On the Natural History of Destruction

This book is a little outside of my normal sphere of reading. However, I came to it though the authors remarkable " Rings Of Saturn ".It is an analysis of what the author presents as a startling literary silence from the German people about the impact of the war - and especially the allied air campaign - on them. This seemed such an unlikely proposition to me that I bought the book.The book itself is presented in four chapters - the first and most accessible of which is the text of a lecture delivered in 1997. The other three chapters concentrate on specific authors (Alfred Andersch, Jean Amery and Peter Weiss). As all three of these authors were essentially unknown to me these sections seemed far more abstract and academic than the first. This is of course a comment on my knowledge of German Literature rather than the chapters themselves.The first section is an extremely interesting account of the German Literary response to the air war, being both complex and nuanced at the same time. Given the out pouring of books from most modern wars I was surprised at the content of this chapter - but never the less it was extremely interesting.If, like me you have read some of the more "serious" books to have been produced about the experience of war you may well find this book as interesting as I did. More than anything else I enjoyed the author's willingness to explore complex ideas in a way that did not reduce all arguments to "sound bites". If nothing else, it's a splendid reminder of how complex material can be presented in way that is both readable, but not trivialised.Recommended. Rings Of Saturn

I was wary when I started this - I bought this a few weeks ago based on the strength of a recommendation from somebody I normally trust, unaware that it was a series of four lectures. And normally that means I'll be bored to tears. (Bad flashbacks ensued from two semesters of studying German literature, an altogether stultifying experience thanks to the toothless and ossified lecturers at my university).The first lecture, on collective memory regarding the air raids and aftermath, takes about 50% of the book and is a five-star read (all the quotes I marked are from there, and i'll be sure to read this again and again). The clarity and restraint of the prose is awe-inspiring. Writing like *that* about something like *that* is a Herculean achievement.The next two lectures deal with individual German authors that I'd heard about, Alfred Andersch being drawn as a self-important ass who re-edited his past in a manner that makes you cringe: first divorcing his Jewish wife to gain access to the Nazi-run Writer's Association - a prerequisite to getting published - then claiming her as his wife when it was expedient (in American captivity, though calling her a "half Jewish mongrel"). The next lecture deals with Amery, a survivor of the Nazi terror, adding a very impressive study to my previous knowledge of Primo Levi's account.I did not care for the last lecture, on Peter Weiss. It just didn't quite hang together for me - and I thought the analysis was the weakest, so a bit of a downer to end the book on. I understand why he was included, as Weiss laboured under being both Jewish and German, so he fits into the larger context, but I enjoyed the other parts of the book a great deal more.Above all, the sources he cited triggered my historian/packrat reflex and drove me back to buy further books.

For those interested in the literature concerning the mass bombings overseen by 'Bomber Harris' at the end of WW2 the material treated by Sebald will be familiar. But his dispassionate and anylitcal treatment of one of our great crimes against each other is riveting. He also deals with the effect on the German psyche of those 'carpet bombings' of civilian tagets. As always, Sebald doesn't 'do' excuses. An extraordinary book - in the strictest sense of the word. Recommeded

This book is interesting in that whilst it is well written, it is more a work of philosophy than of the human suffering endured in Germany by those under attack. Chapter 1 describes in the evolution of the US and British heavy bombing of Germany, the former by day and the latter by night. The methods adopted by these two air forces and the moral imperatives guiding them are described in a superficial manner. The remaining part of the book is more of a philosophical treatise on the reasons behind the almost total lack of a written record of this disastrous human story from any German literary authority. Try looking for a first-hand account of this bombing campaign from a German author and you will find very little and most of that is not available in English. Sebald offers very little by way of insight into the unspeakable suffering of the civilian population but where it does it is very graphic and troubling. The book does demonstrate very clearly how humans can be induced to inflict massive trauma on others from distance which would be impossible were they to be required to perform the same acts at close quarters. By the end I felt I knew very little more than when I began.

A great history of world war two people often omit for the only glorious history of World War two.