The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr

«The Life and Opinions of the Cat Murr» is the concluding and most weighty novel of the outstanding German author E.T.A. Hoffmann. In this book, the writer’s key motifs and artistic searches come together. The story is told alternately from the perspective of the extraordinarily well-educated cat Murr and an unnamed compiler of the biography of the “mad Kapellmeister” Johannes Kreisler, whose traits are easy to recognize as those of Hoffmann himself. This multi-layered novel combines a romantic mood, a caustic satire of Germany during the author’s era, and serious reflections on art and the place of the artist in society.