrink's The Golem, an unnamed narrator finds himself caught in the life of Athanasius Pernath, a gem engraver in Prague's old Jewish quarter. A hat bearing Pernath's name connects them. As the boundary between the two men blurs, crowded houses, dark passages, and enclosed rooms turn the city into a place where private fears seem to enter the streets.
A mysterious visitor brings Pernath a book to repair, drawing him toward the legend of the golem, an uncanny presence associated with the quarter. Nearby, the junk dealer Aaron Wassertrum spreads fear through his power and hostility. As danger closes in, Pernath's missing memories become as troubling as the secrets around him. The mystery presses against his very sense of self.
What you’ll discover
- A city of shadows Enter dark passages and enclosed rooms where the quarter's oppressive atmosphere gives fear a physical shape.
- A self under pressure Follow Pernath as uncertain memories make his own identity a deeply unsettling mystery.
- An uncanny encounter Discover how a visitor and a book draw Pernath toward the quarter's haunting legend.
- A search for meaning Meet Hillel, the Jewish archivist who guides Pernath toward a spiritual understanding of his experiences.
- Lives caught in conflict Encounter Miriam's longing for a miraculous existence and Charousek's bitter hatred of Wassertrum.
Who will love it
Readers who love haunted cities, old legends and mysteries of the soul will find a home here. It suits anyone drawn to Kabbalah, dreams, doubles, strange friendships and a tale of love and crime.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A dream that becomes a life
- The book Ibbur and the stranger
- Legends of the Golem in the alleys
- Charousek and the hatred of a student
- Hillel, Mirjam and the wait for miracles
- Angelina and the net around Savioli
- Temptation, cunning and the watch
- Prison, a letter and a man who travels
- What the book is really about, and how it is told
Who’s who
- Athanasius PernathA gem cutter in Prague's ghetto who has lost his past and is drawn into a plot of love, crime and spiritual awakening.
- Aaron WassertrumA harelipped secondhand dealer who hoards, spies and hunts for secrets he can use to ruin the people around him.
- Innocenz CharousekA poor, consumptive medical student who plans the downfall of Wassertrum and his family with a cold and patient cunning.
- Schemajah HillelThe calm archivist of the Jewish Town Hall, a poor Kabbalist who guides Pernath with riddles and quiet power.
- MirjamHillel's daughter, a young woman of strange beauty who longs for real miracles and for a union beyond the ordinary.
- AngelinaA noblewoman who loves Dr. Savioli in secret and begs Pernath to protect her and her child from blackmail.
- ZwakhA kindly old puppeteer who tells the legend of the Golem and stands by Pernath with his friends.
- Amadeus LaponderA gentle prisoner with a Buddha smile who calls himself a traveler between worlds and shares Pernath's cell.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 7 h 58 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 11 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Le Golem
by Gustav Meyrink · 1915
A gem cutter with no memory of his past is handed a mysterious book in the crooked alleys of Prague's ghetto.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Golem is a novel by Gustav Meyrink, an Austrian writer who set it in the Jewish quarter of Prague. It was published in book form in 1915, and it blends a crime plot, a love story and a spiritual quest in one dream-soaked tale.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A dream that becomes a life
The book opens with a restless sleeper who cannot shake a puzzling thought. It is about a stone that looks like a piece of fat. Moonlight lies on his bed, and his half-dream pulls him toward another man's life. He finds himself in a gloomy courtyard in Prague's Jewish quarter, and he feels he has always lived there.
He is Athanasius Pernath, a gem cutter who repairs antiques and engraves fine Japanese prints. His window looks down on Hahnpass Lane and the shop of Aaron Wassertrum, a secondhand dealer with a harelip and round fish eyes. The shop never changes. Rusty stove plates block the door, and Wassertrum chases off any buyer who asks a price.
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What is The Golem by Gustav Meyrink about?
It follows Athanasius Pernath, a gem cutter in Prague's Jewish quarter who has lost his memory. A strange book, a murder and a legend of a clay giant draw him into a story of love, crime and spiritual awakening.
What does the Golem mean in the novel?
The Golem is a clay man from Jewish legend, brought to life by a magic word. In the book it also stands for a ghostly stranger who appears every thirty-three years, and for the soul of the ghetto itself.
Who is who among the main characters?
Pernath is the gem cutter, Wassertrum the secondhand dealer, Charousek the student, Hillel the archivist and Mirjam his daughter. Angelina is a noblewoman, and Zwakh is a puppeteer who tells the legend.
The author
Gustav Meyrink
1868–1932 · Austrian novelist and translator
Gustav Meyrink was an Austrian writer and translator born in Vienna in 1868. He lived in Prague from 1883 to 1902 and later settled in Bavaria. He wrote novels and short stories. His novel The Golem was published in 1915. He died in Starnberg, Germany, in 1932.
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