I haven’t read it but it’s been on my list for a while. I also assumed he was Jewish. You might also like the graphic novel memoir “belonging” by Nora krug -- she goes through her family archives and explores how both her grandfathers were Nazis
I read Austerlitz last December and liked it a lot - after having read The Rings many times. The blurring of narrator and subject is a powerful device, to describe the universal experience of loss and dislocation. Sebald does this a lot in The Rings, where he describes historical characters and at times you don't know if it's them or Sebald talking - the tale weaves history & memory into a universal tale about destruction of civilisations (cultures, ways of life) and to some extent nature.
That layered perspective is dream-like. I love it. Rachel Cusk writes like that, too, though I find Sebald's subject more resonant. So, Andrew, any advice on which to read next? I was planning on The Emigrants, but you're the third person I've known that began with The Rings of Saturn.
I like The Rings because it is largely about a walk Sebald made around Suffolk, which is where I live, so was immediately drawn to it - I've now read it numerous time, and I'm currently trying to visit all the places he visits. So it that sense The Rings is specific about place, but draws on the historical characters. I have read some of his poetry but none of the other books. I suspect Emigrants or Vertigo may have more universal appeal. But I guess I would suggest Rings, only because I know it so well.
I haven’t read it but it’s been on my list for a while. I also assumed he was Jewish. You might also like the graphic novel memoir “belonging” by Nora krug -- she goes through her family archives and explores how both her grandfathers were Nazis
Oh wow. That sounds really good.
I read Austerlitz last December and liked it a lot - after having read The Rings many times. The blurring of narrator and subject is a powerful device, to describe the universal experience of loss and dislocation. Sebald does this a lot in The Rings, where he describes historical characters and at times you don't know if it's them or Sebald talking - the tale weaves history & memory into a universal tale about destruction of civilisations (cultures, ways of life) and to some extent nature.
That layered perspective is dream-like. I love it. Rachel Cusk writes like that, too, though I find Sebald's subject more resonant. So, Andrew, any advice on which to read next? I was planning on The Emigrants, but you're the third person I've known that began with The Rings of Saturn.
I like The Rings because it is largely about a walk Sebald made around Suffolk, which is where I live, so was immediately drawn to it - I've now read it numerous time, and I'm currently trying to visit all the places he visits. So it that sense The Rings is specific about place, but draws on the historical characters. I have read some of his poetry but none of the other books. I suspect Emigrants or Vertigo may have more universal appeal. But I guess I would suggest Rings, only because I know it so well.
How cool! Did you know his family put up a ring-shaped bench around a copper beech in his memory at the UAE? I can imagine you've probably visited!
https://www.uea.ac.uk/stories/memories-of-wg-sebald
I'm visiting the UEA soon and will look for the bench, along with the Arts Block he worked at. Thank you for the link.
My pleasure, Andrew!