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La mia vita
«Che romanzo avrebbe potuto mettere insieme con questa storia!», ha scritto Mario Vargas Llosa della autobiografia del grande critico tedesco, forse il più influente e ascoltato, al suo apparire in Germania accompagnata da controversie e polemiche. E in effetti sono tante le svolte le crisi e le rinascite di una vita attraverso il Novecento, che la materia del romanzo, storia di un uomo e affresco corale di un'epoca contemporaneamente, ci sarebbe stata tutta: ebreo nato in Polonia in una antica città sulla Vistola e trasferitosi a nove anni a Berlino, in seguito al fallimento del padre, studente vide vincere il Nazismo, fu rinchiuso nel Ghetto di Varsavia e sopravvisse con la moglie a Treblinka, tornato in Polonia fu funzionario del partito comunista e lavorò come spia al servizio del governo, fuggì in Germania nel 1958 e qui divenne quello che è oggi: un signore delle lettere, con un diario di incontri da pari a pari, severo e incorruttibile nel giudizio, con tutti i grandi della letteratura mitteleuropea: Brecht, Canetti, i Mann, Frish, Böll, Günter Grass, per ricordarne alcuni. Ma in questa materia romanzesca, Reich-Ranicki si muove senza orrore e senza eccesso, senza autocommiserazione e senza vanità, come se scrivesse di un altro, come se seguisse peripezie il cui esito è sconosciuto al protagonista e quindi anche all'autore. E in questo guardare al fatto nella sua innocenza, in questo sobrio nascondere nel racconto la mano di chi scrive, sta la differenza con la mera biografia e il romanzo c'è tutto. Il romanzo di un uomo nato dalla sua civiltà di parole e subito rapito da due amori: i libri e il mondo germanico, al punto da accettare di entrambi a ciglio asciutto anche la sorprendente, nascosta, barbarie.
484 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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About the author
Marcel Reich-Ranicki
164 books42 followersMarcel Reich-Ranicki was a Polish-born German literary critic and member of the literary group Gruppe 47. He was regarded as one of the most influential contemporary literary critics in the field of German literature and has often been called Literaturpapst ("Pope of Literature") in Germany.
Source: wikipedia.com
Source: wikipedia.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
August 22, 2025
Reich-Ranicki is the most important literary critic of the 2nd half of the 20th century in the German-speaking world. It is almost impossible to overestimate the influence of this most erudite man on all matters to do with German-language literature, of which he had encyclopaedic knowledge. I remember him fondly as a man of great integrity from a period when the media still had interesting and intelligent things to say about literature. Although he was a gentle and evenhanded critic, he was not above tearing a book to shreds when he thought it was appropriate. As one would expect from a man of his stature, his autobiography is highly interesting and informative. I knew he had roots in Poland but didn’t know about his, and his family’s, harrowing experiences at the hands of the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto. This biography is highly recommended to all lovers of German literature, especially of the modern, postwar period. It made me realise just how much of that branch of literature I have yet to read!
September 4, 2020
Wenn man bei dem Namen Reich-Ranicki nur an einen stets graugekleideten älteren Herren, mit lispelnd-bellender Stimme denkt, der gerne polarisierte und stets Opfer von (meist schlechten) Imitatoren war, dann tut man dem Menschen Marcel Reich-Ranicki unrecht. Seine 1999 (also 14 Jahre vor seinem Tod) fertig gestellte Autobiografie fokussiert sich nämlich nicht hauptsächlich auf sein Leben als Literaturkritiker, sondern erzählt in der ersten Hälfte viel von seinen Jugendjahren. Ich habe seinen Rückblick sehr gemocht, auch wenn er größtenteils traurig war. In Polen geboren, in Berlin zur Schule gegangen (ohne familiären Rückhalt) und dann die Kriegsjahre im Warschauer Getto und später im Unterschlupf bei Bauern auf dem polnischen Land, waren die Stationen der ersten 25 Lebensjahre. Was für eine bewegende Lebensgeschichte, die schon damals von der Liebe zur Literatur und Musik geprägt war.
Am wenigsten gefiel mir der Mittelteil, in dem MRR über seinen Start in der Bundesrepublik Ende der 50er Jahre berichtete. Er fühlte sich (auch als Jude) stets fremd in diesem Land. Hier stellt er in einigen Stellen seinen großen Narzissmus zur Schau und glänzte nicht gerade mit Bescheidenheit. So ein großes Ego will gestreichelt werden. Kostprobe:
“Was habe ich aus dem Gespräch mit Anna Seghers gelernt? Daß die meisten Schriftsteller von der Literatur nicht mehr verstehen als die Vögel von der Ornithologie. Und dass sie am wenigsten imstande wären, ihre eigenen Werke beurteilen zu können. [...] Was der Autor sonst über sein Werk zu sagen hat, sollten wir nicht ignorieren, indes auch nicht sonderlich ernst nehmen.“
Es wird einem beim Lesen der Autobiografie oft klar, warum manche Schriftsteller/innen nicht gut auf ihn zu sprechen waren. Unbestritten hat er durch seine Medienpräsenz seit Beginn des Literarischen Quartetts im Jahr 1988 viel für die von ihm so sehr geliebte Literatur getan. So sehr charismatisch, ehrlich und kompromisslos er auch war, so sehr war aber auch machthungrig und wenig emphatisch. Wenn er z.B. im Kapitel über die Familie Mann detailliert über die Lieblosigkeit von Thomas Mann berichtet und wie sehr dessen Kinder unter ihm litten, wunderte es mich, dass MRR auch viel von Thomas Manns schlechten Eigenschaften für sich in Anspruch nahm. Sein Sohn Alexander Andrew, zu Lebzeiten geschätzter Professor der Mathematik in Edinburgh, erzählt auch nicht gerade von einer einfachen Jugend unter dem ehrgeizigen Vater. Gelobt wurde im Hause Reich-Ranicki nur selten. Man liebte MRR ja auch eher für seine Verrisse und nicht für seine Belobigungen.
Interessanterweise hatte ich beim Lesen immer die markante Stimme Reich-Ranickis im Ohr. Das Buch ist sehr gut und interessant geschrieben. Absolute Leseempfehlung, selbst wenn man kein Anhänger Reich-Ranickis war und ist
Am wenigsten gefiel mir der Mittelteil, in dem MRR über seinen Start in der Bundesrepublik Ende der 50er Jahre berichtete. Er fühlte sich (auch als Jude) stets fremd in diesem Land. Hier stellt er in einigen Stellen seinen großen Narzissmus zur Schau und glänzte nicht gerade mit Bescheidenheit. So ein großes Ego will gestreichelt werden. Kostprobe:
“Was habe ich aus dem Gespräch mit Anna Seghers gelernt? Daß die meisten Schriftsteller von der Literatur nicht mehr verstehen als die Vögel von der Ornithologie. Und dass sie am wenigsten imstande wären, ihre eigenen Werke beurteilen zu können. [...] Was der Autor sonst über sein Werk zu sagen hat, sollten wir nicht ignorieren, indes auch nicht sonderlich ernst nehmen.“
Es wird einem beim Lesen der Autobiografie oft klar, warum manche Schriftsteller/innen nicht gut auf ihn zu sprechen waren. Unbestritten hat er durch seine Medienpräsenz seit Beginn des Literarischen Quartetts im Jahr 1988 viel für die von ihm so sehr geliebte Literatur getan. So sehr charismatisch, ehrlich und kompromisslos er auch war, so sehr war aber auch machthungrig und wenig emphatisch. Wenn er z.B. im Kapitel über die Familie Mann detailliert über die Lieblosigkeit von Thomas Mann berichtet und wie sehr dessen Kinder unter ihm litten, wunderte es mich, dass MRR auch viel von Thomas Manns schlechten Eigenschaften für sich in Anspruch nahm. Sein Sohn Alexander Andrew, zu Lebzeiten geschätzter Professor der Mathematik in Edinburgh, erzählt auch nicht gerade von einer einfachen Jugend unter dem ehrgeizigen Vater. Gelobt wurde im Hause Reich-Ranicki nur selten. Man liebte MRR ja auch eher für seine Verrisse und nicht für seine Belobigungen.
