Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen

J. A. Underwood

Simplicissimus not only satirizes the world's folly but offers a Christian view of the vanity of this transitory existence. For this purpose, Grimmelshausen sense Simplicius off on a series of picaresque adventures. ... And he has done so in a lively, colloquial, folksy style that is a major and original achievement, and a test for the translator. J. A. Underwood certainly passes this test. He has gone all out for a vivid, slangy, contemporary style, and his version is tremendous fun to read, as well as accurate.

First published in 1668, Simplicissimus tells the picaresque, brilliantly described adventures of a boy swept up in the Thirty Years War and the terrible things that he experiences. Some of it is realistic, some fantastical but the overall effect is an unmatched picture of Europe torn apart by an endless, sadistic, futile war from which nobody can escape. 
 
Simplicissimus was rediscovered in 20th century Germany where the book's grim message resonated and the book is now established as one of the essential works of German literature. 
 
As Thomas Mann wrote: 'It is a story of the most basic kind of grandeur - gaudy, wild, raw, amusing, rollicking and ragged, boiling with life, on intimate terms with death and evil - but in the end, contrite and fully tired of a world wasting itself in blood, pillage and lust, but immortal in the miserable spendour of its sins.'

The Adventures of Simplicius Simplicissimus

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Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen

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Simplicissimus not only satirizes the world's folly but offers a Christian view of the vanity of this transitory existence. For this purpose, Grimmelshausen sense Simplicius off on a series of picaresque adve ...

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