On the Natural History of Destruction

Rating:
Summary: Memory and war
Review: I found Sebald's descriptions of the Allied firebombing to be moving. One reviewer faults Sebald for his inclusion of several pages on the destruction of the zoo, because the reviewer thinks the original description that Sebald uses gives comfort to neo-Nazis. Perhaps it does, but that doesn't make it invalid. And if you look at the totality of this work, it certainly does not in any way condone Germany's Nazi past.

What Sebald is discussing is human memories of the bombings, and the repression of those memories. He isn't discussing the rights or wrongs of the bombings, which he mentions only briefly in what he calls a postscript. I don't think this should be used, as another reviewer has, to argue that he is minimizing German guilt. You could take the other point of view equally well: that he is minimizing Allied guilt by not discussing criticisms of the Allied bombing campaign. These issues are not germane to his narrowly-defined topic. In other words, the book is not a history of bombing, nor is it a discussion of the ethics of bombing civilians; rather, it is a description of what people remember about these events in later years.

I found the second part of the book, a discussion of Alfred Andersch, to be equally interesting. Here is a man who, according to Sebald, used his novels to rewrite the story of his life, and he wrote it as he probably should have lived it, rather than as he did live it. And he did this without ever apologizing for (or even admitting) his less than heroic behavior in real life.

The last two essays were less interesting to me than the rest of the work. They might be more useful to specialists in modern German literature. This brings me to what I consider a defect in this book. Surely the people about whom Sebald is writing are not household names in the U.S. I think that the translator or publisher should have included brief biographies of these individuals.

And while we are on this subject, I think the translator could have added to Sebald's footnotes too. In the section on Andersch, we are told that he divorces his wife in 1943 because she is Jewish, thus leaving her and their daughter at the mercy of the Nazi regime. But, although we are told of the fate of Andersch's mother-in-law, we are never told what happens to his ex-wife & daughter.

All in all, however, I think this work is well worth reading. It's not one that you will forget once you have finished reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Memory and war
Review: I found Sebald's descriptions of the Allied firebombing to be moving. One reviewer faults Sebald for his inclusion of several pages on the destruction of the zoo, because the reviewer thinks the original description that Sebald uses gives comfort to neo-Nazis. Perhaps it does, but that doesn't make it invalid. And if you look at the totality of this work, it certainly does not in any way condone Germany's Nazi past.

What Sebald is discussing is human memories of the bombings, and the repression of those memories. He isn't discussing the rights or wrongs of the bombings, which he mentions only briefly in what he calls a postscript. I don't think this should be used, as another reviewer has, to argue that he is minimizing German guilt. You could take the other point of view equally well: that he is minimizing Allied guilt by not discussing criticisms of the Allied bombing campaign. These issues are not germane to his narrowly-defined topic. In other words, the book is not a history of bombing, nor is it a discussion of the ethics of bombing civilians; rather, it is a description of what people remember about these events in later years.

I found the second part of the book, a discussion of Alfred Andersch, to be equally interesting. Here is a man who, according to Sebald, used his novels to rewrite the story of his life, and he wrote it as he probably should have lived it, rather than as he did live it. And he did this without ever apologizing for (or even admitting) his less than heroic behavior in real life.

The last two essays were less interesting to me than the rest of the work. They might be more useful to specialists in modern German literature. This brings me to what I consider a defect in this book. Surely the people about whom Sebald is writing are not household names in the U.S. I think that the translator or publisher should have included brief biographies of these individuals.

And while we are on this subject, I think the translator could have added to Sebald's footnotes too. In the section on Andersch, we are told that he divorces his wife in 1943 because she is Jewish, thus leaving her and their daughter at the mercy of the Nazi regime. But, although we are told of the fate of Andersch's mother-in-law, we are never told what happens to his ex-wife & daughter.

All in all, however, I think this work is well worth reading. It's not one that you will forget once you have finished reading it.