Interessanterweise hatte ich beim Lesen immer die markante Stimme Reich-Ranickis im Ohr. Das Buch ist sehr gut und interessant geschrieben. Absolute Leseempfehlung, selbst wenn man kein Anhänger Reich-Ranickis war und ist
December 22, 2015
I think you can say without exaggeration that Marcel Reich-Ranicki was one of the greatest literary critics in Germany. Since he passed away two years ago, I wanted to read his autobiography, which was published in 1999.
There are ups and downs in this book, just like in any life, I guess. It comes as no big surprise that the downs in his life are the highlights of this book; and vice versa. The most desperate and dangerous time were the years he had to spend in the Warschaw Getto during World War 2. He was lucky to get out of there alive, while his parents and brother were killed by the Nazis. This is by far the most moving part of the book.
Later, after he became famous in Germany, the book sort of drifts into a name-dropping mode and here his high-handed nature comes to the fore. I watched quite a few of his appearances on TV (Das Literarische Quartett) and I could see he hardly ever deviates from its positions on books or authors, and he represents those positions vehemently against his discussion partners, sometimes even rude. He was no easy person to deal with, that's for sure. On the other hand he was very well-read. I think there wasn't a book of any literary value he hasn't read in his life. Very impressive!
In the second half of his biography the encounters with different authors are the best parts to me. I already knew most of this from the TV series called Lauter schwierige Patienten [nothing but difficult patients]. If you understand German and have an interest in German literature I highly recommend to check this out! In fact those 12 broadcasts (45 minutes each) are a good substitution for the greater part of the second half of this book [links below in the comments section].
The first part I can recommend to anyone who is interested in modern history. This part can also be read as a historical document of the time period 1938-1945.
You can think of Marcel Reich-Ranicki as you like, love him or hate him, but you have to admit he was never dull and the German literary scene has become poorer without him.
________________
Update 9/26:
I just found out how to query the X-Ray-Information of a book on my Kindle [it's an SQLITE-Database]. So let's drop some names too. Here are the authors from the book whose name appear at least ten times in the text:
Name Mentions________________
Bertolt Brecht 55
Thomas Mann 54
Heinrich Böll 43
Wolfgang Koeppen 35
Walter Jens 33
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 31
Ernst Nolte 29
Günter Grass 28
Elias Canetti 27
Heinrich Heine 25
Golo Mann 24
Theodor W. Adorno 22
Erich Kästner 21
Ingeborg Bachmann 21
Friedrich Schiller 19
Stanislaw Jerzy Lec 19
Siegfried Lenz 18
Theodor Fontane 18
Martin Walser 18
Max Frisch 18
Franz Kafka 17
Hugo von Hofmannsthal 15
Arnold Zweig 14
Rainer Maria Rilke 13
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing 13
Thomas Bernhard 13
Klaus Mann 12
Anna Seghers 12
Hans Mayer 12
Heinrich Mann 11
Hermann Hesse 10
Friedrich Sieburg 10
Gerhart Hauptmann 10
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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February 27, 2019Interesting autobiography now available in English as The Author of Himself.
Born in Poland and educated in Germany in the Prussian education system he reflects on that experience as representing two poles of German life. On the one hand its cultural heritage on the other ,the cane hanging on the wall to enforce classroom discipline.
Deported to Poland in 1938, there Reich-Ranicki survived the Warsaw Ghetto and the remainder of the war. Expelled from the Polish Workers Party in 1949, and finding the anti-semitism in the country difficult to cope with, he and his family emigrated to West Germany in 1958 where he eventually emerged as the foremost literary critic in Germany.
Because of his involvement in the foundation of the group-47 literary movement and close association with authors like Günter Grass his autobiography also deals with the development of the post-war literary scene in Germany, his opinions on which are all expressed trenchantly. I think I could well reread this to see if I can get a sense of the development of his literary opinions.
Born in Poland and educated in Germany in the Prussian education system he reflects on that experience as representing two poles of German life. On the one hand its cultural heritage on the other ,the cane hanging on the wall to enforce classroom discipline.
Deported to Poland in 1938, there Reich-Ranicki survived the Warsaw Ghetto and the remainder of the war. Expelled from the Polish Workers Party in 1949, and finding the anti-semitism in the country difficult to cope with, he and his family emigrated to West Germany in 1958 where he eventually emerged as the foremost literary critic in Germany.
Because of his involvement in the foundation of the group-47 literary movement and close association with authors like Günter Grass his autobiography also deals with the development of the post-war literary scene in Germany, his opinions on which are all expressed trenchantly. I think I could well reread this to see if I can get a sense of the development of his literary opinions.
February 28, 2015
Schon lange wollte ich Marcel Reich-Ranickis Autobiografie lesen, das Buch habe ich schon nach der Ausstrahlung der Verfilmung gekauft. Aber wie das nun mal so ist bei einem Monster-SuB, es hat lange dort gelegen und Deutschlands bekanntester Literaturkritiker ist inzwischen verstorben. Ich muss gestehen, dass ich das Literarische Quartett nicht sehr oft gesehen habe, ich war auch zu Beginn noch etwas jung dafür, doch ich mochte Reich-Ranicki immer, mit seiner streitbaren, charakteristischen Art hat er mich oft zum Schmunzeln gebracht. Außerdem war mir sein Down-to-earth-Standpunkt zur Literatur und seine Überzeugung, dass Literaturkritik auch verständlich und lesbar sein muss, sehr sympathisch.
Dass Marcel Reich-Ranicki Jude war und das Warschauer Getto überlebt hat, hat man immer mal wieder gelesen, doch mehr über seine dramatischen Erlebnisse wusste ich nicht, bis zu dem schon genannten Film.
Das Buch ist in fünf Teile bzw. Lebensabschnitte gegliedert, der erste Teil beschäftigt sich mit seiner Kindheit und Jugend in Polen und dann Berlin unter dem Aufstieg des Nationalsozialismus. Doch springt Reich-Ranicki dabei durchaus in der Geschichte nach vorne, wenn es das jeweilige Thema gerade sinnvoll macht, etwa in dem Kapitel über seine Beziehung zu Erich Kästner, das mich sehr bewegt hat und mich gleich dazu veranlasst hat, mir eine Ausgabe des von ihm und seiner Frau Teofila zusammengestellten Gedichtbandes zu besorgen. Im zweiten Teil schildert Reich-Ranicki sein Leben und seine Flucht aus dem Warschauer Getto. Ich muss nicht sagen, dass dieser Teil der bewegendste, erschütterndste ist. Mir kamen öfter die Tränen, etwa als die Abtransporte ins Vernichtungslager Treblinka beschrieben werden, an deren Ende der sofortige Tod stand, auch für Reich-Ranickis Eltern.
