This book contains two separate speeches given by the German Expressionist writer Kasimir Edschmid. In the first, he tackles the monumental Norwegian novelist Knut Hamsun, author of Hunger. In the second, he turns to the French realist master Gustave Flaubert of Madame Bovary fame. There's no fictional plot here. Instead, the 'story' is the journey of Edschmid's own critical thinking. He doesn't just describe these authors; he interprets them through the lens of his own artistic movement, Expressionism, which valued intense emotion and subjective experience over cold realism.

Why You Should Read It

This is for anyone who loves seeing how writers read other writers. Edschmid isn't a neutral scholar. He's a partisan, making a case. His writing crackles with the energy of someone defending a cause. He finds in Hamsun's restless, hungry protagonists and Flaubert's obsessive pursuit of the 'perfect word' a shared soul that speaks to his own time. Reading this, you get a double portrait: you learn about Hamsun and Flaubert, but you also get a vivid snapshot of Edschmid and the artistic battles of 1920s Germany. It makes literary history feel immediate and personal.

Final Verdict

Perfect for readers curious about literary connections and the history of ideas. If you enjoy Hamsun or Flaubert, this gives you a fascinating, opinionated take from a contemporary giant of another tradition. It's also a great, short entry point into the passionate world of German Expressionist thought. Just be ready for a robust, personal argument rather than a balanced textbook summary.