Seemingly the simplest of stories--a passing anecdote
of village life-- Rock Crystal opens up into a tale of
almost unendurable suspense. This jewel-like novella by
the writer that Thomas Mann praised as ''one of the most
extraordinary, the most enigmatic, the most secretly
daring and the most strangely gripping narrators in
world literature'' is among the most unusual, moving,
and memorable of Christmas stories. Two children--Conrad
and his little sister, Sanna--set out from their village
high up in the Alps to visit their grandparents in the
neighboring valley. It is the day before Christmas but
the weather is mild, though of course night falls early
in December and the children are warned not to linger.
The grandparents welcome the children with presents and
pack them off with kisses. Then snow begins to fall,
ever more thickly and steadily. Undaunted, the children
press on, only to take a wrong turn. The snow rises
higher and higher, time passes: it is deep night when
the sky clears and Conrad and Sanna discover themselves
out on a glacier, terrifying and beautiful, the heart of
the void. Adalbert Stifter's rapt and enigmatic tale,
beautifully translated by Elizabeth Mayer and Marianne
Moore, explores what can be found between Christmas Eve
and Christmas Day--or on any night of the year. |
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