Riassunto
Riassunto di Il Golem
A chi è rivolto
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.
Che cos’è questo libro
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. It gives you a city of crooked alleys where houses seem to watch their tenants, and where an old legend still stirs.
The tale is told by a man who steps into the life of another man, Athanasius Pernath. Pernath is a gem cutter who has lost his memory of his past. He lives on Hahnpass Lane, across from a secondhand dealer named Aaron Wassertrum, and a stranger with slanted eyes brings him a strange book.
You will meet a puppeteer, a doomed student, an archivist who seems to know more than he says, and his daughter, who waits for miracles. You will also meet a noblewoman in danger and a murder that hangs over everyone. The book asks what lies behind the legend of the clay giant, and what it means to wake up. Let us begin with the book that arrives in Pernath's room.
In questo riassunto
- 1A dream that becomes a lifeFree
- 2The book Ibbur and the stranger
- 3Legends of the Golem in the alleys
- 4Charousek and the hatred of a student
- 5Hillel, Mirjam and the wait for miracles
- 6Angelina and the net around Savioli
- 7Temptation, cunning and the watch
- 8Prison, a letter and a man who travels
- 9What the book is really about, and how it is told
Punto chiave 1 di 9
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.
The house is full of damaged people. The red-haired girl Rosina smiles her frozen smile, and two brothers are bound to her by longing and spite. One brother, Loisa, has a pockmarked face. The other, Jaromir, is deaf and mute and is tortured with her false hopes.
Then a woman bursts into Pernath's room in a gold robe, begging to be hidden. For one second Wassertrum's grinning face appears at the door. That is the first thread of the plot, and it will pull tight later.
The opening works like a dream that slowly hardens into solid ground. Meyrink lets the reader slip from sleep into the story without a clear border.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Athanasius Pernath
- A gem engraver with uncertain memories, Pernath receives spiritual guidance from Hillel amid the quarter’s unsettling mysteries.
- The unnamed narrator
- The unnamed narrator becomes connected with Pernath through a hat, blurring the distinction between their separate lives.
- Hillel
- A Jewish archivist and Miriam’s father, Hillel helps Pernath approach his strange experiences through spiritual understanding.
- Miriam
- Hillel’s daughter Miriam longs for a miraculous existence beyond ordinary life and belongs to Pernath’s circle.
- Aaron Wassertrum
- A threatening junk dealer in Pernath’s neighbourhood, Wassertrum is the object of Charousek’s fierce personal hatred.
- Charousek
- A poor medical student in Pernath’s neighbourhood, Charousek nurses a bitter hatred of the junk dealer Wassertrum.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 72,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 4 h 45 min
- Listening time8 h
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 9 other languages
Questions about Il Golem
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.
Is The Golem based on a true story?
No, it is a work of fiction published in 1915. It draws on the old Prague legend of the Golem, on Kabbalah and on the real streets of the old Jewish quarter, much of which was later torn down.
Is The Golem worth reading?
It suits readers who enjoy atmosphere, dreams and layered symbols. Short chapters, vivid scenes, lively tales told by the puppeteer and a clear thread of crime and love make it easy to follow.