Der Kranz der Engel by Gertrud von le Fort

Der Kranz der Engel Reviews

• 
  Fonch

  Ladies and gentlemen after a long and forced vacation you can say like the Arthur Pendragon of the First Knight that my quiet days are over. The criticism that I was forced to interrupt this summer has been resumed. You know that I intended to conclude the sequel to"The Veil of Veronica" and write the review of the second part, which was written after the Second World War so between the first and second part there is a separation of two decades. I heard that the author's intention is that both"The Veil of Veronica" and its sequel"Crown of Angels" were a single novel, but in the end it was left in two parts. However, before I start writing the review of this book it would be a good idea to tell Goodreads users what I read before saying goodbye to them, and what my future plans are, and readings and I will put that at the end because the criticism of this book must take precedence over my summer readings, my future plans, and my future readings. After all, the Goodreads user has come to know my opinion about this novel.
  Once my analysis of my readings has been completed, and my projects will be analyzed the work in question by Gertrud von Le Fort. I have been seeing the other criticism that has been written of this book, and I agree with her on one thing, and that is that this is a controversial book, and controversial for spiritual suicide, that the protagonist Veronica is about to commit, and that for the plot is very interesting, but it is very dangerous, and I like the Dean of this story disapprove energetically. However I do not agree with putting this book on the list of prohibited books. Having read writers like Graham Greene
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... or Shusaku Endo
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... we are cured of horror. As has been said this novel is set almost three decades after the prequel, and collects where the story of Veronica left with a change of scenery if"The Veil of Veronica" was set in Rome. Here Gertrud von Lefort chooses to place his heroine in his native Germany, curiously he places it in Hedidelberg, for those who know the history of Germany Heidelberg was the seat of the usurper Winter King the Calvinist Frederick V of Wittelsbach, and the seat of German Calvinism, which dared to proclaim itself emperor instead of the legitimate emperor Ferdinand II of Habsburg, to meet this character I recommend the book of"Characters of the Reformation" by Hilaire Belloc, whose review I already wrote
  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..., also at the suggestion of Sandra E. Miesel
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... writer and muse of science fiction, who was pejorative with the book by Hilaire Belloc I recommend the book by the historian Carlos M.N. Eire
  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9..., begging, that some charitable soul edit it in Spanish. He has a crime being Mr. Eire of Cuban descent. Of course I place both Sandra Miesel, Carl E. Olson
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... if you ever wish to visit our Group Catholic Book Club
  https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/... in goodreads. Precisely the charm of this novel is that both Veronica and Enzio embody two different types of Germany. While Veronica embodies the Catholic Germany of the Ottos, the Welfs, the Luxembourgs, the Habsburgs and partially that of Henry III, and Frederick I despite his confrontation with the Papacy, and the Italian cities. She embodies the Catholic Germany of the Middle Ages, while Enzio embodies not the Bismarkian Germany of the Protestant, and terribly anti-Catholic, Kulturkampf. Enzio the only character along with Veronica who has a leading role in this sequel, because the characters who are not dead, such as Jeanette, and Father Angelo will only be present indirectly. Angelo's letter is the one that puts him in contact with the Dean. Enzio n change is very easy to link him with Nazi Germany, although at no time is Nazism mentioned in this novel, but totalitarianism is very present in this novel through Enzio, although it could also be the Germany of Wolfgang Kapp, or those who did not accept the Diktat of Versailles. True, Germany did not go as badly as Turkey, or Austria (particularly the Austrian case was an absolute disgrace, which the Allies did with it). Germany comparatively did not lose so much territory, but a mistake was made at Versailles there were two ways to crush Germany, as Clemenceau wished, or to have been magnanimous as many wanted among them Keynes
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., because the enemy, either respected, or annihilated. None of these routes were chosen, so Germany would soon fall into the hands of resentment, and revenge with a Weimar Republic, which would only be maintained as long as no fatal eventuality occurred. The victimist and nationalist discourse that Enzio sings is going to permeate German society. If the previous novel had echoes of Henry James
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... this will have a clear Dostoevsky influence the evil of Enzio, who goes from being a poorly raised child, and pampered to being a creature spiritually mutilated in the Great War, can only be understood in a supernatural key, as already commented there is almost a Faustic pact, or in this case a demonic possession. Although we did not see any ritual, this could already be perceived in the behavior of the aunt of the protagonist Edel, whose final reaction may be the product of madness, or of a demonic possession, as could happen with Juana la Loca de Castilla, or the Infante Don Carlos. It is very interesting how Louis de Wohl portrays him in"The Last Crusader"
  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7... very different from the black-legendary image with which Schiller describes him in"Don Carlos" and then Verdi in his opera
  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9... or as Alfieri did in his nefarious Philip
  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1.... What, if it is maintained, although as the revanchist, philonationalist impulses of Enzio advance, will be weakened is the love between Veronica, and Enzio, who tried so hard to instill in the first book the grandmother of the protagonist.
