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W G SebaldProfileAfter observing that W.G.Sebald is probably the most important literary figure to emerge in the last five years, it is hard to know how to begin describing his work. Does he write fiction? Yes. History? Yes. (Auto)biography? Yes. All rolled into one. Anecdotes and digressions seem to follow swiftly on one another, only to reveal themselves as integral to some over-arching structure. He clearly doesn’t write music, yet at least two of his books may sensibly be described as prose symphonies (4 movements, themes developed differently in each). Nor does he write poetry, yet his work feels poetic. Although the books are written in German, the author is bilingual in English and closely supervises the translations by Michael Hulse. The English editions should be seen as parallel editions rather than translations. As with Claudio Magris, Sebald’s world is not only described by his style but also shaped by it: his rhythmic, exact, prose is of the utmost importance, luring the reader into an enchantment where he can seamlessly introduce surprises that continue to resonate. Yet though he is a virtuoso technician, he does not seem flamboyant and so you do suspect him of the gaudy frivolity that, say, Nabokov, sometimes seems guilty of. Instead you marvel at the elegant, assured measuring out of his themes. When The Emigrants was published it was hailed as a masterpiece, and so was The Rings of Saturn. No new author has had so much influence on literature. Reading him changes you in some way. Publications
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