In den verbleibenden Teilen geht es um Reich-Ranickis Zeit in Polen, seine Rückkehr nach Deutschland und seine weitere Karriere sowie sein Verhältnis zu verschiedenen Autoren und Kollegen. Ich fand es sehr schlimm, wie Freundschaften dabei zerbrachen, vor allem die Freundschaft zu Walter Jens. Viele Autoren zeichnen sich leider auch durch mangelnde Kritikfähigkeit aus, aber Reich-Ranickis vermeidet Beschuldigungen, äußert sich auch durchaus teilweise positiv über Martin Walser, trotz “Tod eines Kritikers” und seiner Rede im Rahmen des Historikerstreits.
Schockiert hat mich gerade die Geschichte dieses Historikerstreits und Joachim Fests Beteiligung daran. Dessen Hitler-Biografie steht auch bei mir im Regal, wenn ich mich auch noch nicht an das 1200 Seiten starke Werk gewagt habe. (Sie bleibt auch auf meiner Leseliste, denn Reich-Ranicki nennt es ein “in jeder Hinsicht gewichtiges Werk”.) Auch die “Anekdote” über den “dunklen Ehrengast” bei der Veröffentlichung dieses Buchs hat mich schockiert.
Ich kann euch nur empfehlen, diese Autiobiografie eines so faszinierenden Zeitzeugen, wie Reich-Ranicki es war, zu lesen. Man erfährt nicht nur viel über das Leben eines Juden während und nach der Nazidiktatur, sondern auch über viele renommierte deutschsprachige Schriftsteller. Reich-Ranickis Begeisterung für die Literatur, das Theater und die Musik sind einfach mitreißend. Sprachlich bleibt Reich-Ranicki in seiner Autobiografie seinen Prinzipien treu: anspruchsvoll, aber gut und flüssig lesbar.
Auf einer der letzten Seiten beschreibt Marcel Reich-Ranicki, was ihm Willy Brandts Kniefall vor dem Denkmal des Warschauer Gettos bedeutete: “Damals wußte ich, daß ich ihm bis zum Ende meines Lebens dankbar sein werde.” Ich wiederum bin Marcel Reich-Ranicki unendlich dankbar dafür, dass er nach seinen schrecklichen Erfahrungen nach Deutschland, das Land, dessen Literatur er liebte, zurückgekehrt ist und unser Land bereichert hat.
Dass Marcel Reich-Ranicki Jude war und das Warschauer Getto überlebt hat, hat man immer mal wieder gelesen, doch mehr über seine dramatischen Erlebnisse wusste ich nicht, bis zu dem schon genannten Film.
Das Buch ist in fünf Teile bzw. Lebensabschnitte gegliedert, der erste Teil beschäftigt sich mit seiner Kindheit und Jugend in Polen und dann Berlin unter dem Aufstieg des Nationalsozialismus. Doch springt Reich-Ranicki dabei durchaus in der Geschichte nach vorne, wenn es das jeweilige Thema gerade sinnvoll macht, etwa in dem Kapitel über seine Beziehung zu Erich Kästner, das mich sehr bewegt hat und mich gleich dazu veranlasst hat, mir eine Ausgabe des von ihm und seiner Frau Teofila zusammengestellten Gedichtbandes zu besorgen. Im zweiten Teil schildert Reich-Ranicki sein Leben und seine Flucht aus dem Warschauer Getto. Ich muss nicht sagen, dass dieser Teil der bewegendste, erschütterndste ist. Mir kamen öfter die Tränen, etwa als die Abtransporte ins Vernichtungslager Treblinka beschrieben werden, an deren Ende der sofortige Tod stand, auch für Reich-Ranickis Eltern.
In den verbleibenden Teilen geht es um Reich-Ranickis Zeit in Polen, seine Rückkehr nach Deutschland und seine weitere Karriere sowie sein Verhältnis zu verschiedenen Autoren und Kollegen. Ich fand es sehr schlimm, wie Freundschaften dabei zerbrachen, vor allem die Freundschaft zu Walter Jens. Viele Autoren zeichnen sich leider auch durch mangelnde Kritikfähigkeit aus, aber Reich-Ranickis vermeidet Beschuldigungen, äußert sich auch durchaus teilweise positiv über Martin Walser, trotz “Tod eines Kritikers” und seiner Rede im Rahmen des Historikerstreits.
Schockiert hat mich gerade die Geschichte dieses Historikerstreits und Joachim Fests Beteiligung daran. Dessen Hitler-Biografie steht auch bei mir im Regal, wenn ich mich auch noch nicht an das 1200 Seiten starke Werk gewagt habe. (Sie bleibt auch auf meiner Leseliste, denn Reich-Ranicki nennt es ein “in jeder Hinsicht gewichtiges Werk”.) Auch die “Anekdote” über den “dunklen Ehrengast” bei der Veröffentlichung dieses Buchs hat mich schockiert.
Ich kann euch nur empfehlen, diese Autiobiografie eines so faszinierenden Zeitzeugen, wie Reich-Ranicki es war, zu lesen. Man erfährt nicht nur viel über das Leben eines Juden während und nach der Nazidiktatur, sondern auch über viele renommierte deutschsprachige Schriftsteller. Reich-Ranickis Begeisterung für die Literatur, das Theater und die Musik sind einfach mitreißend. Sprachlich bleibt Reich-Ranicki in seiner Autobiografie seinen Prinzipien treu: anspruchsvoll, aber gut und flüssig lesbar.
Auf einer der letzten Seiten beschreibt Marcel Reich-Ranicki, was ihm Willy Brandts Kniefall vor dem Denkmal des Warschauer Gettos bedeutete: “Damals wußte ich, daß ich ihm bis zum Ende meines Lebens dankbar sein werde.” Ich wiederum bin Marcel Reich-Ranicki unendlich dankbar dafür, dass er nach seinen schrecklichen Erfahrungen nach Deutschland, das Land, dessen Literatur er liebte, zurückgekehrt ist und unser Land bereichert hat.
February 11, 2017
- Phê bình luôn là tì nữ của Văn học
- Nhà văn chả hiểu gì mấy về tác phẩm, nên các chàng ấy có nói gì, dùng được thì dùng, không thì vứt (cái chết của tác giả là đây chứ là đâu)
- Có dùng đá ghè vào mồm cũng đừng phê bình văn chương bạn bè, tan nát hết, tan nát hết.
- Chê đứa nào thậm tệ vào rồi thì có ngày mình dính chưởng
- Bất đồng đạo, chia tay nhau sớm cho nỗi đau khỏi thêm dài (văn chương không bắc được cái cầu gì đâu)
Sơ sơ mấy cái gạch đầu dòng trên đây là những bài học mà bản thân tôi vốn nghĩ đã từ lâu, tết này lại được ông giáo hoàng phê bình văn chương Đức Marcel Reich-Ranicki rút ra trong cuốn sách tự thuật hằng hà sa số những câu chuyện văn chương, những cuộc gặp gỡ với các tác giả lớn: “Đời tôi” là một cuốn sách của nhiều dòng chảy, của cuộc sống cá nhân, của đời sống lịch sử châu Âu với nạn diệt chủng người Do thái nửa đầu thế kỷ 20, của đời sống văn học và phê bình Đức và Ba Lan, của những chiêm nghiệm sâu và nhận xét bén của một trong những nhà phê bình văn chương gây ảnh hưởng lớn nhất ở Đức.
