Novel
Dr. Mabuse, Master of Mystery
Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler
Norbert Jacques · 1920
Synopsis
In post-war Germany, an elegant old man with a fixed gaze ruins the young heir Edgar Hull at cards, then disappears, the address he left leading to no one. The public prosecutor von Wenk, who sees in the gambling fever a symptom of the defeated country, disguises himself to track down this gambler of shifting identities and traces him back to Doctor Mabuse, a master of disguise and hypnosis, who acts through a network of agents.
Context
Published in 1920 in Berlin by Ullstein, the novel benefited from unprecedented publicity and quickly became a bestseller. Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou adapted it in 1922 into a silent film of more than four hours, in two parts, and Lilian A. Clare translated it into English in 1923. The author had drawn on figures such as Fu Manchu and Svengali, and his plan for a sequel served as the basis for Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse, which Lang made in 1933.
Who it is for
For reading, beyond Fritz Lang's films, the novel from which one of the great evil geniuses of German fiction was born.
Prizes and reception
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction sees Mabuse as a super-criminal with almost supernatural powers, able to change his appearance.
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