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The White Dominican is Meyrink's most esoteric novel, and draws on the wisdom of a number of mystical traditions, the most important of which is Tao. It is set in a mystical version of the Bavarian town of Wassserburg which sits on a promontory surrounded on three sides by the river Inn.
The novel describes the spiritual journey of the simple hero, who, guided by a number of figures including his eccentric father, the spirit of of a distant ancestor, the protecting presence of his dead lover and the mysterious figure of the White Dominican, escapes the 'Medusa head' of the world to a transfiguration, through which he joins the 'living chain that stretches to infinity'.
About the author
Gustav Meyrink (I868-1932) found worldwide critical and commercial acclaim with his first novel The Golem (I9I5), which prior to the Dedalus Meyrink programme has been the only work available in English. It established his reputation as the master of the occult and the grotesque.(He was the German translator of Dickens). His reputation declined in his last years but now he is considered as one of the most important German language novelists of the 20th century. Dedalus has made all his major works available in English translation.
In 2008 Dedalus Mike Mitchell's biography of Meyrink, Vivo.