“Đời tôi” được chia làm năm phần, theo các mốc thời gian từ 1920 đến 1999, mà có thể phân định một cách không rạch ròi lắm rằng, ba phần đầu, là câu chuyện chi tiết về cuộc đời của Marcel, còn hai phần sau, là nơi tác giả tập trung nhiều hơn vào bản thân như một nhà phê bình. Marcel, một cậu bé “nửa Ba Lan, nửa Đức, và Do thái hoàn toàn”, được gửi sang Berlin học, và “nửa bị lôi kéo, nửa tự sa ngã” bổ chửng vào lòng nàng văn chương, chứng kiến sự trỗi dậy của Đế chế thứ 3, bị tống cổ khỏi Đức về lại Ba Lan, bị quây vào khu ghetto dưới thời phát xít Đức chiếm đóng, may mắn trốn thoát sang lại Đức, ổn định và trở thành nhà phê bình.
Những trang kể chuyện của Reich-Ranicki về đời mình, về mối tình cảm động với người vợ đi cùng năm tháng Tosia, về những năm tháng u ám và chết chóc trong trại tập trung, thiết lập một sợi dây thân thiết với độc giả, phơi bày ra hình ảnh một chàng trai nhạy cảm, luôn say mê sách vở, văn chương, kịch nói và âm nhạc, và rất công bằng trong mọi sự đánh giá về con người xung quanh, dẫu cho là thầy dạy hay bạn học. Lừng lẫy trong những năm tháng định hình nhân cách ấy, là một Reich-Ranicki đúng như độc giả hay nhận xét về nhà phê bình này, một người đọc khủng: những năm tháng tuổi trẻ của ông đã dùng để ngốn sạch sẽ Schiller, Shakepeare, Tolstoy, Dostoyevski, Balzac, Stendhal, Flaubert, Hamsun, Poe, Wilde, Maupassant. (Ông còn kể ra một loạt các bác nữa mà em chỉ nhận được mặt chữ còn thì không biết là ai).
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- Nhà văn chả hiểu gì mấy về tác phẩm, nên các chàng ấy có nói gì, dùng được thì dùng, không thì vứt (cái chết của tác giả là đây chứ là đâu)
- Có dùng đá ghè vào mồm cũng đừng phê bình văn chương bạn bè, tan nát hết, tan nát hết.
- Chê đứa nào thậm tệ vào rồi thì có ngày mình dính chưởng
- Bất đồng đạo, chia tay nhau sớm cho nỗi đau khỏi thêm dài (văn chương không bắc được cái cầu gì đâu)
Sơ sơ mấy cái gạch đầu dòng trên đây là những bài học mà bản thân tôi vốn nghĩ đã từ lâu, tết này lại được ông giáo hoàng phê bình văn chương Đức Marcel Reich-Ranicki rút ra trong cuốn sách tự thuật hằng hà sa số những câu chuyện văn chương, những cuộc gặp gỡ với các tác giả lớn: “Đời tôi” là một cuốn sách của nhiều dòng chảy, của cuộc sống cá nhân, của đời sống lịch sử châu Âu với nạn diệt chủng người Do thái nửa đầu thế kỷ 20, của đời sống văn học và phê bình Đức và Ba Lan, của những chiêm nghiệm sâu và nhận xét bén của một trong những nhà phê bình văn chương gây ảnh hưởng lớn nhất ở Đức.
“Đời tôi” được chia làm năm phần, theo các mốc thời gian từ 1920 đến 1999, mà có thể phân định một cách không rạch ròi lắm rằng, ba phần đầu, là câu chuyện chi tiết về cuộc đời của Marcel, còn hai phần sau, là nơi tác giả tập trung nhiều hơn vào bản thân như một nhà phê bình. Marcel, một cậu bé “nửa Ba Lan, nửa Đức, và Do thái hoàn toàn”, được gửi sang Berlin học, và “nửa bị lôi kéo, nửa tự sa ngã” bổ chửng vào lòng nàng văn chương, chứng kiến sự trỗi dậy của Đế chế thứ 3, bị tống cổ khỏi Đức về lại Ba Lan, bị quây vào khu ghetto dưới thời phát xít Đức chiếm đóng, may mắn trốn thoát sang lại Đức, ổn định và trở thành nhà phê bình.
Những trang kể chuyện của Reich-Ranicki về đời mình, về mối tình cảm động với người vợ đi cùng năm tháng Tosia, về những năm tháng u ám và chết chóc trong trại tập trung, thiết lập một sợi dây thân thiết với độc giả, phơi bày ra hình ảnh một chàng trai nhạy cảm, luôn say mê sách vở, văn chương, kịch nói và âm nhạc, và rất công bằng trong mọi sự đánh giá về con người xung quanh, dẫu cho là thầy dạy hay bạn học. Lừng lẫy trong những năm tháng định hình nhân cách ấy, là một Reich-Ranicki đúng như độc giả hay nhận xét về nhà phê bình này, một người đọc khủng: những năm tháng tuổi trẻ của ông đã dùng để ngốn sạch sẽ Schiller, Shakepeare, Tolstoy, Dostoyevski, Balzac, Stendhal, Flaubert, Hamsun, Poe, Wilde, Maupassant. (Ông còn kể ra một loạt các bác nữa mà em chỉ nhận được mặt chữ còn thì không biết là ai).
https://www.facebook.com/phianhaz/pos...
June 3, 2014
This had been on the back-burner for a while thanks to Clive James's typically over-enthusiastic writeup in Cultural Amnesia. But it was Reich-Ranicki's passing last September that spurred me to find an affordable copy in English, which took some work. I can't think of an analogue for him in any other culture. A germanophone Polish Jew who physically and mentally survived the Warsaw ghetto thanks in no small part to his undying faith in humanism and the German Enlightenment, who then rose to become the pre-eminent literary critic of the BRD and later, united Germany.
It is a work of two halves--his childhood & wartime experiences on the one, and his career on the other. For obvious reasons, this can only result in a decrescendo, but the sum of the individual parts make up for any underlying flaw in structure. The translation is beautiful. I'm told by German friends (and by James) that R-R's German is peerless and a joy to read. For anglophones, there is an endless parade of German writers completely unknown unless you are someone like James or Michael Dirda. His judgments on authors ring true and clear. A great man.
It is a work of two halves--his childhood & wartime experiences on the one, and his career on the other. For obvious reasons, this can only result in a decrescendo, but the sum of the individual parts make up for any underlying flaw in structure. The translation is beautiful. I'm told by German friends (and by James) that R-R's German is peerless and a joy to read. For anglophones, there is an endless parade of German writers completely unknown unless you are someone like James or Michael Dirda. His judgments on authors ring true and clear. A great man.
September 19, 2014
Cuốn sách này nói với tôi hai điều: Thứ nhất, một tình yêu, ở đây là tình yêu văn chương, có thể giúp người ta vượt qua qua những quãng thời gian đọa đày nhất như thế nào; thứ hai, làm một nhà phê bình văn học đích thực nghĩa là thế nào.
Quyển sách này rất có ích cho các nhà văn :)
Quyển sách này rất có ích cho các nhà văn :)
February 8, 2021
Ο Μαρσέλ Ράιχ-Ρανίτσκι, υπήρξε ο πιο δημοφιλής κριτικός λογοτεχνίας της μεταπολεμικής Γερμανίας. Η ενασχόλησή του με την λογοτεχνία ήταν μονομανής, παθιασμένη και ολοκληρωτική.
Όταν το 1999 κυκλοφόρησε η αυτοβιογραφία του, έγινε best-seller. Δικαιολογημένα μιας και το βιβλίο αποτελεί ντοκουμέντο ευρωπαϊκής ιστορίας του εικοστού αιώνα.