  This is a summary of the main plot, but it should be noted, for those who have not read the first part that is"The Veil of Veronica" that Veronica's father had moved away from the Church, and was a free thinker partly because he was in love with Veronica's aunt, but out of spite he married Veronica's mother, and moved away from the faith, because he considered Catholicism as responsible for the estrangement, or the rejection of Edel towards him, but as it was seen if there was no conversion, if there was a last approach, which was because he became ill after an archaeological expedition, and the Benedictines attended him (it should be said that the monasteries of Fulda are Benedictine it is no coincidence that Von Le Fort chose that monastic order in particular). This produces two facts that take away the guardianship of the grandmother of the protagonist, entrusting it to a friend of hers university professor, who is a Christian, and also provokes Edel's hatred towards his niece with the dire consequences that are narrated in the first book. Veronica at the end of the first book is Catholic, and chooses to leave Rome, and go to Switzerland waiting for her new tutor to claim her, tired of waiting to accelerate events and goes to Heidelberg.
  The beginning of this novel is the emotional reunion between an Enzio, already mature, but more disturbing than the Enzio of"The Veil of Veronica",who will not only exchange slugs as my admired Juan Manuel de Prada would say, but will also put her in background about her tutor, and tell her about her situation. Veronica's tutor is a University Professor of Philosophy, and Literature, who is married to a very selfish, superficial, and stupid woman, who is very attracted to Enzio. Silk which is the name it will receive, will remind us of the liberal tsarist aristocracy of the"Demons"
  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5... that together with the"Idiot" will be very present in this novel
  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1.... Much more in my opinion, that Perelandra de C.S. Lewis
  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... if we see that throughout the work in a subtle way there is a demonic presence, which is seen in the way Enzio behaves. What surprises us is the enormous familiarity of Enzio, especially with Silk. Character so petty, that he does not want to give a child to the teacher out of selfishness, because he is the typical character, attached to the material that does not want to carry and destroy his figure. Unfortunately it reminds me too much of the woman of these times in Western culture. Enzio enjoys the ascendant of Silk, and at the same time is the most brilliant student of the Professor (not to be confused with my friend Alfonseca ;-)), in fact, the Professor holds seminars at home, where the most qualified students come, and then there are the classes. Anyway, the University, despite Veronica enrolling in it, and I studied a career will be rather anecdotal, and episodic. In fact, Enzio, who is going to play a very similar role to Stravoguin in"The Demons",but there is also a phaustic component, in fact, Enzio reminds me of Mephistofeles. Not only is he a corrupt person, marked by the horror of war, he is also a corruptor, as seen in the relationship he has with his servant Starasow who was Catholic, and whom he has destroyed his religious beliefs, and who more or less is his palmero, servant, bodyguard, or dog choose the role they want for him. Such is the devotion, which he feels for his master, that he takes the notes to Veronica, and does the tasks. He's almost like the guy on Enzio's errands. Of course except for Silk, who is stupid, or may be implicated in enzio's wickedness, not even the protagonist sees Enzio's evil. She intends to convert him, but as the Gospel of darkness says they are more warned than the children of light, and it is he who draws her into his sphere of hatred, and evil, and who gradually imposes his worldview of the world. It is also very interesting to analyze the toxic relationship between Enzio, and Veronica, such as that suffered by a woman who marries an abusive husband, and who is annulling her victim, although the abuse here is not physical, but psychological. Everything is done as Enzio wants, even in minuscule details, and in small nuances, such as the play he wants to perform, which reminded me of"Mansfield Park" and shows the challenge towards the figure of Bertram, also reminds me of the show that Verjovenski and his friends mount. It is assumed that the work is a tribute to the Professor, and Seda is more aware of the pomp, and what it will mean socially, than in itself that is to the taste of the husband. The relationship of Seda, and Veronica is also very toxic, since it will make her existence so unbearable, that she will seek by all means that Veronica leave the house. Because she can't stand it, that no one overshadows her, or that her guardian has links with someone other than her. The teacher who is a little warm, and who loves his wife can do nothing, to prevent his wife from acting as she wishes.
  The situation of harassment, which the Professor suffers from Enzio, because he is going to boycott the classes, uy make the students turn against him reminded me a little of the situation that academics lived in Nazi Germany, and in the U.S.S.R. and when I saw the intimidating and intimidating tactics of Enzio I thought a lot about the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and how the authority of the professors was destroyed (something that the leftist regimes do very well, which only use the teachers to carry out social engineering, and transmit their political vision to them), which were harassed by their own students. It was one of the best, and most dramatic passages in the book, and only because the Professor realizes what Enzio is like, and opposes his pupil's relationship with him.
  He also strongly discourages the type of relationship with a person, who does not live according to the mandates of Holy Mother Church, and tells him about the risks, but Veronica is the one who deactivates the Dean, and tells him about how Christianity allows him to share his love with the husband, perhaps the conversations with the dean are the most beautiful part of the novel. For the beauty of the theology of love, and for the praise that makes marriage one of the most re-reeded sacraments today. Not as the act of submission of one of the spouses to the other, but the equality of both. Not as a form solely of pleasure, and of amusement but as an act involving rights, and duties on both sides. Without sacrifice there is no reward that is worthwhile.
  Another of the most beautiful moments of the novel is the benign influence, unwanted on the part of the mutilated Starasow, that Veronica exerts on him. Both are Catholics, but Enzio took care to destroy Starasow's faith, and almost turned him into her slave, but Veronica, who looks like Starasow's mother reminds her of the faith of her childhood, we also see how art is a kind of cathartic vehicle, which has resisted Enzio's evil, although it is not enough to get rid of its evil influence. Perhaps this is the only hope, against the demonic figure of an Enzio who seems invincible.
  
