Speak, Silence: In Search of W. G. Sebald
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- Create Date：2021-08-02 00:51:09
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Carole Angier
- ISBN：1526634791
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Summary
The long-awaited first biography of W。 G。 Sebald - a TLS Summer Read
'It is a considerable achievement to unpick， so convincingly， mysteries Sebald has taken care to contrive。 And to do it with such respect， and indeed generosity， that the great originals are burnished' Iain Sinclair
W。 G。 Sebald was one of the most extraordinary and influential writers of the twentieth century。 Through books including The Emigrants， Austerlitz and The Rings of Saturn， he pursued an original literary vision that combined fiction， history， autobiography and photography and addressed some of the most profound themes of contemporary literature: the burden of the Holocaust， memory， loss and exile。
The first biography to explore his life and work， Speak， Silence pursues the true Sebald through the memories of those who knew him and through the work he left behind。 This quest takes Carole Angier from Sebald's birth as a second-generation German at the end of the Second World War， through his rejection of the poisoned inheritance of the Third Reich， to his emigration to England， exploring the choice of isolation and exile that drove his work。 It digs deep into a creative mind on the edge， finding profound empathy and paradoxical ruthlessness， saving humour， and an elusive mix of fact and fiction in his life as well as work。 The result is a unique， ferociously original portrait。
'It is a considerable achievement to unpick， so convincingly， mysteries Sebald has taken care to contrive。 And to do it with such respect， and indeed generosity， that the great originals are burnished' Iain Sinclair
W。 G。 Sebald was one of the most extraordinary and influential writers of the twentieth century。 Through books including The Emigrants， Austerlitz and The Rings of Saturn， he pursued an original literary vision that combined fiction， history， autobiography and photography and addressed some of the most profound themes of contemporary literature: the burden of the Holocaust， memory， loss and exile。
The first biography to explore his life and work， Speak， Silence pursues the true Sebald through the memories of those who knew him and through the work he left behind。 This quest takes Carole Angier from Sebald's birth as a second-generation German at the end of the Second World War， through his rejection of the poisoned inheritance of the Third Reich， to his emigration to England， exploring the choice of isolation and exile that drove his work。 It digs deep into a creative mind on the edge， finding profound empathy and paradoxical ruthlessness， saving humour， and an elusive mix of fact and fiction in his life as well as work。 The result is a unique， ferociously original portrait。
Reviews
Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer
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A very detailed biography of one of the 20th Century's greatest writers - WG Sebald， whose very work is difficult to categorise but whose influence is vast （both perhaps shown by the now common use of the term Sebaldian to describe a certain type of writing as well as - more lazily - the use of slightly out of focus black and white photographs）。The book concentrates on Sebald's prose books and less on his academic writing or poetry - which I have to say suited me （I have little interest in acade A very detailed biography of one of the 20th Century's greatest writers - WG Sebald， whose very work is difficult to categorise but whose influence is vast （both perhaps shown by the now common use of the term Sebaldian to describe a certain type of writing as well as - more lazily - the use of slightly out of focus black and white photographs）。The book concentrates on Sebald's prose books and less on his academic writing or poetry - which I have to say suited me （I have little interest in academia） It is a lengthy book - over 650 pages - but around 200 pages are Acknowledgments/Links /Abbreviations/Notes and an Index （not completed in the Proof I read）。There is always a tension in biographies between official ones and unofficial ones。 Official ones have access to inside information and privileged insights。 But sometimes as a result are constrained in what they can present and in the gloss they need to put on incidents。。 The author makes it clear up front that this is more of an unauthorised biography and that particularly: she was not able to speak to either Sebald's widow （and so could not quote from many private letters etc）; did not have official agreement to quote from his published works or interviews （other than the "limits laid down by [copyright] law）; that two other key sources （a friend and Simon Prosser - Sebald's editor for his last books – who I know best as Ali Smith’s editor） also declined to talk to her。She also identifies up front that she never really gets to the bottom of the solitude and pessimism which permeates not just his work but seemingly his life。The advantage of being unauthorised is that she is able to present an unvarnished picture of him。 Starting of course with the comment about his aloneness “the people he loved must have felt alone too”。