Koenigsmark
9 hrs. 7 min.
Language
Russian
Author
Pierre Benoit
Author
Pierre Benoit
Narrator
Evgeny Ternovsky
Narrator
Evgeny Ternovsky
Description
Raoul Vignert, the French tutor, arrives at the castle of Lautenburg-Detmold to educate the son of the great duke Friedrich-August, and becomes hopelessly in love with the Grand Duchess Aurora. While rummaging through the castle library archives, Vignert discovers a terrible secret. Carried away by passion, he—against all caution—edges closer to the very heart of this great tragedy.
Like the later novels by Benoît, "Königsmarck" contains all the ingredients of an adventure novel: a picturesque setting recreated down to the smallest detail, a mysterious and enchanting atmosphere, a complex plot rich in twists of intrigue, and a fateful clash between an idealist hero and a fatal woman. Two levels of narration—the realistic and the magical—unfold within one another, pass through each other, and in the end fully merge, thanks to the ambiguous symbolism of "Aurora." Immersed in the mysterious world of a German castle, Raoul Vignert experiences, in waking life, an unsettling nightmare that grabs his soul. The mystery of events is woven from half-said things and questions half-resolved. Through a series of accidental encounters with real life, Benoît gradually opens up for the reader abysses contained in each individual existence, managing perfectly well without abstruse, lofty digressions. There is not a trace of German vagueness here. Some bewitching play of light and shadow distributes bright and shadowy strokes in compelling clarity of the Latin mind. That is how Benoît’s "magical" realism shows itself—his romanticism born from the fusion of poetry and everyday life. Such a writer can captivate readers of all countries, ages, and eras, because he gives each of us the necessary fourth dimension of life: stepping beyond oneself, beyond one’s own limits, offering to travel to the edge of life and death.
Like the later novels by Benoît, "Königsmarck" contains all the ingredients of an adventure novel: a picturesque setting recreated down to the smallest detail, a mysterious and enchanting atmosphere, a complex plot rich in twists of intrigue, and a fateful clash between an idealist hero and a fatal woman. Two levels of narration—the realistic and the magical—unfold within one another, pass through each other, and in the end fully merge, thanks to the ambiguous symbolism of "Aurora." Immersed in the mysterious world of a German castle, Raoul Vignert experiences, in waking life, an unsettling nightmare that grabs his soul. The mystery of events is woven from half-said things and questions half-resolved. Through a series of accidental encounters with real life, Benoît gradually opens up for the reader abysses contained in each individual existence, managing perfectly well without abstruse, lofty digressions. There is not a trace of German vagueness here. Some bewitching play of light and shadow distributes bright and shadowy strokes in compelling clarity of the Latin mind. That is how Benoît’s "magical" realism shows itself—his romanticism born from the fusion of poetry and everyday life. Such a writer can captivate readers of all countries, ages, and eras, because he gives each of us the necessary fourth dimension of life: stepping beyond oneself, beyond one’s own limits, offering to travel to the edge of life and death.
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