What I'm Reading Now
Finished with Frisch's Homo Faber. Started re-reading Nabokov's The Real Life of Sebastian Knight (via Kindle). Have also put Junger's Storm of Steel aside (don't worry, I'll come back to it--learned yesterday that Junger also visited Heidegger in Todtnauberg) in order to read a selection of Hugo von Hofmannsthal's writings (of course I was after his famous Ein Brief = A Letter, aka "The Lord Chandos Letter," but the volume from NYRB, intro by John Banville, threw in more than that).
I've already read "A Letter" (which I already knew about some--because of Coetzee and my own stumbling research). The translator is also the "arranger" (Joel Rotenberg) of the selected writings, and he elected to put it last:
Afterthought: "Ultimate judgement" seems a bit harsh. I may say nothing at all.
I've already read "A Letter" (which I already knew about some--because of Coetzee and my own stumbling research). The translator is also the "arranger" (Joel Rotenberg) of the selected writings, and he elected to put it last:
Since this is a selection, the fourteen pieces are arranged according to my own notions of drama and pacing, rather than chronologically. In particular, "A Letter" appears to deliver a verdict on Hofmannsthal's own enterprise and is thus placed last.My "gut instinct" is a chronological arrangement would've been better, but I'll reserve any ultimate judgement for when I've finished the rest of the book (Rotenberg's order) and read "A Letter" again.
Afterthought: "Ultimate judgement" seems a bit harsh. I may say nothing at all.
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