''Disorder and Early Sorrow'' (german: Unordnung und frühes Leid) is a 1925 novella written by

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

. It follows the fortunes of the Cornelius family through the perspective of Abel Cornelius (written in a third person narrative voice), a 47-year-old history professor at the local university, whose status in society was once highly respected but has diminished markedly. The Cornelius family is, in part, a reflection of Mann's own family. The novella explores the psychological and social impact of the Weimar hyperinflation. It first appeared in 1925 in a ''

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'' celebrating Mann's 50th birthday in the publication '' Neue Rundschau''. It first appeared in English in ''

The Dial ''The Dial'' was an American magazine published intermittently from 1840 to 1929. In its first form, from 1840 to 1844, it served as the chief publication of the Transcendentalists. From the 1880s to 1919 it was revived as a political review and ...

'' in two installments in 1926 (October and November). As an individual book, it was published in an English translation by

Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter (June 15, 1876 – April 26, 1963) was an American translator and writer, best known for translating almost all of the works of Thomas Mann for their first publication in English. Personal life Helen Tracy Porter was the ...

in 1929 and in one by

Herman George Scheffauer Herman George Scheffauer (born February 3, 1876, San Francisco, California – died October 7, 1927, Berlin) was a German-American poet, architect, writer, dramatist, journalist, and translator. San Francisco childhood Very little is known abou ...

in 1930. It was translated in 2023 by

Damion Searls Damion Searls is an American writer and translator. He grew up in New York and studied at Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley. He specializes in translating literary works from Western European languages such as German, No ...

as "Chaotic World and Childhood Sorrow". Damion Searls views it as "Mann's best story—it was

Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fi ...

's favorite, too, for whatever that's worth. I think it belongs up there with

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's 'The Dead' and anything you want to name by Gallant or

Munro A Munro () is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nev ...

or Chekov at the very top of the canon of short fiction, but it is never, to my knowledge, singled out as such."

Plot summary

The novella is set in one day in Munich in Weimar Germany. The Cornelius family is preparing a party for Ingrid and Bert, Professor Cornelius's children. The family is divided up on the basis of chronology, foreshadowing a central theme of the work, which is the interplay between different generations at a time of dislocating social and economic change. In Lowe-Porter's translation, Ingrid and Bert, both adolescents, are "the big folk"; Professor Cornelius and his wife are "the old folk"; Ellie and Snapper (Lorrie and Biter in Searls' translation), their youngest children, are "the little folk"; and Professor Cornelius's parents, who are only discussed and who do not feature directly in the story, are "the ancients". In Searls' translation, they are, respectively, "the Bigs," "the Littles," "the Elders," and "the Ancients."

Film version

A West German film adaptation ' was released in 1977, directed by Franz Seitz.

References

German novels adapted into films Novellas by Thomas Mann Works about the Weimar Republic 1925 German-language novels 1925 German novels {{1920s-family-novel-stub