2 h 11 minAudiobook5 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 the only person convinced of your courage is you?
Schmelzle is a field chaplain with a fine opinion of himself and plenty to fear. As he recounts his journey to Flätz, he presents himself as sensible, dutiful and brave. Yet almost every step opens a gap between the man he describes and the timid figure the reader sees.
In this short comic work, Jean Paul sets a restless mind loose on the roads of a Europe shaken by war. Soldiers are a common sight, and Schmelzle has no shortage of reasons for caution. His busy explanations turn fear into good sense, while vanity helps him keep his flattering picture of himself intact.
What you’ll discover
- A nervous storyteller Hear Schmelzle make his own case, revealing more than he means to admit.
- Fear in sensible clothing Watch a timid man turn his caution into evidence of sound judgment.
- Vanity beside cowardice Meet a chaplain whose fine opinion of himself keeps pace with his fears.
- Playful turns of thought Enjoy asides, odd comparisons and sudden shifts of feeling in Jean Paul's comic style.
- The pleasure of seeing through Find the humor in what Schmelzle claims and what his own account lets you see.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like comic portraits, playful satire and characters who fool themselves. It suits readers who love German humour, odd learned asides, and a story told by its own hero.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A coward proves he is brave
- Caution is bravery in his own mind
- The mail coach carries a strange company
- Storms and warnings test his nerves
- In Flätz even worship brings worries
- The Tiger offers little comfort
- What the letter is really about
Who’s who
- Attila SchmelzleA former army chaplain who seeks a teaching post and writes to his friends to prove his courage.
- BergaHis healthy, loving wife, who enjoys the fair and longs to shine at home as the wife of a councillor.
- Franz the dragoonBerga's brother, a strong cavalryman who loves brawls and enjoys scaring his anxious brother-in-law.
- General von SchabackerThe powerful minister and general in Flätz whose favour Schmelzle needs for a post.
- The vermin killerA sharp-faced passenger who boasts of his poisons and frightens Schmelzle on the mail coach.
- Jean PierreA man in a red cloak who claims to be a diplomat and seems to follow Schmelzle everywhere.
- The dwarf and the giantA pair of fair performers who travel together and add strange company to the coach.
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Voyage de l’aumônier militaire Schmelzle à Flätz
by Jean Paul · 1809
A nervous army chaplain travels by mail coach to Flätz to win a job and prove he is brave.
Challenging2–5 hours to readfrançais
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In short
Can a man who fears stones from the moon, tailless dogs and barbers prove that he is brave? Attila Schmelzle, a former army chaplain, tries in a letter to his friends.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A coward proves he is brave
The book is a circular letter from Attila Schmelzle to his friends. He writes to answer rumours that he ran away before a battle near Pimpelstadt. His defence is that he was never in the battle at all, because he began retreating hours before it started.
He piles up more proofs. He claims bold dreams in which he storms Rome and duels with the pope. He says he stays far from swimmers because he would surely jump in to save one and drown. He quotes Galen to argue that his thin body proves his courage, and he says a good retreat is the masterpiece of war.
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Details
- First published
- 1809
- Language
- français
- Level
- Challenging
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What is Schmelzle's Journey to Flätz about?
It is a comic letter in which a nervous former army chaplain describes a trip to the city of Flätz to seek a teaching post, while claiming that every retreat proves his courage.
Who is Attila Schmelzle?
He is a former army chaplain at Neusattel, married to Berga. Rumour says he fled a battle, and he writes to prove his bravery while showing the opposite.
What are the notes at the bottom of the pages?
They are the author's own comments, set below the story. They wander into jokes about critics, scholars, rulers, writers and daily life, and they give the book a second voice beside Schmelzle's.
The author
Jean Paul
1763–1825 · German Romantic novelist
Jean Paul was the pen name of Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, a German writer born in Wunsiedel in 1763. He wrote novels, stories, and essays, including Flower, Fruit, and Thorn Pieces, published in 1796–1797. He settled in Bayreuth in 1804 and lived there until his death in 1825.
More by Jean Paul
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