MEYRINK, Gustav

(1868-1932)

   Austrian novelist, long resident in Prague, a city whose depiction in his novels prefigures Franz KAFKA's, and active as a writer from the publication of Der heisse Soldat und andere Geschichten ("The Hot Soldier and Other Stories") (coll 1903). Of his broodingly Expressionistwork, much of which deals with the mechanics of occultism, genre interest attaches to Der Golem (1914; cut trans Madge Pemberton as The Golem 1928 US; full version of trans 1976 US; preferred trans Mike Mitchell 1995 UK),in which a 19th-century protagonist experiences the original myth of the GOLEM; to Das grune Gesicht (1916; trans Mike Mitchell as The Green Face1992 UK), an apocalyptic fantasy haunted by the Wandering Jew and culminating in the destruction of Amsterdam; to some degree to Walpurgisnacht (1917; trans Mike Mitchell 1993 UK) and Der weiAEeDominikaner (1921; trans Mike Mitchell as The White Dominican 1994 UK); and to Der Engel vom westlichen Fenster (1927; trans Mike Mitchell as The Angel of the West Window 1991 UK), in which a 20th-century figure engageswith John Dee (1527-1608), whose Neoplatonic speculations and adventurous life have inspired writers like John CROWLEY.

   JC

   See also: AUSTRIA.