Rating:
Summary: German guilt writing
Review: In 1997, W.G. Sebald gave a now famous series of lectures at the University of Zurich in which he argued that German writers had almost universaliy neglected to document the horrors of the Allied bombing campaign against Germany. The air war, Sebald said, resulted in a national crisis of extreme proportion. Yet it was all but invisible in the national literature. He concluded that this absence was the result of an unspoken agreement among German writers to respect the taboo that had arisen in postwar Germany against speaking of the bombing, essentially a cultural conspiracy, the effects of which have lasted to the present.

He published them as a book Luftkrieg und Literatur, or Air War and Literature, two years later, in which he discussed some of the letters he received in response to provide more context to the lectures.

This is the English translation of that book. In which Sebald has called for a " natural history of the destruction," one that would comprehensively document the sheer number of the dead, the floods of refugees, the fires that caused the water in Hamburg's canals to boil, the sudden flourishing of rats and flies and other parasites that feed off corpses. The possiblity that the air war transformes a society of perpetrators into a society of victims.

Wonderful clear writing, the world will miss him

Rating:
Summary: The aftermath of the War
Review: In a series of essays, the longest of which on "Air War and Literature," Sebald probes the veil Germans placed over the massive allied bombing campaign that devastated German cities. He also looks at the Holocaust through the eyes of survivors like Jean Amery and Peter Weiss.

The book gets its title from a report by Solly Zuckerman, who had visited Cologne in the immediate aftermath of the war, and was overwhelmed by the devastation he saw. Sebald, many years later, tries to sift through the various writings on the subject and sort out the most trenchant observations of the war. But, he found this exceedingly difficult since most Germans tended to avoid the subject or treat it in overtly melodramatic tones. But, it was in such novels as Heinrich Boll's "The Silent Angel" and Hermann Kasack's "The City across the River," that Sebald found what he was looking for -- honest depictions of the massive bombing campaign and the impact it had on the German psyche.

In three additional essays, Sebald looks at writers who approached the subject. The first being Alfred Andersch, who he takes to task for his melodramatic depictions of WWII that seemed more an effort to compensate for his own shortcomings than in exploring the depths of the war. Andersch enjoyed wide spread popularity in Germany as a writer. Criticism tended to be muted. Not so with Sebald, who illustrates how Andersch reinvented himself, which served as a parable of sorts for the typical German after the war.

Sebald then looks at the writings of Amery and Weiss, who were survivors, and struggled throughout their lives to reconcile their feelings regarding the Holocaust. Sebald looks most closely at Amery whose writings were stripped of any heroic pretensions and gave readers an unvarnished look at the concentration camps. Weiss tried to explore the Holocaust through painting, but then turned to writing in an effort to give his experiences the full weight that bore down on his tortured soul. It is in these two essays that one sees the nexis for Sebald's more extensive book on the subject, "The Emigrants."

The essays are loosely written. The first was a series of lectures he presented in Zurich, and the others serve more as book reviews. But, in them one finds much food for thought as Sebald was one of the more probing writers of our time.

Rating:
Summary: The aftermath of the War
Review: In a series of essays, the longest of which on "Air War and Literature," Sebald probes the veil Germans placed over the massive allied bombing campaign that devastated German cities. He also looks at the Holocaust through the eyes of survivors like Jean Amery and Peter Weiss.

The book gets its title from a report by Solly Zuckerman, who had visited Cologne in the immediate aftermath of the war, and was overwhelmed by the devastation he saw. Sebald, many years later, tries to sift through the various writings on the subject and sort out the most trenchant observations of the war. But, he found this exceedingly difficult since most Germans tended to avoid the subject or treat it in overtly melodramatic tones. But, it was in such novels as Heinrich Boll's "The Silent Angel" and Hermann Kasack's "The City across the River," that Sebald found what he was looking for -- honest depictions of the massive bombing campaign and the impact it had on the German psyche.

In three additional essays, Sebald looks at writers who approached the subject. The first being Alfred Andersch, who he takes to task for his melodramatic depictions of WWII that seemed more an effort to compensate for his own shortcomings than in exploring the depths of the war. Andersch enjoyed wide spread popularity in Germany as a writer. Criticism tended to be muted. Not so with Sebald, who illustrates how Andersch reinvented himself, which served as a parable of sorts for the typical German after the war.