Για μένα ήταν πολύ ελκυστικό να παρακολουθώ τη στάση του συγγραφέα προς τη λογοτεχνία και την κριτική, αλλά και μια ζωή ενός διανοούμενου σε έναν αιώνα τόσο συγκλονιστικό για την Ευρώπη. Στο βιβλίο περιγράφεται ο ναζισμός, ο πόλεμος, το γκέτο, ο σταλινισμός … όπως τα βίωσε ένας άνθρωπος που ενδιαφέρεται κυρίως για τη λογοτεχνία, που όλες οι βασικές επιλογές στη ζωή του έχουν αυτή ως κίνητρο και προορισμό.
Γιος πολωνογερμανικής οικογένειας έζησε στο Βερολίνο από τα οχτώ μέχρι τα δεκαοχτώ του χρόνια, όπου δανείστηκε και διάβασε δεκάδες τόμους βιβλίων από τις δημόσιες βιβλιοθήκες. Αυτά τα έργα ήταν σε θέση λίγο χρόνια αργότερα να τα ανακαλέσει και να τα ανασκευάσει, κάποιες φορές προκειμένου να παραμείνει ζωντανός στο γκέτο της Βαρσοβίας.
Όλες οι επιλογές που έκανε στη ζωή του τον έφερναν όλο και πιο κοντά στη λογοτεχνία. Ζούσε πάντα στον αστερισμό της, εκείνη ήταν ένα μόνιμο συστατικό της ύπαρξής του.
Ως κριτικό, τον συνόδευε η φήμη ότι οι αξιολογήσεις του είχαν να κάνουν περισσότερο με τις προσωπικές του προτιμήσεις, παρά με μια αποστασιοποιημένη κριτική λογοτεχνίας. Είχε το παρατσούκλι ο «εκτελεστής» και αλίμονο σε όποιον προκαλούσε τη μήνη του. Κάποια από αυτά έχω την αίσθηση ότι ανήκουν στη μυθολογία που τον συνοδεύει. Διαβάζοντας το βιβλίο, αναδύεται ένας άνθρωπος με αποστασιοποιημένο και συγχρόνως παθιασμένο χαρακτήρα ως προς τη δουλειά του. Με λόγο μεστό και συνέπεια προσπαθεί να είναι αντικειμενικός και να μην υποκύπτει στις κάθε είδους σειρήνες και παγίδες της δουλειάς του. «Είχα ζήλο, ανήκουστο ζήλο. Σχεδόν ποτέ δεν είχα ένα ελεύθερο Σαββατοκύριακο. Μήπως το πάθος μου είχε να κάνει με την αποθυμιά για μια πατρίδα; Σίγουρα … αλλά αν θέλω να είμαι τελείως ειλικρινής πίσω από την εργασιομανία μου, δεν υπήρχε τίποτε άλλο παρά η απόλαυση που μου επιφύλασσε καθημερινά η εργασία μου.»
Όταν το 1999 κυκλοφόρησε η αυτοβιογραφία του, έγινε best-seller. Δικαιολογημένα μιας και το βιβλίο αποτελεί ντοκουμέντο ευρωπαϊκής ιστορίας του εικοστού αιώνα.
Για μένα ήταν πολύ ελκυστικό να παρακολουθώ τη στάση του συγγραφέα προς τη λογοτεχνία και την κριτική, αλλά και μια ζωή ενός διανοούμενου σε έναν αιώνα τόσο συγκλονιστικό για την Ευρώπη. Στο βιβλίο περιγράφεται ο ναζισμός, ο πόλεμος, το γκέτο, ο σταλινισμός … όπως τα βίωσε ένας άνθρωπος που ενδιαφέρεται κυρίως για τη λογοτεχνία, που όλες οι βασικές επιλογές στη ζωή του έχουν αυτή ως κίνητρο και προορισμό.
Γιος πολωνογερμανικής οικογένειας έζησε στο Βερολίνο από τα οχτώ μέχρι τα δεκαοχτώ του χρόνια, όπου δανείστηκε και διάβασε δεκάδες τόμους βιβλίων από τις δημόσιες βιβλιοθήκες. Αυτά τα έργα ήταν σε θέση λίγο χρόνια αργότερα να τα ανακαλέσει και να τα ανασκευάσει, κάποιες φορές προκειμένου να παραμείνει ζωντανός στο γκέτο της Βαρσοβίας.
Όλες οι επιλογές που έκανε στη ζωή του τον έφερναν όλο και πιο κοντά στη λογοτεχνία. Ζούσε πάντα στον αστερισμό της, εκείνη ήταν ένα μόνιμο συστατικό της ύπαρξής του.
Ως κριτικό, τον συνόδευε η φήμη ότι οι αξιολογήσεις του είχαν να κάνουν περισσότερο με τις προσωπικές του προτιμήσεις, παρά με μια αποστασιοποιημένη κριτική λογοτεχνίας. Είχε το παρατσούκλι ο «εκτελεστής» και αλίμονο σε όποιον προκαλούσε τη μήνη του. Κάποια από αυτά έχω την αίσθηση ότι ανήκουν στη μυθολογία που τον συνοδεύει. Διαβάζοντας το βιβλίο, αναδύεται ένας άνθρωπος με αποστασιοποιημένο και συγχρόνως παθιασμένο χαρακτήρα ως προς τη δουλειά του. Με λόγο μεστό και συνέπεια προσπαθεί να είναι αντικειμενικός και να μην υποκύπτει στις κάθε είδους σειρήνες και παγίδες της δουλειάς του. «Είχα ζήλο, ανήκουστο ζήλο. Σχεδόν ποτέ δεν είχα ένα ελεύθερο Σαββατοκύριακο. Μήπως το πάθος μου είχε να κάνει με την αποθυμιά για μια πατρίδα; Σίγουρα … αλλά αν θέλω να είμαι τελείως ειλικρινής πίσω από την εργασιομανία μου, δεν υπήρχε τίποτε άλλο παρά η απόλαυση που μου επιφύλασσε καθημερινά η εργασία μου.»
April 10, 2024
Ich habe mir immer die Frage gestellt, warum Marcel Reich-Ranicki und seine Frau Tosia 1958 nach Deutschland zurückkehrten. Nur wenige Jahre zuvor überlebten beide denkbar knapp das Warschauer Ghetto und weite Teile ihrer Familien wurden von den Nationalsoz1alisten ermordet. Wäre es da nicht erwartbar gewesen, diesem Land für immer abzuschwören? Dass Reich-Ranicki dennoch zurückkehrte und später zum bedeutendsten Literaturkritiker der Bundesrepublik aufstieg, gehört für mich deswegen zu einem der schönsten Werdegängen der jüngeren deutschen Geschichte.
Im Fokus von Reich-Ranickis Autobiografie „Mein Leben“ steht zunächst vor allem seine Kindheit, die Berliner Jahre, das Überleben im Nationalsoz1alisten sowie die Nachkriegsjahre in Polen, die rund 2/3 der 550 Seiten ausmachen. Stringent und chronologisch werden diese Stationen von ihm nacherzählt, wobei Reich-Ranicki auch hier schon immer wieder Betrachtungen zur deutschen Literatur einfließen lässt, was definitiv eine der Stärken dieses Buches ist. Im letzten Drittel wird es insgesamt anekdotenhafter und die biografischen Schilderungen spielen eine geringere Rolle, während Einlassungen zu einzelnen Schriftstellern, Werken oder zur Gesellschaft im Allgemeinen in den Vordergrund rücken.
Überraschend ausführlich äußert sich Reich-Ranicki beispielsweise zum Historikerstreit um Ernst Nolte sowie zu seinem Zerwürfnis mit FAZ-Herausgeber Joachim Fest, weswegen seine Autobiografie für mich auch eine wertvolle, jüdische Perspektive auf die Geistesgeschichte der Nachkriegszeit darstellt. Anders als man es vielleicht erwarten würde, ist „Mein Leben“ aber überwiegend kein harter Tobak und auch nicht sperrig, sondern vielmehr eingängig geschrieben – sicherlich ein Grund, warum dieses Buch ein Bestseller wurde.
