Avevo letto che era un capolavoro, terzo elemento di una immaginaria triade con Emma Bovary e Anna Karenina. Francamente mi ha deluso. Effie non solo è caratterizzata pochissimo ma tutto l'intreccio mi è sembrato debole. ( )

Meine drei Kinder und mein Mann haben alle „Effi Briest“ in der Schule gelesen und waren fassungslos, wie ich das einfach so zum Spaß lesen mag. Hier handelt es sich also wirklich um ein Buch, das einem durch die Schule verdorben wird. Denn ich habe es nicht in der Schule gelesen und fand es nun wirklich eine interessante Lektüre. Natürlich ist die Sprache altertümlich und nicht immer leicht zu lesen. Aber inhaltlich fand ich es sehr interessant und mir gefiel auch, dass Theodor Fontane einen mitunter fast heiter-ironischen Duktus wählt. Die sehr junge Effi heiratet einen deutlich älteren Mann und vergeht auf dessen Landgut vor Einsamkeit und Langeweile. Sie hat eine flüchtige Affäre mit dem gutaussehenden Offizier Crampas. Als sich aber bereits nach über sechs Jahren alles zum Positiven gewendet hat, entdeckt der Baron Briefchen von Crampas. Obwohl es nicht nötig wäre und trotz vielerlei Gedanken zu diesem Thema fordert er den Nebenbuhler zum Duell, tötet ihn und lässt sich scheiden- alles aufgrund der gesellschaftlichen Konventionen und seines Stolzes. So werden alle unglücklich. Das Buch wirft viele interessante Aspekte auf. Innstetten nimmt Effi nie für voll, sieht sie stets als sein Eigentum, ihre Stellung ist völlig marginalisiert, ihre Bedürfnisse sind unbedeutend. Konvention und Moral hingegen stehen für ihn so hoch, dass er trotz aller Einwände und auch eigener Bedenken seine Vergeltungsaktion durchzieht.
Das Buch ist aber auch in höchst interessantes Zeitdokument. Eine meiner Lieblingsstellen ist diesbezüglich die Einladung, in deren Zusammenhang Güldenklee über die Ringparabel spottet (S. 130), eine "Judengeschichte, die wie der ganze liberale Krimskrams nichts wie Verwirrung und Unheil gestiftet hat und noch stiftet." Hier fällt Innstetten zumindest nicht in den Patriotismus ein. ( )

'Effi Briest' is a fascinating book, though not always enormously interesting or entertaining. But such things are, frankly, besides the point in these older novels, and while I understand the relatively low rating afforded Fontane's work on Amazon and its ilk, I think that when we read these black Penguins we should modify our expectations accordingly.

If I have understood it well, this is a book about time, and about the human relationship with time and age. Effi Briest hurtles into a marriage of convenience, though still very much a child. Her husband is twice her age, and is something of a pedagogue - everything is to him a learning opportunity for his child-bride. This is not romantic love, and soon Effi compromises herself with another man. The years pass, and soon her secret is discovered, with the sort of tragic consequences one has come to expect in novels of this period.

The questions that Fontane asks are particularly thought-provoking. Aside from the obvious ones about love and marriage, there is also the concept of the passing of time and how it affects our relationships. Roswitha, the most down-to-earth character, thinks that since six years have passed between the affair and its discovery, it is old news and should more readily be forgiven; but Roswitha is also quick to remind her interlocutors that her father once charged at her with a red-hot poker, thus suggesting that time does not in fact heal all wounds. So what are we to make of it all? Are we to side with the cuckolded husband, or with the neglected wife? There is much here to mull over, and that is the value of this novel. ( )

Con esta novela, publicada en 1895, tal vez haya alcanzado Fontane su máxima plenitud narrativa. ffi, la protagonista, casi una sílfide perdida en la dureza de la realidad cotidiana, condenada a permanecer siempre en una dimensión casi infantil, termina por caer en el adulterio más por huir de la monotonía que por vigorosa y autónoma pasión. La trágica consecuencia de su acto será para ella, dolorosamente, una ocasión de madurez, de afirmación moral y de dignidad. Theodor Fontane (1819-1898), que restituyó a la literatura alemana su sobria naturalidad clásica, desentraña con serena distancia y delicada ironía el filisteísmo de una época y un ambiente, delineando sus caracteres en el magistral dialogar de sus personajes. ( )

In late 19th century Germany, 17-year-old Effi Briest is married off to a man 21 years her senior, a former suitor of her mother. Her new husband, a civil servant based in Pomerania, is a quiet, serious man, who enjoys touring museums, and who's idea of a fun night in is retracing their entire honeymoon from his notes. Effi, meanwhile, is young, vibrant and, prior to her marriage, carefree, and enjoys being outdoors, going for long walks.

The apparent incompatibility between the couple, the husband Innsteten's long absences, and Effi's desire for excitement see her developing a relationship with a military officer. Knowing it to be wrong, she takes advantage of Innstetten's promotion and their resultant move to Berlin to move on and focus on her marriage. The past, however, catches up with her, and, though he professes that he loves her, Innstetten's feels compelled to follow the moral and social code of the day.

As a commentary on the strictness of that code,, and the problems that it could create, Fontane's novel is taut, subtle work, telling its tale simply and effortlessly, with no melodrama, and the novel is all the more powerful for it. The characters are well drawn and strongly defined, and as I reader, I found myself sympathising with both Effi and Instetten. Due to their respective desires to 'do the right thing', they both end up suffering.

Having said that, there is something about Effi that I found intensely annoying. She is childish, and selfish - Fontane himself describes her thus: 'Effi was not for reheated leftovers; fresh dishes were what she longed for, variety'. I did find myself losing patience, and sympathy, with her. Whether that was Fontane's intention, I do not know, though he does allow Innstetten to describe her as 'a spoilt young lass'. I feel that Fontane is trying to establish that neither one nor other party to this ultimately doomed marriage was responsible for its breakdown, but rather circumstances and social mores were to blame. ( )