On the natural history of destruction
By: W.G. Sebald ; translated by Anthea Bell
Edition: 1st U.S. ed
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2003
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 202
Subjects: World War, 1939-1945 -- Literature and the war; German literature -- 20th century -- History and criticism; Bombing, Aerial -- Germany; World War, 1939-1945 -- Destruction and pillage -- Germany
Work titles: Luftkrieg und Literatur.
Description: This book is acclaimed German novelist Sebald's investigation of one of the least examined "silences" of our time. He examines the devastation of German cities by Allied bombardment, and the reasons for the astonishing absence of this unprecedented trauma from German history and culture. This void is in part a repression of things--such as the death by fire of the city of Hamburg at the hands of the RAF--too terrible to bear. For Sebald, this is an example of deliberate cultural amnesia; his analysis of its effects in and outside Germany has already provoked angry and painful debate. It addresses questions that arise when communities must heal from self-inflicted wounds. This book is a study of suffering and forgetting, of the morality hidden in artistic decisions, and of both compromised and genuine heroics.--From publisher description.
Notes: Includes essays on Alfred Andersch, Jean Améry, and Peter Weiss

Includes bibliographical references (p. 193-202)
Table of contents: title: Air war and literature : Zürich lectures; title: Between the devil and the deep blue sea : on Alfred Andersch; title: Against the irreversible : on Jean Améry; title: The remorse of the heart : on memory and cruelty in the work of Peter Weiss