Riassunto
Riassunto di Racconti del Diavolo: un'antologia
A chi è rivolto
For readers who enjoy folklore, ghost stories and dark fables, and anyone curious about how writers use evil as a character. These tales also suit readers who like both chills and wit.
Che cos’è questo libro
Devil Stories is a collection of tales about the devil, gathered by Maximilian J. Rudwin, a scholar who spent his career studying how the Prince of Darkness appears in legend and literature. The book came out in the early twentieth century. It brings together stories from different countries and periods, so that one reader can see how many shapes the same figure takes.
What do you get from it? You get a guided walk through the devil's long career in fiction. He is a tempter, a bargainer, a trickster and sometimes a figure of fun. You also get a sense of why writers keep returning to him. Let us begin with the first idea: the devil is never just one character.
In questo riassunto
- 1The devil wears many facesFree
- 2Temptation tests ordinary people
- 3Fear and laughter live side by side
- 4How to read a collection like this
Punto chiave 1 di 4
The devil wears many faces
The first lesson of an anthology like this is that the devil has no fixed face. In church teaching he is the fallen angel, proud and cold. In village tales he is often a clumsy figure who loses his bargains. In the hands of literary writers he can be elegant, witty and almost sympathetic.
Rudwin knew this range well. His wider scholarship traced the devil from old religious sources through the Middle Ages and into modern fiction. Gathering stories side by side lets you see the same figure change with each age and each storyteller.
For a reader today, this is the pleasure of the book. You are not following one plot. You are watching a character that every culture has had to imagine for itself, and noticing what each version says about what its authors feared and what they found funny.
That’s 1 of 4 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 87,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 5 h 50 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 12 other languages
Questions about Racconti del Diavolo: un'antologia
What is Devil Stories: An Anthology about?
It is a collection of short tales in which the devil appears as tempter, bargainer, trickster or source of fear. The stories come from different traditions and periods, and show how writers have imagined him.
Who edited Devil Stories?
Maximilian J. Rudwin edited it. He was a scholar of literature and folklore who wrote widely on the devil, including a longer study called The Devil in Legend and Literature.
Is Devil Stories a true story?
No. It is an anthology of fiction and folk tales, not a record of real events. It was put together in the early twentieth century from older and more recent stories.
Is Devil Stories scary?
Some tales aim at real dread, while others are comic or satirical. The mix means it is more varied than a plain horror collection, and suits readers who like both chills and wit.
Is Devil Stories hard to read?
Not usually. Short tales are easy to take one at a time. The plots of temptation and bargain are simple to follow.