Synopses & Reviews
Hyperion is a novel of remarkable emotional force, poetic sublimity, and enduring influence. This sole novel by the iconic German lyric poet explores the pivotal phases of a poet’s life journey, the struggle for freedom, the divinity of nature and love, and the meaning of solitude. Friedrich Hölderlin’s gestures toward a higher spiritual unity left their mark on the founding texts of the nineteenth century.
Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843) has achieved recognition as one of the greatest German poets of lyrical verse. His work had a profound influence on German Romanticism.
Ross Benjamin is a freelance writer and translator living in Brooklyn, New York. His reviews have appeared in Bookforum, The Nation, and The New York Times.
Review
"The greatest lyric poets, for instance Hölderlin or Keats, are men in whom the mythic power of insight breaks forth again in its full intensity and objectifying power..."
Ernst Cassirer in Language and Myth, 1946
"But if there were words with which to grasp the relation between myth and the inner life from which the later poem sprang it would be those of Hölderlin 'Myths, which take leave of the earth, / They return to mankind.'"
Walter Benjamin
"In the euphonious movement of its prose, in the sublimity and beauty of the figures that appear in it, it makes an impression upon me similar to the beat of the waves of the troubled sea. Indeed, this prose is music, soft melting sounds interrupted by painful dissonances, finally expiring in dark, uncanny dirges."
Friedrich Nietzsche
"The German poet Friedrich Hölderlin unquestionably belongs in the intense company of Shelley, Kleist, Novalis, Lenz, and Büchner
. [Hölderlins] is one of the great writers lives, full of intensity and movement, work and projects, abrupt departures and friendships
.it was reading Hölderlin that gave Rilke the impetus for his Duino Elegies."
Michael Hofmann
Synopsis
A philosophical tale of nature, spiritual striving, beauty, and Platonic love.
Synopsis
Hyperion is a novel of stirring lyricism, philosophical sublimity, and enduring influence. It stands among Hölderlins most extraordinary achievements. A Greek hermit recounts the pivotal phases of his life, from his discovery of the vanished glory of antiquity, through his encounter with his beloved Diotima, who embodies his goal of merging with "the All of nature," to his participation in a Greek uprising against Ottoman Turkish tyranny. Hölderlins sole novel has been celebrated for its musicality, the power of its cadences and tones to express a constant oscillation between extremes of grief and joy. Though Hölderlins genius was not widely recognized during his lifetime, he has come to be regarded as one of the most significant and unique poets in the German language.
About the Author
Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843) is widely regarded as one of the greatest German lyric poets. In addition to his poetry and Hyperion, his only novel, he began work on a tragedy, The Death of Empedocles, which he never completed. The creative period of his life was cut short by a mental breakdown that confined him to a tower in Tu?bingen from 1807 until his death in 1843. His work had a profound influence on Hegel, Nietzsche, Rilke, Heidegger, and Celan. Ross Benjamin is a freelance writer and translator living in Brooklyn. His work has appeared in Bookforum, The Nation, The New York Times, and other publications. His translation of Kevin Vennemanns Nahe Jedenew (Close to Jedenew) is forthcoming.