''The Undying Past'' is an 1894 novel by the German writer

Hermann Sudermann Hermann Sudermann (30 September 1857 – 21 November 1928) was a German dramatist and novelist. Life Early career Sudermann was born at Matzicken, a village to the east of Heydekrug in the Province of Prussia (now Macikai and Šilutė ...

. Its German title is ''Es war'' which means "it was". The novel tells the story of how a German man, Leo, returns to his homeland after several years in South America, only to find that Ulrich, his beloved childhood friend, has married a woman with whom Leo has a dark past. The book was published in English in 1906, translated by Beatrice Marshall.

Reception

The 19th-century English novelist

George Gissing George Robert Gissing (; 22 November 1857 – 28 December 1903) was an English novelist, who published 23 novels between 1880 and 1903. His best-known works have reappeared in modern editions. They include '' The Nether World'' (1889), '' New Gr ...

read the novel in the original German edition in 1895, writing in his diary "it is the work of a playwright, and, as such, strong. But the character-drawing seems to me superficial".

William Lyon Phelps William Lyon Phelps (January 2, 1865 New Haven, Connecticut – August 21, 1943 New Haven, Connecticut) was an American author, critic and scholar. He taught the first American university course on the modern novel. He had a radio show, wrote ...

wrote about ''The Undying Past'' in his 1918 book ''Essays on Modern Novelists'':

The most beautiful and impressive thing in ''Es War'' is the friendship between the two men—so different in temperament and so passionately devoted to each other. A large group of characters is splendidly kept in hand, and each is individual and clearly drawn. One can never forget the gluttonous, wine-bibbling Parson, who comes eating and drinking, but who is a terror to publicans and sinners.

Film adaptation

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

adapted the novel into the 1926 film ''

Flesh and the Devil ''Flesh and the Devil'' is an American silent romantic drama film released in 1927 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and stars Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Lars Hanson, and Barbara Kent, directed by Clarence Brown, and based on the novel '' The Undyin ...

''. The film was directed by

Clarence Brown Clarence Leon Brown (May 10, 1890 – August 17, 1987) was an American film director. Early life Born in Clinton, Massachusetts, to Larkin Harry Brown, a cotton manufacturer, and Katherine Ann Brown (née Gaw), Brown moved to Tennessee when h ...

and starred

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic c ...

, John Gilbert,

Lars Hanson Lars Mauritz Hanson (26 July 1886 – 8 April 1965) was a Swedish film and stage actor, internationally mostly remembered for his motion picture roles during the silent film era. Biography Born in Göteborg, Sweden, Hanson began his career on t ...

and Barbara Kent.

References

External links

''The Undying Past''
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music ...

''Es war''
at the

1894 German novels German novels adapted into films German-language novels Novels by Hermann Sudermann {{1890s-novel-stub