Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann

Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776–1822) was a German author, composer, jurist and music critic, a central figure of German Romanticism known for uncanny, fantastic tales such as Der Sandmann and Die Elixiere Des Teufels.

The supplied review emphasizes Hoffmann's imaginative depiction of the Roman carnival in La Principessa Brambilla and notes he drew on travel accounts (including Goethe) rather than personal travel. Hoffmann's work is noted for doppelgängers, sudden shifts between reality and fantasy, and influence on later Gothic and fantastic literature.

A passionate review of La Principessa Brambilla praising Hoffmann's carnival-set phantasmagoria. Highlights recurring motifs — doubles, masks, sudden shifts between comedy and terror. Recommends the story as a labyrinthine, richly imagined work emblematic of Hoffmann's style.

For:Readers of Romantic, gothic and fantastic literature; fans of Hoffmann; students of 19th-century German fiction.