The Dykemaster.(Brief Article)

Theodor Storm, trans. by Denis Jackson. Angel (Dufour, dist.), $14.95 (192p) ISBN 1-946162-54-9

Like Theodor Fontane's Effi Briest, Storm's book combines a story of societal pressures with a touch of the supernatural and plenty of mood. Originally published as Der Schimmelreiter in 1888, the year of Storm's death, the main story takes place in mid-18th century. On riding past the dykes on the Friesian coast during a storm, the narrator believes he sees a pale rider on a gray horse (the Schimmelreiter). At an inn, he happens to mention his vision, which sets the schoolmaster off on his yarn of dykebuilder Hauke Haien, who eventually became this phantom. The son of a …