The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen - Rudolph Erich Raspe
Details
After serving with the Russian army, Baron Münchhausen (1720-1797) retired to his country estate in Hanover, where he gained a reputation as a raconteur of extraordinary tales about his life as a soldier, hunter, and sportsman.
It was Rudolf Erich Raspe, however, who made Münchhausen's name legendary as a braggadocio artist. In 1781, he began to publish satirical anecdotes based on the character. In subsequent years, the tales grew taller and more numerous to meet their booming demand. Among the impossible feats attributed to Münchhausen: riding on a cannonball, fighting a forty-foot crocodile, travelling to the Moon, and being swallowed by a whale.
Today, the fictional Baron is known as a "comic giant" of literature, whose stories celebrate the "splendid, purposeless lie[s] born of the joy of life." He has been adapted countless times for stage, radio, and film; influenced the literature of Jules Verne and Herman Melville; been monumentalized in statues, museums, and philosophy discussions; and become a byword in psychology and mathematics.
The real-life Münchhausen, however, was so ashamed of his newfound notoriety that he turned recluse, refusing to host further parties or tell any more stories. For his part, Raspe had published the Adventures anonymously, probably to escape libel charges.
The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen:
- Kindle
- Gutenberg
- Google books
- Librivox 4h45m
Supplemental:
- The Fabulous Baron Munchuasen 1962 movie
- Sea Monster Attacks 1988 movie clip from "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen"
Extracts:
- "... few skeptics are travelers; fewer travelers liars, though the proverb respecting them lies. It is false, as some say, that Bruce was cousin-german to Baron Munchausen; but true, as Bruce said, that the Abysinnians cut live steaks from their cattle." (Mardi, 1.98)
- "With all the ease of a Prince of the Blood gallantly testifying in behalf of an indiscreet lady the Marquis incontinently fibs, laying the cornerstone of a Munchausen fable..." ("Marquis de Grandvin at the Hostelry")
This meetup is part of the series In the Belly of the Whale.