Sebald then looks at the writings of Amery and Weiss, who were survivors, and struggled throughout their lives to reconcile their feelings regarding the Holocaust. Sebald looks most closely at Amery whose writings were stripped of any heroic pretensions and gave readers an unvarnished look at the concentration camps. Weiss tried to explore the Holocaust through painting, but then turned to writing in an effort to give his experiences the full weight that bore down on his tortured soul. It is in these two essays that one sees the nexis for Sebald's more extensive book on the subject, "The Emigrants."

The essays are loosely written. The first was a series of lectures he presented in Zurich, and the others serve more as book reviews. But, in them one finds much food for thought as Sebald was one of the more probing writers of our time.

Rating:
Summary: The aftermath of the War
Review: In a series of essays, the longest of which on "Air War and Literature," Sebald probes the veil Germans placed over the massive allied bombing campaign that devastated German cities. He also looks at the Holocaust through the eyes of survivors like Jean Amery and Peter Weiss.

The book gets its title from a report by Solly Zuckerman, who had visited Cologne in the immediate aftermath of the war, and was overwhelmed by the devastation he saw. Sebald, many years later, tries to sift through the various writings on the subject and sort out the most trenchant observations of the war. But, he found this exceedingly difficult since most Germans tended to avoid the subject or treat it in overtly melodramatic tones. But, it was in such novels as Heinrich Boll's "The Silent Angel" and Hermann Kasack's "The City across the River," that Sebald found what he was looking for -- honest depictions of the massive bombing campaign and the impact it had on the German psyche.

In three additional essays, Sebald looks at writers who approached the subject. The first being Alfred Andersch, who he takes to task for his melodramatic depictions of WWII that seemed more an effort to compensate for his own shortcomings than in exploring the depths of the war. Andersch enjoyed wide spread popularity in Germany as a writer. Criticism tended to be muted. Not so with Sebald, who illustrates how Andersch reinvented himself, which served as a parable of sorts for the typical German after the war.

Sebald then looks at the writings of Amery and Weiss, who were survivors, and struggled throughout their lives to reconcile their feelings regarding the Holocaust. Sebald looks most closely at Amery whose writings were stripped of any heroic pretensions and gave readers an unvarnished look at the concentration camps. Weiss tried to explore the Holocaust through painting, but then turned to writing in an effort to give his experiences the full weight that bore down on his tortured soul. It is in these two essays that one sees the nexis for Sebald's more extensive book on the subject, "The Emigrants."

The essays are loosely written. The first was a series of lectures he presented in Zurich, and the others serve more as book reviews. But, in them one finds much food for thought as Sebald was one of the more probing writers of our time.

Rating:
Summary: Not only the Germans have gaps in their consciousness
Review: This is one of the most remarkable books written around World War 2.

Whilst Sebald's primary subject is the lacunae and evasions in German texts around the experience of the Allied bombing campaigns of World War 2, the main essay of this collection also raises profound questions for any reader asssociated with the Allied nations of the war. The response in popular histories written from an Allied perspective is revealed in the wake of the Natural History of Destruction to be less than adequate. Am I alone in feeling a degree of shame and repulsion as a citizen of nations who also violated human rights in such cases as Dresden and Hamburg?
More honesty on our part is called for ... this book offers much food for thought especially around the human feelings at ground zero

Questions about whether this book assists the neo-Nazi cause and also the extraordinary tone (with strong overtones of Nazism)of the many angry letters received by Sebald further indicates how inadequate is later generations' response to the profound moral challenge of World War 2 - espcially now we are in the midst of another war where the goodies and baddies are not quite so easy to tell apart as they are in late night movies

3 other essays examine esteemed 20th century German literary figures in the wake of the war - these figures are less known outside of a German speaking context (with the exception of Weiss' theatre piece Marat/Sade) and serve to introduce them to a new audience

The prose is vivid and evocative - it is a tragedy that this writer was killed in a traffic accident at the height of his powers.



