My Amazon review of W G Sebald’s Luftkrieg und Literatur

Exposure of the tainted authors of the Third Reich

In exquisite and clear, if complex, language - I read him in the original German - Sebald explains how the work of authors who went through the purgatory of the Third Reich was contaminated, rotten in the centre, and full of excuses and self-justification. They wrote novels showing how they SHOULD have behaved, a cover-up. He cites in particular Alfred Andersch, who was married to a Jewish woman, by whom he had a daughter. He sacrificed both by divorcing her, so that she lost the protection of an 'aryan' husband, and was subject to the terrible treatment the Nazis meted out to the Jews. After the war he used the fact that he had been married to a Jewish woman to gain favour with those in power. He was a shit. Obviously, his novels handled the material of his life to show him to advantage. Sebald also suggests that the Germans never faced, admitted, worked through, healed themselves of, the terrible trauma of their suffering from the bombing and conflagrations of their main cities. I knew from my friends the Dabelsteins in Hamburg, as we drove through the ruins of the city in 1946, where they didnt know which street they were in, as the rows of rubble were all the same, utterly unidentifiable, that the firebombs produced such huge areas in flames, that people were sucked into them.

TWO LETTERS TO TWO OLD FRIENDS

Dear .....

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I just wrote this to a friend of mine, as I noticed that he, at the end of his 50's, had a quite shockingly bent back, his posture having further deteriorated since I saw him a little while ago. As you mentioned that you were having trouble with parts of your body, I believe the two lowest parts, I wondered whether it might be relevant to mention to you my view on handling an older body! Sorry you haven’t got a printer, as it is so much nicer to read from paper than from screen, hint, hint... Here goes:

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"You know that I am into exercises and posture, and have this theory - based on regular evidence - that people as they grow older superimpose on the natural process of the ageing of their bodies another dimension, that of ACTING OLD, of giving an old performance, as if they were looking at their watches and saying, aha, it is 50, or 60 or 70 years o' clock, or whatever it is, and taking the decision to adopt a radically different life style, pattern, a pattern NOT in accordance with the state of their bodies, but with the IDEA of how ancient they are, what numeral they had reached. They varyingly hold themselves bent double; they move their bodies in slow motion; they stop cooking and catering; they stop entertaining; they stop travelling. I thought I'd jot these thoughts down, have never formalised them before, but was reminded of this evidence because of your posture, which I dont think is due to this cause, but to some other cause or causes unknown to me. Some tall people typically hold themselves bent out of courtesy to us smaller fry. I think you, actually, lose about an inch and a half in height the way you hold yourself. And it must cramp the lungs. And the weight of the head - the heaviest article we possess - is not ON TOP OF THE SPINE, but IN FRONT OF IT, which is not good for the spine. As I say, I dont know the cause. It could be lack of self-value. It could be exhaustion. It could be worry. It could be fear. It could be boredom. It could be despair. I have no idea what the cause is.

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So to the remedy. I have this morning, as is my habit, had my hot bath, and before it, and during it, done my exercises, which all took well over 3/4 of an hour. I know, because that's the setting of my microwave for my porridge, and it had stopped cooking by the time I came down. I have of course assembled a huge range of exercises from my acting and teaching days, improvisation and relaxation classes, Yoga and Alexander technique classes, physiotherapy sessions, osteopathy, from my doctor, and of my own invention. I deal with the whole body, and especially with any parts that need attention that day because they ached or were stiff. And I straighten my back whenever I see somebody with a particularly good posture; and I straighten my back when I see somebody with a particularly BAD posture. I am going on and on like this because I think it very important. And will now stop!"

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And you see, I am wondering, whether you are seeking enough advice, getting enough treatment; whether you could not be doing more to extend your range of action. I was surprised again when you mentioned that it was a 'podiatrist' on whose sole advice you were relying. I'd have thought he wouldnt be nearly high-powered enough to act as sole contributor to your health. I am of course completely in the dark as to the detail of your condition, and should really shut up, but I just have the feeling that one can always do more, rather than give up and be satisfied with the performance that one is achieving. I was utterly dissatisfied with the University College Hospital's nowadays utterly feeble and superficial physiotherapy and hydrotherapy, and thus landed with osteopathy. I fee that, together with my own work on my body, and the senior students' work manipulating its various parts, I have a very good combination for achieving optimum performance... And I should really go swimming once a week!

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Oh, and one other thought: We ought to try and avoid going peculiar...

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Love

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Peter