The Return of Martin Bauer

[DVX]

I've seen a lot of great book recommendations in the discussions, but it doesn't seem that anyone has yet suggested 'The Return of Martin Guerre' by Natalie Zemon Davis. This real-life case was clearly the inspiration for Martin Bauer. There was also a very respectable French film adaptation made in the early '80s staring Gérard Depardieu.

[cyranoj2265]

I had actually completely missed the angle on Martin Bauer on my first playthrough. This reminded me to check it out and yes, the inspiration from "The Return of Martin Guerre" is super-clear.

As an interesting side-note out of that: I also came to think he's the leading candidate for actual culprit in Otto's murder, since Otto was basically blackmailing him into an increasingly risky political conflict and it would have made sense for something to have to give at the point where the abbot is talking excommunication. One of the most intriguing things about Pentiment is the moral ambiguity of its "detective" aspect: to what extent are we searching for truth or just the outcome that causes the "least" damage? Especially interesting in Martin's case, as I would assume that siccing the mob on him in the second act destroys a whole swathe of lives in the Bauer clan.