Title: Very detailed look at the German aristocracy
Product review: This book has the distinction of having very few characters that's not a member of the German aristocracy. Set in Prussia in the 1870's, it is a story about reactionary aristocrats trying to reconcile with their declining political and social importance in the wake of rising industrialization and sudden unification of the German states.On another level, it is a story of an unhappy marriage and ruinous adultery, written with fastidious details. The pace of the plot is very slow, and Fontane uses no less than half of the book as his exposition to the meat of ths story. Unfortunately, this will turn off a lot of readers, and remains Effi Briest's most glaring shortcoming. But for the more patient readers, this book is a masterpiece.
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