The Leaning Tower (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Katherine Anne Porter
- First Published: 1941
- Type of Plot: Coming of age
- Time of Work: 1931
- Setting: Berlin
- Principal Characters: Charles Upton, Kuno Hellentafel, Rosa Reichl, Otto Bussen, Tadeusz Mey, Hans von Gehring
- Genres: Short fiction, Bildungsroman
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age, Traveling or travelers, Reality, Imagination, Germany or German people, Students or student life
- Locales: Berlin, Germany
The Story
This lengthy story opens in Berlin in late December of 1931 as Charles Upton, a young, poor art student, the son of a farming family in Texas, is seeking new quarters because his hotel is unpleasant, oppressive, and expensive. On Christmas Eve his thoughts turn to Kuno Hallentafel, a childhood friend from Texas and the son of a prosperous merchant. Kuno, whose family came from Germany and later returned for visits, spoke so glowingly of the beauty and grandeur of Berlin that Charles decided to study art there. Charles “in his imagination saw it as a great shimmering...
[The entire page is 1513 words long]
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