Marcel Reich-Ranickis Leben zeigt, wie stark die Liebe zur deutschen Kultur aufgeprägt sein kann. Deutschland hat ihm alles genommen und dennoch kehrte er zurück. Wer sich für diese bemerkenswerte Lebensgeschichte interessiert, findet in „Mein Leben“ eine mehr als geeignete Lektüre
Review auf Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/C5DNQLYtIU3/
Im Fokus von Reich-Ranickis Autobiografie „Mein Leben“ steht zunächst vor allem seine Kindheit, die Berliner Jahre, das Überleben im Nationalsoz1alisten sowie die Nachkriegsjahre in Polen, die rund 2/3 der 550 Seiten ausmachen. Stringent und chronologisch werden diese Stationen von ihm nacherzählt, wobei Reich-Ranicki auch hier schon immer wieder Betrachtungen zur deutschen Literatur einfließen lässt, was definitiv eine der Stärken dieses Buches ist. Im letzten Drittel wird es insgesamt anekdotenhafter und die biografischen Schilderungen spielen eine geringere Rolle, während Einlassungen zu einzelnen Schriftstellern, Werken oder zur Gesellschaft im Allgemeinen in den Vordergrund rücken.
Überraschend ausführlich äußert sich Reich-Ranicki beispielsweise zum Historikerstreit um Ernst Nolte sowie zu seinem Zerwürfnis mit FAZ-Herausgeber Joachim Fest, weswegen seine Autobiografie für mich auch eine wertvolle, jüdische Perspektive auf die Geistesgeschichte der Nachkriegszeit darstellt. Anders als man es vielleicht erwarten würde, ist „Mein Leben“ aber überwiegend kein harter Tobak und auch nicht sperrig, sondern vielmehr eingängig geschrieben – sicherlich ein Grund, warum dieses Buch ein Bestseller wurde.
Marcel Reich-Ranickis Leben zeigt, wie stark die Liebe zur deutschen Kultur aufgeprägt sein kann. Deutschland hat ihm alles genommen und dennoch kehrte er zurück. Wer sich für diese bemerkenswerte Lebensgeschichte interessiert, findet in „Mein Leben“ eine mehr als geeignete Lektüre
Review auf Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/C5DNQLYtIU3/
auf-pause
December 10, 2017
"Als wir 1988 im Zweiten Deutschen Fernsehen das "Literarische Quartett" vorbereiteten, fragte man mich, welche Musik ich mir für den Vorspann und den Abspann wünsche. Ich bat um die ersten Takte des Allegro molto aus Beethovens Quartett Opus 59, Nr. 3, C-Dur, das im Getto vom Streichorchester besonders oft und besonders gut aufgeführt wurde. Wann immer ich beim "Literarischen Quartett" diese Takte von Beethoven höre, denke ich an die Musiker, die sie im Getto gespielt haben. Sie wurden alle vergast."
Das Wort "Flitterwochen" kommt, wie uns die Wörterbücher belehren, vom mittelhochdeutschen Verbum "vlittern", welches soviel bedeutet wie "flüstern", "kichern" oder "liebkosen". Wie war es damit bei uns bestellt? Eine Hochzeitsreise haben wir nicht gemacht, sie blieb uns, Tosia und mir, erspart - sie hätte ja nur ein einziges Ziel haben können: die Gaskammer. Aber "Flitterwochen" - das ist ja ein zeitlicher Begriff, also muss es diese Wochen gegeben haben. In der Tat, es hat sie gegeben, nur gehören sie zu den schlimmsten, den schrecklichsten unseres Lebens."
Versteckt im Haus ihrer polnischen Retter Genia und Bolek (zu deren Tochter sie Jahrzehnte Kontakt hatten) erleben MRR und Tosia die Befreiung Polens durch die Rote Armee, die in kaum besseren Zustand ist:
"Die siegreiche Rote Armee war in beklagenswertem Zustand. Die Soldaten waren übermüdet und ungenügend versorgt. Ihre Uniformen sahen oft jämmerlich aus. Die Fleischkonserven, die sie erhielten, stammten aus den Vereinigten Staaten oder aus Kanada. Kein Soldat verstand die englische Aufschrift auf den Dosen: Sie warten vor dem Genuß dieser Konserven. Denn sie waren nicht für Menschen, sondern für das Vieh bestimmt."
Auf einem Lastwagen Richtung Lublin werden MRR und Tosia mitgenommen.
"Sie sind wohl Jurist?" So heruntergekommen ich war, etwas war offensichtlich geblieben und hatte ihn zu seiner Vermutung veranlaßt: Die Sprache - oder vielleicht die logische Argumentation. Mein Alter schätzte er auf knapp fünfzig. Ich war damals 24."
Das Wort "Flitterwochen" kommt, wie uns die Wörterbücher belehren, vom mittelhochdeutschen Verbum "vlittern", welches soviel bedeutet wie "flüstern", "kichern" oder "liebkosen". Wie war es damit bei uns bestellt? Eine Hochzeitsreise haben wir nicht gemacht, sie blieb uns, Tosia und mir, erspart - sie hätte ja nur ein einziges Ziel haben können: die Gaskammer. Aber "Flitterwochen" - das ist ja ein zeitlicher Begriff, also muss es diese Wochen gegeben haben. In der Tat, es hat sie gegeben, nur gehören sie zu den schlimmsten, den schrecklichsten unseres Lebens."
Versteckt im Haus ihrer polnischen Retter Genia und Bolek (zu deren Tochter sie Jahrzehnte Kontakt hatten) erleben MRR und Tosia die Befreiung Polens durch die Rote Armee, die in kaum besseren Zustand ist:
"Die siegreiche Rote Armee war in beklagenswertem Zustand. Die Soldaten waren übermüdet und ungenügend versorgt. Ihre Uniformen sahen oft jämmerlich aus. Die Fleischkonserven, die sie erhielten, stammten aus den Vereinigten Staaten oder aus Kanada. Kein Soldat verstand die englische Aufschrift auf den Dosen: Sie warten vor dem Genuß dieser Konserven. Denn sie waren nicht für Menschen, sondern für das Vieh bestimmt."
Auf einem Lastwagen Richtung Lublin werden MRR und Tosia mitgenommen.
"Sie sind wohl Jurist?" So heruntergekommen ich war, etwas war offensichtlich geblieben und hatte ihn zu seiner Vermutung veranlaßt: Die Sprache - oder vielleicht die logische Argumentation. Mein Alter schätzte er auf knapp fünfzig. Ich war damals 24."
March 3, 2023
Although I still tend to think that Marcel Reich-Ranicki was as a critic and analyser, as an interpreter of German literature (and in particular of 20th century German literature) often more than a bit too arrogant and too "full of himself" for my own and personal liking and tastes (and that I really do have major issues with how many of Reich-Ranicki's fan boys/girls seemed and still seem to strongly believe he somehow could do not wrong and that Marcel Reich-Ranicki's takes and attitudes regarding and towards German literature and actually concerning anything literary in general were and are somehow akin to something almost Biblical in proportion and scope and as such equally above and beyond any and all criticism), I do have to say that his autobiography, that Marcel Reich-Ranicki's 1999 Mein Leben has been very much and appreciatively readable, emotionally engaging, and with most definitely and certainly, the parts of Mein Leben that focus on and present Reich-Ranicki's life during WWII, during the Third Reich, being heartbreaking, infuriating and painfully uncomfortable, a moving, a proverbial major rollercoaster ride of emotions for me personally.