Later she is fairly explicit about the hurt felt by his first English language publisher Harvill （who supported him when he was completely unknown） when after some initial success he deserted them and allowed his agent Andrew Wiley to turn their “offer into the opening bid in an auction and invited the biggest publishers in London and New York to take part” （a repeat of a similar falling out with his first German publisher）。 She makes it clear that for all his torn loyalty Sebald’s real focus was on earning enough to escape academia and be an independent writer。The incident in which he comes out worst is in his difficult relationship with his first English translator Michael Hulse – which continued to be extremely difficult through a number of translations。 This is a fascinating part of the book as the author actually includes some pages of “The Rings of Saturn” with Hulse’s translation and Sebald’s edits （as well as those of his trusted secretary）。 The biographer puts the bulk of the blame for the difficult relationship on Sebald both in not communicating his issues ot Hulse directly “silence began in kindness， but soon became cowardice and finally betrayal” and in his motivations – but she does conclude in an interesting paragraph There are to simplify horribly – two poles of thought about translation。 One holds that the job is to render the work as beautifully as possible in the new language。 The other holds that the job is rather to convey the original as closely as possible。 （The ideal is to do both， of course， but like most ideals it’s not always achievable。） Max was strongly of the second school， while Michael’s gift lay in the first。 The result was that Michael wholly Englished – and Hulse’d – Max’s language， and Max furiously re-Germanised and re-Sebaldised it again。 He worked almost as long and hard on Michael’s translations as he’d done on his own originals， rewriting almost every line。 And the result of that， in my view， was remarkable， and the best of both worlds。 He had a poet’s flowing English version before him， to which he restored his own unique sound， to make a whole new work of art。 In my view， in that of everyone at Harvill， and in that of most English reviewers and readers， Max’s books as translated by Michael Hulse， then rewritten by Max himself， are great works of English literature， different from but equal to Austerlitz。 Some other Norfolk/Suffolk related tidbits I found of interest were: Sebald’s notoriously bad driving as seen for years by his neighbour when they lift shared on the Wymondham-Norwich roads （ones I drive parallel to on the A11 when driving between my Surrey and Norfolk homes） and which of course ultimately cost him his life years later; The solution to the mystery （to me） of how someone on an academic salary purchased a fabulous Old Rectory – the Rectory was completely derelict and he spent years doing it up。That “Rings of Saturn” actually started life conceived by Sebald as an easy way to get paid for his writing – as a walking holiday which he would then turn into “a piece about remote Suffolk for German tourists” – “ten short pieces” for the Frankfurter Allgemeine magazineNow of course much of his walk took place at different times and in different places than he says in his writing This deliberate duplicity of course permeates much of Sebald’s writing – hence why it is fiction， as well as his photographs and even his interviews – the author reveals that there is a well-known Sebald tale about the Emigrants which he told to her， which she included in her interview and which was been by others repeated often as a fact ever since but which she discovered in her researches for this book was entirely made up） Those photographs and documents that made them all so real to us – what are we to make of them now？ If the characters are fictions， who are the photographs of？ And suddenly they flip。 Where first they created an extraordinary closeness， now they create distance; instead of feeling intensely with the people pictured， we’re asking， Who are you？ Precisely the technique Sebald adopted to make his creations real to us now makes us more aware they’re not real than if we had simply been left to imagine them， as in a normal novel。 This is a circle he cannot escape from， like several others in his life。 And my book traps him in it。 If you read him without questioning， and are moved – that is his main aim。 I remind you of the truth。 That is the job of the biographer。 It’s why writers don’t want biographers， and I know Sebald wouldn’t want me。 But I would say to him， You’re wrong。 You always wanted people to believe your stories。 But they will believe them more， not less， when they know the truth。 But perhaps the enduring strength in the book are the closing chapters on each of The Emigrants， The Rings of Saturn and Austerlitz and then on Sebald’s overall literary legacy。 These function （particularly when set in the context of the previous chapters） as invaluable companions to Sebald’s writing – and for any fan of his writing I would suggest to get this biography （in hard copy rather than electronic） as a reference volume for your bookshelf alongside his great works。 My thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing for an ARC via NetGalley 。。。more
Roman Clodia
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