  That he manages to submit Veronica herself to his will. I have an opinion as to why the dean allowed Veronica to continue her relationship with Enzio, but I can't say it, because it would annoy the plot of the novel. Anyway I think Von Le Fort adopts one of Pascal's axioms
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... the one who loses wins, or as nature itself would say, energy is neither created, nor destroyed, only transformed (as Lavoisier would say). In fact another of the attractions of this beautiful novel is the influence not only of Catholic Germany, which I already deal with in his novel that I have always wanted to achieve, but I can never because of how expensive "The Marriage of Magdeburg" is
  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... but I do not believe, that I can possess it, if instead the novel of Antipope the Jew Anacletus II, and his rise to power in "Pope in the Ghetto"
  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... What counted in "The Magdeburg Wedding" was the looting of Tilly's troops from the city, and if the use of violence is legitimate, even if it is for a legitimate cause. Precisely. Apart from that link of German Catholicism we see it in the homage that Von Le Fort makes to German romanticism, which has a very strong Catholic presence. I have discussed this with Professor Manuel Alfonseca to whom I said, that while the neoclassical period to which Schiller, Goethe, Wieland belong was very anti-Catholic, on the contrary the romanticism that was born as a response to the Enlightenment, despite its defects has a strong Catholic presence Gorres
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... , Stoldberg
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Friedrich Schlegel
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... , Clemens Brentano
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Josef von Eichendorff
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... that here he will be present with one of the verses of the play that will bother Enzio so much, in fact Betina von Arnim
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... was in the house of Veronica's tutor. Although not both Novalis
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... , who was a Pietist were very close to Catholicism, and E.T.A. Hofmann
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... married a Polish woman. Perhaps a late epigon may be Annette von Droste Hulshoff
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... , whose uncle was a cardinal. Therefore, it is seen that it is not accidental the movements that Gertrud von Lefort claims.
  The ending with a eucatastrophic twist, where divine grace overcomes human forces and passions is one of the most dramatic, and will have an even greater force than "Brideshead Revisited" or "Postcard from the Volcano"
  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... and this is proof that although it seems more powerful evil does not have the last word in this world, which will be crowned by a series of endearing reunions. The ending is not so dramatic, but Veronica reminded me a lot of Mishkin the protagonist of the "Idiot", in fact, Veronica, who in the final scene demonstrates why she has that name shares one thing in common with the protagonist of Dostoyevsky's novel.
  The only thing I can say is that this is an extraordinary novel, and that above all the final part shows the virtuosity of Gertrud von Le Fort, and the reason why Hermann Hesse
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... supported his candidacy for the Nobel Prize. Personally despite the spiritual suicide to which its protagonist is exposed, and that could have gone very wrong. In fact, even if you love someone, you should not make this sacrifice, because in my opinion you should not put anyone above God, and the main purpose of a Christian is the salvation of your soul, and avoid what St. Augustine would define as second death, or the condemnation of your soul (although without this sacrifice that could have been sterile there would have been no novel). I guess it must have been hard for the protagonist to be the maid of the cloud with whom the grandmother of the protagonist had a Homeric duel in the first book.
  All in all, this sequel seemed much better to me than the first book. We are facing one of the best writers in the German language, and this work of art that has been commented on proves it. Do not miss the opportunity to read it. My next review will be "An instance of the fingerpost"
• 
  María Antón Sancho

  Fombuena 26.III.14 - 13.IV.14
  Muy bueno, ya muy metida por el anterior.
  La confianza en la fuerza de la Gracia; la capacidad de sacrificio de Verónica para llegar a asumir ese riesgo; la confianza en la Iglesia con mucha visión sobrenatural; el terrible poder del mal, y el vacío que acarrea...
  El poder del amor (basado y cimentado en el Amor de Dios, también el amor humano) y el ningún poder del rencor y de la soberbia...
• 
  Cosima

  Language and philosophical insight are just as brilliant as in the first volume; however, I have some reservations towards the theological thoughts that are proposed. Noneless, a most interesting thought experiment grappling with the scission between modernity and Christianity. Also, the ominous undertones hinting at the beginning of a movement which was eventually to lead to National Socialism present a lucid analysis of the cultural situation in Germany after WWI.
• 
  Ad fontes veritatis

  After reading the first book, I was really excited to read "Kranz der Engel". Le Fort's linguistic way of expressing herself is top-notch. However it's truely sad to see this much talent, this interesting story-setting being wasted due to theological errors. It's even more saddening because Le Fort probably knew exactly what she was doing. No wonder churchmen wanted to put this book on the index.
  
  So it's only 2/5