And that Marcel Reich-Ranicki with Mein Leben lets us as readers know what life was like for him and his as a Jew during WWII (in Poland) clearly, succinctly, but also with a deceptive deepness of feeling and gracefulness, and not to mention that considering how Reich-Ranicki does not in Mein Leben attempt to in any manner shield his readers (and first and foremost his German language readers of course) from the painful and horrible truth of the matter that he and his family majorly suffered under the Nazis (like many Jews of course, but for me, every tale of the Holocaust is special, is important and needs telling), for me, I am both immensely humbled and majorly full of respect that in spite of the Holocaust (which Marcel Reich-Ranicki himself was very lucky to survive but with both his parents and his brother being slaughtered by Nazis), Reich-Ranicki after WWII still decided to choose German literature as his passion and as his career, that Marcel Reich-Ranicki was both willing and also able to separate German literature and German culture from Nazism and to not make everything about his life and his times about Nazism either, yes, this is indeed wonderful and delightful (and with the first parts of Mein Leben definitely but also necessarily and importantly making me as a German feel not only guilty but also very happy to have read Mein Leben because it certainly has made me understand, appreciate and even rather like and enjoy Marcel Reich-Ranicki as a person and bien sûr also as a Holocaust survivor).
But to be entirely honest and truthful, later parts of Mein Leben, they do kind of (and unfortunately) drift more than a bit into a name (mostly German author based) and literary terms dropping mode. And indeed, the above certainly (and also rather obviously, unsurprisingly) shows and portrays Marcel Reich-Ranicki's tendencies towards academic and intellectual arrogance regarding especially German literature and also demonstrates for me why I never really did enjoy watching Reich-Ranicki's Das Literarische Quartett on television all that much, that I very much and indeed often found much of Das Literarische Quartett in particular rather frustratingly annoying and equally so how often Marcel Reich-Ranicki was boastful, rude and majorly narcissistic hugely uncomfortable and rather problematic as well as occasionally downright infuriating, that basically, for Reich-Ranicki only HIS stance and HIS philosophies regarding German literature and German authors seemed to count and woe to anyone who might dare to disagree (and I guess I am rather frustrated but also not really all that surprised how Mein Leben not only shows Marcel Reich-Ranicki as a literature snob but that he equally was obviously also rather majorly proud of this and totally stood by and defended this as well).
And finally, even though reading Mein Leben, even though perusing Reich-Ranicki's autobiography definitely demonstrates that the author's (to and for me) quite annoying and aggravating arrogance towards and about German literature and his my way or the proverbial highway stance obviously was a huge and all encompassing personality trait (and something that I have always despised and will always despise), I have definitely and totally enjoyed reading Mein Leben and that Marcel Reich-Ranicki's experiences during the Holocaust and that even with all this trauma, he still loved German literature and culture so much as to make them his life and his career, yes, this not only fills me with immense and grateful respect, it also makes me like and appreciate Marcel Reich-Ranicki as a person and to no longer only consider him as the so-called Literaturpabst, as the Pope of German literature only concerned with always proverbially tooting his own horn so to speak.
EDITED TO ADD: And I also have not read the English translation of Mein Leben, so no, I do not really in any manner feel qualified to be making comments regarding Ewald Osers' translation and how The Author Of Himself: The Life Of Marcel Reich-Ranicki corresponds both thematically and stylistically to Marcel Reich-Ranicki's original German text. But I do hope that Ewald Osers has made The Author of Himself: The Life of Marcel Reich-Ranicki as much as possible into an actual translation and has not instead created an adaptation of Mein Leben, that Osers has kept Reich-Ranicki's text thematically and content wise intact (as I really do tend to have major issues with translations that are not this and translators who add and/or leave out too much, as that always at least to and for me feels rather insulting to the original author).
And that Marcel Reich-Ranicki with Mein Leben lets us as readers know what life was like for him and his as a Jew during WWII (in Poland) clearly, succinctly, but also with a deceptive deepness of feeling and gracefulness, and not to mention that considering how Reich-Ranicki does not in Mein Leben attempt to in any manner shield his readers (and first and foremost his German language readers of course) from the painful and horrible truth of the matter that he and his family majorly suffered under the Nazis (like many Jews of course, but for me, every tale of the Holocaust is special, is important and needs telling), for me, I am both immensely humbled and majorly full of respect that in spite of the Holocaust (which Marcel Reich-Ranicki himself was very lucky to survive but with both his parents and his brother being slaughtered by Nazis), Reich-Ranicki after WWII still decided to choose German literature as his passion and as his career, that Marcel Reich-Ranicki was both willing and also able to separate German literature and German culture from Nazism and to not make everything about his life and his times about Nazism either, yes, this is indeed wonderful and delightful (and with the first parts of Mein Leben definitely but also necessarily and importantly making me as a German feel not only guilty but also very happy to have read Mein Leben because it certainly has made me understand, appreciate and even rather like and enjoy Marcel Reich-Ranicki as a person and bien sûr also as a Holocaust survivor).
But to be entirely honest and truthful, later parts of Mein Leben, they do kind of (and unfortunately) drift more than a bit into a name (mostly German author based) and literary terms dropping mode. And indeed, the above certainly (and also rather obviously, unsurprisingly) shows and portrays Marcel Reich-Ranicki's tendencies towards academic and intellectual arrogance regarding especially German literature and also demonstrates for me why I never really did enjoy watching Reich-Ranicki's Das Literarische Quartett on television all that much, that I very much and indeed often found much of Das Literarische Quartett in particular rather frustratingly annoying and equally so how often Marcel Reich-Ranicki was boastful, rude and majorly narcissistic hugely uncomfortable and rather problematic as well as occasionally downright infuriating, that basically, for Reich-Ranicki only HIS stance and HIS philosophies regarding German literature and German authors seemed to count and woe to anyone who might dare to disagree (and I guess I am rather frustrated but also not really all that surprised how Mein Leben not only shows Marcel Reich-Ranicki as a literature snob but that he equally was obviously also rather majorly proud of this and totally stood by and defended this as well).
And finally, even though reading Mein Leben, even though perusing Reich-Ranicki's autobiography definitely demonstrates that the author's (to and for me) quite annoying and aggravating arrogance towards and about German literature and his my way or the proverbial highway stance obviously was a huge and all encompassing personality trait (and something that I have always despised and will always despise), I have definitely and totally enjoyed reading Mein Leben and that Marcel Reich-Ranicki's experiences during the Holocaust and that even with all this trauma, he still loved German literature and culture so much as to make them his life and his career, yes, this not only fills me with immense and grateful respect, it also makes me like and appreciate Marcel Reich-Ranicki as a person and to no longer only consider him as the so-called Literaturpabst, as the Pope of German literature only concerned with always proverbially tooting his own horn so to speak.
EDITED TO ADD: And I also have not read the English translation of Mein Leben, so no, I do not really in any manner feel qualified to be making comments regarding Ewald Osers' translation and how The Author Of Himself: The Life Of Marcel Reich-Ranicki corresponds both thematically and stylistically to Marcel Reich-Ranicki's original German text. But I do hope that Ewald Osers has made The Author of Himself: The Life of Marcel Reich-Ranicki as much as possible into an actual translation and has not instead created an adaptation of Mein Leben, that Osers has kept Reich-Ranicki's text thematically and content wise intact (as I really do tend to have major issues with translations that are not this and translators who add and/or leave out too much, as that always at least to and for me feels rather insulting to the original author).
