Everyone thinks I'm showing off when I talk, ridiculous when I'm silent, insolent when I answer, cunning when I have a good idea, lazy when I'm tired,Everyone thinks I'm showing off when I talk, ridiculous when I'm silent, insolent when I answer, cunning when I have a good idea, lazy when I'm tired, selfish when I eat one bite more than I should.
My history with this phenomenal text is one colored with misperceptions. My first encounter was an eighth grade class reading of the stage adaptation, one sanitized for impressionable and giggly teens. I still commend my teach for her candid approach.
Later during my relatively intense approach to the Shoah in my early 20s I felt it unnecessary to contend with the actual diary. I mistakenly imagined that it was saccharine, an apologia for humanity's misstep.
Just last week when I picked this up at a Covid limited book sale I suspected that the diary revealed a strategy, only a methodology for coping. I imagined that that the young woman had no idea about the forces eager for her elimination.
I was completely wrong.
What emerges is candor. This is a philosophical; honesty. It is an amazing document. Nothing is censored, as eight people and their bodily functions are must coexist in periodic silence and confined space. Ms. Frank is moody, optimistic but a sage reader of history, especially given that she was but fifteen when she was ultimately deported.
Only knowing Celan's work in translation places me in an awkward compromise. John Felstiner certainly assists me in my plight with this remarkable bioOnly knowing Celan's work in translation places me in an awkward compromise. John Felstiner certainly assists me in my plight with this remarkable biography which explores the poet--so often with what Celan translated and what Celan was reading. The quotidian is largely absent. The mental health of the poet is alluded to but diagnosis is withheld. There is also a vast effort of establishing possible references, sometimes within each line of a poem.
History runs aground on etymology and we are left with testimony, all to often to quote Villon---letting the neck know how much the ass weighs. There is a wonderful quote from Levinas that Celan revealed the "Insomnia in the bed of Being." Celan was quite the reader and that's something which touches my nerdy core. I can't take a further step in solidarity as Celan's life resembles Perec's--whereas I was born in Detroit and then adopted by a couple who divorced a few years later. That isn't the same thing. Celan's parents perished in the Shoah, a short time later he gave a reading at Gruppe 47.
I was perhaps most moved by a description of Celan's meeting with Heidegger and the almost meeting with Beckett. The former appears to have been guarded and the proposed hike cancelled due to the rain. The potential encounter with the Irishman could easily have proved absurd, banal or simply watching cricket on TV....more
My first reading of this elegiac novel happned as I was housesitting of sorts for my friend Roger. This was during his brief period between marriages,My first reading of this elegiac novel happned as I was housesitting of sorts for my friend Roger. This was during his brief period between marriages, houses and, apparently, outlooks on life. The issues are universal; in the Lager, survival was random, not a merit. It was a few years later that I bought my own copy at Square Books and read it again. Strange, I also bought Chabon's Final Solution while there. ...more
There may just be a vertical hierarchy in our popular understanding of the Holocaust. At the top, however uneasy, are the Survivors: it is through theThere may just be a vertical hierarchy in our popular understanding of the Holocaust. At the top, however uneasy, are the Survivors: it is through their testimony that we know to never forget. Their achievement, their survival is also a measure of merit in having outwitted or simply survived the minatory machinations of the Nazis. Below them are the victims, particularly present, they are too commonly discussed in terms i.e. when the doltish ask "why they went like sheep, why they didn’t fight back, why they didn’t heed the signs in the 1930s?" Below that mound of evidence is the nefarious albeit ambiguous mass of perpetrators, willing executioners, ordinary men, the devil incarnate and the betrayers.
If only life was that fucking simple.
Mr. Mendelson constructs a marvelous investigation sixty years after the fact. His training as a classicist lends a unique angle to his research. The idea of using Dido as an apt metaphor is astonishing: victim and exile, she prospers from her wits only to kill herself. If ever an example anticipated the Survivor, then this is it....more
Depsite the political and philosophical penumbra, I regard this account as a travel narrative. The baggage involved is ineffable. Despite Adorno, thisDepsite the political and philosophical penumbra, I regard this account as a travel narrative. The baggage involved is ineffable. Despite Adorno, this works and it projects. ...more
It is sad but i am not sure I can recall much of this. I saw a number of documentaries at the time, one of which featured Jerzy Kozinski and all of thIt is sad but i am not sure I can recall much of this. I saw a number of documentaries at the time, one of which featured Jerzy Kozinski and all of the details have merged and become rather murky. ...more
Jake Pfau selected this book on samizdat and then never posted again. Forgive my snark, but it sucks being him. This book inspired some decent discussJake Pfau selected this book on samizdat and then never posted again. Forgive my snark, but it sucks being him. This book inspired some decent discussions and was appreciated by all. You still suck, Jake....more
My mechanics are likely skewed, it happens. The passing of Hitchens has pressed me terribly. This remarkable novel represented a current of oxygen amiMy mechanics are likely skewed, it happens. The passing of Hitchens has pressed me terribly. This remarkable novel represented a current of oxygen amidst the stifle. Fateless maintains an ironic stance towards the Shoah. It should be embraced. By "embrace", I mean to cherish. By "It" I mean both the irony and the novel....more
This piercing unbroken paragraph novella ups the emotional and philosophical ante concerning the Shoah and leaves only scorched earth and tattered memThis piercing unbroken paragraph novella ups the emotional and philosophical ante concerning the Shoah and leaves only scorched earth and tattered memories in its wake. Throughout the work there a number of nods to Bernhard, whereas Kertesz further gilds the homage to the Austrian with trademark recurrences and stilted rhythms. These circumstances extend beyond, of course. The decision reached is also an imperative, one which still bears considerable weight....more
How common is a phase of Shoah exploration? I found it rather odd and off-outting when I fell into a period in my early 20s, I was nearly obsessed andHow common is a phase of Shoah exploration? I found it rather odd and off-outting when I fell into a period in my early 20s, I was nearly obsessed and read constantly from scholarly analyses, memoirs and novels. I found the subject nearly untenable for most people in Southern Indiana: why would you want to read about that? Since then I have encountered a half dozen kindred souls who likewise went inexplicably overboard on this darkest of subjects.
I read this novel in 1994 and was ripped as if by the throat and throttled violently....more
We were not there. One has to bypass Adorno. Acknowledging that, a sensual inventory of the Shoah becomes an imperative. Fatelessness is an example ofWe were not there. One has to bypass Adorno. Acknowledging that, a sensual inventory of the Shoah becomes an imperative. Fatelessness is an example of such, as is this. It is a challenge. Semprun achieves the act, the consummation. Suggestions wilt, cower and abandon. He perseveres.
We do not know. Semprun relates, he apprehends, he fashions the verse from ash and yields a chuckle as gratuity. ...more
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