Rating:
Summary: wonderful and extremely timely
Review: This must be one of the briefest yet most poignant, clever and clear-minded meditations on the madness and horror of war. Sebald's anatomy of the allied firebombings at the end of WWII brings us to the core of what really lies behind the murderous euphemisms of war coverage and political rethorics. It is not only a great piece of writing, but a wake-up call for a world with the worst case of self-delusion and moral intoxication about the implications of war and warmongering in centuries.

Rating:
Summary: Elimination as Defensive Reflex
Review: This posthumous volume of Sebald's non-fiction writing is a major contribution to German literary criticism and politico-cultural analysis. Accompanying his reflections on the traumatic impact of the air war against German cities are essays studying the very diverse reactions of three 'witnesses' of that time as reflected in their post-war literary works. In AIR WAR AND LITERATURE, originally presented as the Zurich Lectures, Sebald delves deeply into some very uncomfortable questions. The air war on 131 German cities killed some six hundred thousand civilians and destroyed more than the homes of seven and a half million people. Why have these events resulted mostly in public silence for decades? Why have so few literary works attempted to speak to the traumatic impact on the population? Most Germans seem to have tried to come to terms with the realities of the war years by suppressing their immediate pain and the longer-term suffering. Sebald has thoroughly researched a multitude of authors, both in fiction and non-fiction. Yet, he deems their explanations unsatisfactory. Heinrich Boell is cited as one of the early exceptions, yet publication of his book, The Silent Angel, was delayed by forty years.

Sebald contemplates the different causes for this persistent silence. For example, basing himself on a range of contemporary sources, he confronts the reader with a detailed description of the Hamburg firestorm. As disturbing as his account is, Sebald's reflective style makes it readable. His objective reporting neither criticises the Allies' campaign nor does he apologise for German actions leading to the war. He wonders, though, whether the depth of the traumatic experiences of this and other air attacks may have left many people numb and dazed, unable to express their reactions for a long time. The account of a young mother wandering through the station confused and stunned is one of several examples. Her suitcase suddenly opens onto the platform revealing the charcoaled remains of her baby.

Sebald's intent is not to shock but to explain the deep sense of loss that must have been felt by people like her. He further contends that at that time in the war, the growing acceptance of guilt for the Nazi's atrocities led in many civilians to an acknowledgment of justified punishment by the Allied forces. Last, not least, after the war many Germans experienced a 'lifting of a heavy burden' that they felt they had lived under during the Nazi regime. Concentrating on building the new Germany focused their minds on a better future. The publication (in German) of his Lectures in 1997 resulted in a range of reactions from readers. He reflects their varied views and comments in a postscript, thereby adding a fascinating 1990's dimension to his "rough-and-ready collection of various observations, materials, and theses".

The three authors who are the subject of the essays in this volume may be better known to students of German literature and culture. They represent a fine example of Sebald's skill as a contemplative and sensitive literary critic. At the same time, these essays complement Sebald's Lectures in a more fundamental way. In terms of coming to terms with the Nazi period and its atrocities, each one represents a specific type of German with his own means and ways of dealing with the recent past. Alfred Andersch is presented as having reinterpreted his personal history to fit his vision of self-importance in post-war Germany. Jean Amery, of half Jewish parentage, suffered through SS torture and survived various concentration camps. For the rest of his life, which he ended himself, he did not lose the nightmares of his torment. It was not until the mid-sixties, that he found his voice to impart his experiences in the form of essays on exile, genocide and resistance. Peter Weiss, who had lived in exile most of his life, found his self-expression mainly through painting and theatre productions until he published late in life his major fiction work, Aesthetics of Resistance.

This collection of "mediations on natural guilt, national victimhood, and the universal consequences of denying the past" is a significant socio-political document. Its importance for today's reader goes beyond the concrete German situation. As it addresses more fundamental issues of dealing with a society's traumatic past experiences, Sebald also confronts the need to develop the capacity to heal while learning and sharing the lessons from that past. [Friederike Knabe, Ottawa Ontario]

Rating:
Summary: Germans and the Horror of War
Review: W. G. Sebald, "On The Natural History of Destruction," Random House, NY, 2003, originally published in German as "Luftkrieg und Literatur," 1999, translated by Anthea Bell.

