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W. G. Sebald

    18 mai 1944 – 14 décembre 2001
    W. G. Sebald
    Across the Land and the Water
    On the natural history of destruction
    Vertigo
    The Rings of Saturn
    The Undiscover'd Country
    Les émigrants
    • Les émigrants

      • 288pages
      • 11 heures de lecture
      4,1(982)Évaluer

      Que la parution des Emigrants de W. G. Sebald ait suscité en Allemagne, aux Etats-Unis et en Angleterre une grande émotion, tient certes à la qualité des critiques ou des écrivains (Susan Sontag, Paul Auster, Arthur Miller ... ) qui ont désigné ce livre comme une œuvre d'exception. Mais cet accueil, Sebald le doit surtout au si prégnant lyrisme mélancolique avec lequel il se remémore - et inscrit dans nos mémoires - la trajectoire de quatre personnages de sa connaissance, que l'expatriation (ils sont pour la plupart juifs d'origine allemande ou lituanienne) aura conduits - silencieux, déracinés, fantomatiques - jusqu'au désespoir et à la mort. Mêlant l'investigation et la réminiscence, collationnant les documents (photos, journaux) et les témoignages, Sebald effleure les souvenirs avec une empathie de romancier, une patience d'archiviste, une minutie de paysagiste, pour y redécouvrir le germe du présent. A la lisière des faits et de la fiction, la fraternelle écriture de Sebald est bel et bien celle du temps retrouvé, une reconquête de ce passé-présent où s'énonçait, il y a peu, notre lancinante histoire commune. "Un monde a disparu, note Susan Sontag à propos de ce livre. Tout le monde le sait, même si nous ne nous soucions guère de regarder en face toutes les conséquences de cette disparition, de la destruction de tant de mondes, à commencer par la maison Europe. Le livre de Sebald sur ceux qui ont perdu leur monde - serein, élégant, déchirant, exaltant par la sensualité de ses descriptions - constitue le récit définitif et métaphorique de notre condition de sans-abri."

      Les émigrants
    • The first sustained interrogation of travel in Sebald's literary and essayistic work, employing multivalent and new critical perspectives.

      The Undiscover'd Country
    • The Rings of Saturn

      • 296pages
      • 11 heures de lecture
      4,3(11260)Évaluer

      A fictional account of a walking tour of the English countryside, moving through space and time in a dream-like mode.

      The Rings of Saturn
    • Vertigo

      • 263pages
      • 10 heures de lecture
      4,1(3937)Évaluer

      At moments when reality shows itself to be unstable or uncanny, we experience a form of vertigo. W.G. Sebald explores this theme through four stories and four journeys - the journeys of Stendhal, Kafka, and twice of the unnamed narrator.

      Vertigo
    • In the last years of the Second World War, a million tonnes of bombs were dropped by the Allies on 131 German towns and cities. 600,000 civilians died, seven and a half million Germans were left homeless. W.G. Sebald's lucid but harrowing essays explore the consequences for the German people of the mass destruction of their cities.

      On the natural history of destruction
    • Across the Land and the Water

      Across the Land and the Water: Selected Poems, 1964-2001

      • 192pages
      • 7 heures de lecture
      3,8(12)Évaluer

      Exploring themes of nature, history, and memory, this collection showcases nearly one hundred poems by W. G. Sebald, highlighting his literary mastery. Spanning from his student years in the sixties to works completed before his death in 2001, the poems, many published in English for the first time, reflect Sebald's unique voice and profound insights. Translated by Iain Galbraith, this volume promises to be a significant contribution to Sebald's already esteemed oeuvre, resonating with readers familiar with his prose.

      Across the Land and the Water
    • Young Austerlitz

      • 64pages
      • 3 heures de lecture
      4,0(18438)Évaluer

      In Young Austerlitz taken from the last book W. G. Sebald saw published we are told the story of a man who learns that his past is a lie.

      Young Austerlitz
    • The Rings Of Saturn : Vintage Voyages

      • 320pages
      • 12 heures de lecture
      3,7(75)Évaluer

      Vintage Voyages: A world of journeys, from the tallest mountains to the depths of the mind What begins as the record of a journey on foot through coastal East Anglia becomes the great, constellated story of people and cultures past and present: of Chateaubriand, Thomas Browne, Swinburne and Conrad, of fishing fleets, skulls and silkworms. A rich meditation on the past via a melancholy trip along the Suffolk coast, The Rings of Saturn is an intricately patterned and haunting book on the transience of all things human.

      The Rings Of Saturn : Vintage Voyages
    • Shadows of Reality

      W.G. Sebald's Photographic Materials

      • 468pages
      • 17 heures de lecture

      The book presents a detailed catalogue of photographic materials, including negatives, prints, and slides, from the archives of W. G. Sebald, who passed away in 2001. It features a wealth of illustrations alongside contextual interviews, quotations, and essays that enrich the understanding of Sebald's work and legacy. This comprehensive resource not only documents the visual elements left behind but also explores their significance within Sebald's broader artistic and literary contributions.

      Shadows of Reality
    • Pensive images

      • 183pages
      • 7 heures de lecture

      Inspired by the work of the German writer W. G. Sebald, the exhibition L’Image-papillon (The Butterfly Image) addresses the complex relations that link image and memory. It gathers together sixteen artists whose work, like Sebald’s, explores the realms of memory and history through the concepts of experience and overlapping temporalities. Borrowing its title from a recent essay on Sebald’s Work by the writer and literary researcher Muriel Pic.

      Pensive images