“I've read this novella as part of a collection of Kleist's stories, but this is the longest work and the most worthy of a separate review.
My only previous experience with Kleist was reading one of his plays, Penthesilea, and I found that rather tedious. But this story is very different. It's loosely based on a true story and involves an honest horse dealer who is cheated out of a pair of horses, and cheated of justice. So he takes matters into his own hands and heads out for revenge. In the process he takes on a mythic status: some see him as an avenging angel, others as a common outlaw. Either way, plenty of people suffer. Ultimately Martin Luther himself intervenes, and... I'll not say any more about the plot.
The story is told in a simplistic way, but it's actually quite elegant. It's outrageous, but in so far as it follows the historical record it's very readable. There's some weirdness at the end which Kleist invented and which drags the whole work down somewhat. Shame about that.
I'm sure there are many morals that can be read from the story, but I'll go with this one: never mess with a horse-trader. It's worth reading.”