During World War II, Allied bombers attacked 131 German towns and cities destroying 3.5 million homes and killing or injuring 600,000 German civilians. In 1997, Mr. Sebald gave a series of lectures on the literature describing the effects of these attacks. He was surprised that so little had been written about them. He infers that Germans are still in denial about these horrors of war. This volume summarizes his lectures plus the letters he received in response to news reports of his lectures. Appended are three additional essays.

Central to his theme is the fire storming technique developed by the Allies to destroy major cities. Dresden, Hamburg, Cologne, Nuremberg, Ludwigshafen, Darmstadt, and Halberstadt are named as destroyed in this way. The destruction of Hamburg on July 27, 1943, by the RAF supported by the US Eighth Air Force, is described in gruesome detail. High explosive bombs weighing up to 4000 lb. were used to destroy windows and doors. They were followed by incendiary devices both light (to ignite upper stories) and heavy (to ignite lower floors). Within 20 minutes, massive fires were burning that created flames to a height of 2000 meters and hurricane force winds that stripped roofs from buildings and drove human beings along like torches. The fire burned intensely for three hours. Glass windows melted. Sugar stocks boiled. Corpses sank into molten asphalt streets. Survivors were found aimlessly wandering the streets-some carrying deceased infants. Numerous people died in bomb shelters, in cellars, and buried in the rubble. Flies, maggots and rats soon swarmed through the area. The stench of rotting corpses was everywhere. Eventually dense green vegetation grew over the ruins. Photos of the destruction at that stage are many. A selection of these photos is included in the book.

The letters Sebald received confirmed a general lack of detailed information. A few accounts were found in diaries and in several novels. Some accounts were privately published. An apparent taboo by publishers was reinforced by the poor commercial success of the few works that did make it into print. Considerable amounts of disinformation circulated in Germany making it difficult for individuals to know the facts of these raids. The author cites the traditional strict control of intimate feelings within the German family as one cause of the apparent lack of interest in the destruction caused by the war.

One book his letters did find is: Dr. Hans Joachim Schroeder, "Die gestohlenen Jahre-Erzaehlgeschichten und Geschichterzaehlung im Interview: Der zweite Weltkrieg aus der Sicht ehemaliger Mannschaftssoldaten, (The Stolen Years-Narratives and History in Interviews: The Second World War as Seen by Former Soldiers), Niemeyer, 1992. The author discounts this source as being surprisingly stereotypical.

Seebald's thesis may in fact be overdrawn. Numerous disasters-both natural and military-have occurred over the centuries. Few are described from the victim's viewpoint. The Japanese have publicized the effects of nuclear war using survivors' stories from Hiroshima and Nagasaki (seen here on public television), but similar accounts of the destruction of Tokyo or the Battle of Okinawa are lacking. Even reports of the London Blitz tend not to be told from the point of view of the victims.

The normal reaction to any tragic event is for people to get on with their lives as soon as they are able. Germans seem to have done that. Only Germans can decide whether they need to re-examine the pain of wartime destruction.

This volume is translated from German. It reads reasonably smoothly. Classical German is enamored with long, multi-clause, compound sentences. A few of these got by the translator. The second sentence of Chapter 1 runs 133 words. The Foreword ends with a 78 word sentence, followed by a 47 worder.

All of this is closely related to German efforts to come to terms with World War II. That process seems to be moving along. The current volume is a glimpse of that dialog. The book does demonstrate the difficulties Germans have writing about World War II-even 60 years after the event. Sebald retells the story of animals injured in the bombing of the Berlin zoo. Published soon after the war, that report reeks of Nazi propaganda. Later, in an apparent effort to ward off charges of Neo-nazism, he replies to a letter with charges of pseudo-intellectualism and with strongly anti-Nazi comments. No matter how innocent, any discussion of the war risks the suspicion of spin meisters. References. No index.