December 5, 2016
Kritisiert die Kritik einer Autobiographie das Buch oder den Menschen? Wieviel darf man einer Autobiographie glauben, was kann zwischen den Zeilen gelesen werden und was sollte anderweitig erschlossen werden? Quadriert die Kritik eines Kritikers diese Fragen?
Ich mochte Reich-Ranicki und fand ihn einen der unterhaltsamsten und intelligentesten Moderatoren im deutschen Fernsehen. Vermutlich habe ich Artikel von ihm im Feuilleton der FAZ gelesen, auch wenn ich diesen Teil meist als zu hochgestochen nur überflogen habe. Aber wirklich wahrgenommen habe ich ihn nur über seine Präsenz im TV.
Den schnarrenden Ton hatte ich auch dauerhaft im Ohr während der Lektüre seiner Biographie. Das Buch ist geschrieben, wie er gesprochen hat. Unterhaltsam, auf Wirkung ausgelegt aber immer flüssig und inhaltsreich. Häufig zitiert werden entweder die Kapitel über sein Leben im Dritten Reich oder die Passagen, in denen er über die Liebe zu seiner Frau spricht. Mich hat aber am Meisten angesprochen, wofür er bekannt war. Ein Leben in Büchern, aber auch Theater und Musik - die klassischen Formen der Kultur, insbesondere der Deutschen. Ich bin zu wenig involviert, um seine Kritiken von Autoren und Werken zu hinterfragen. Mich fasziniert aber seine unbedingte Entschlossenheit zur eindeutigen Meinung und Beurteilung, auch seine Bereitschaft, die heute so unpopulären Schubladen aufzuziehen und einzuordnen.
Die Person Reich-Ranicki ist mindestens ebenso faszinierend, aber erschreckt mich ein wenig. Die Egomanie, die er Autoren und Schauspielern unterstellt, muss bei ihm genauso ausgeprägt gewesen sein. Wenn Die Zeit im Nachhinein bekannt gibt, dass sie ihn über ein Jahrzehnt nur als freien Mitarbeiter ohne Teilnahme an Redaktionssitzungen beschäftigt hat, um ihre Redakteure nicht seinem Ego auszusetzen, spricht das Bände. Wer mit 28 Jahren polnischer Konsul in London geworden ist, wer sich ausnahmslosen Erstzugriff auf alle zu besprechenden Bücher einräumen lässt und in schwierigsten Situationen immer auf die Füße und die Leiter nach oben fällt, muss ein ausgeprägtes zielstrebiges Ego haben. Ich kann mir nicht vorstellen, dass der Einsatz von Ellbogen für ihn ein Problem war. Prägung aus der Erfahrung der Verfolgung? Auch die nonchalant eingestreuten Erzählungen seiner Affären zeugen von einem Ego, das sich jenseits gängiger Wertemaßstäbe gesehen und agiert hat.
Ungeachtet dessen sind einige seiner älteren Bücher über deutsche Literatur direkt auf meinem Wunschzettel gelandet. Er war nun mal der Literaturpapst.
Ich mochte Reich-Ranicki und fand ihn einen der unterhaltsamsten und intelligentesten Moderatoren im deutschen Fernsehen. Vermutlich habe ich Artikel von ihm im Feuilleton der FAZ gelesen, auch wenn ich diesen Teil meist als zu hochgestochen nur überflogen habe. Aber wirklich wahrgenommen habe ich ihn nur über seine Präsenz im TV.
Den schnarrenden Ton hatte ich auch dauerhaft im Ohr während der Lektüre seiner Biographie. Das Buch ist geschrieben, wie er gesprochen hat. Unterhaltsam, auf Wirkung ausgelegt aber immer flüssig und inhaltsreich. Häufig zitiert werden entweder die Kapitel über sein Leben im Dritten Reich oder die Passagen, in denen er über die Liebe zu seiner Frau spricht. Mich hat aber am Meisten angesprochen, wofür er bekannt war. Ein Leben in Büchern, aber auch Theater und Musik - die klassischen Formen der Kultur, insbesondere der Deutschen. Ich bin zu wenig involviert, um seine Kritiken von Autoren und Werken zu hinterfragen. Mich fasziniert aber seine unbedingte Entschlossenheit zur eindeutigen Meinung und Beurteilung, auch seine Bereitschaft, die heute so unpopulären Schubladen aufzuziehen und einzuordnen.
Die Person Reich-Ranicki ist mindestens ebenso faszinierend, aber erschreckt mich ein wenig. Die Egomanie, die er Autoren und Schauspielern unterstellt, muss bei ihm genauso ausgeprägt gewesen sein. Wenn Die Zeit im Nachhinein bekannt gibt, dass sie ihn über ein Jahrzehnt nur als freien Mitarbeiter ohne Teilnahme an Redaktionssitzungen beschäftigt hat, um ihre Redakteure nicht seinem Ego auszusetzen, spricht das Bände. Wer mit 28 Jahren polnischer Konsul in London geworden ist, wer sich ausnahmslosen Erstzugriff auf alle zu besprechenden Bücher einräumen lässt und in schwierigsten Situationen immer auf die Füße und die Leiter nach oben fällt, muss ein ausgeprägtes zielstrebiges Ego haben. Ich kann mir nicht vorstellen, dass der Einsatz von Ellbogen für ihn ein Problem war. Prägung aus der Erfahrung der Verfolgung? Auch die nonchalant eingestreuten Erzählungen seiner Affären zeugen von einem Ego, das sich jenseits gängiger Wertemaßstäbe gesehen und agiert hat.
Ungeachtet dessen sind einige seiner älteren Bücher über deutsche Literatur direkt auf meinem Wunschzettel gelandet. Er war nun mal der Literaturpapst.
June 10, 2016
"Em có biết đất nước ấy không
Nơi đại bác đua nhau nở rộ?"
Em có biết nhà phê bình ấy không?
Nhà phê bình nhiệt tình Wiktor Hart ấy đấy?
Người đã thán phục tiếng hát của Marysia Ajzenstadt
bằng lời nhận xét có thể nói là với lòng biết ơn
Rằng đó là tiếng hát chứng tỏ nghệ thuật tột cùng, một sự thành thạo đích thực?
Đó chính là Marcel Ranicki đấy! :D
Nói thật là đọc đoạn nói đến ý này thấy hài hước ghê gớm lắm. Và thích lắm lắm. Kiểu như nếu không đọc Đời tôi thì sẽ không thể biết được nhà phê bình nhiệt tình ấy là ai, không thể biết được ai-trồng-khoai-đất-này! :D
Kiểu giống như đọc blog Nhị Linh thì biết được dịch giả Trần Bạch Lan là ai vậy đó Hahaha.
Nơi đại bác đua nhau nở rộ?"
Em có biết nhà phê bình ấy không?
Nhà phê bình nhiệt tình Wiktor Hart ấy đấy?
Người đã thán phục tiếng hát của Marysia Ajzenstadt
bằng lời nhận xét có thể nói là với lòng biết ơn
Rằng đó là tiếng hát chứng tỏ nghệ thuật tột cùng, một sự thành thạo đích thực?
Đó chính là Marcel Ranicki đấy! :D
Nói thật là đọc đoạn nói đến ý này thấy hài hước ghê gớm lắm. Và thích lắm lắm. Kiểu như nếu không đọc Đời tôi thì sẽ không thể biết được nhà phê bình nhiệt tình ấy là ai, không thể biết được ai-trồng-khoai-đất-này! :D
Kiểu giống như đọc blog Nhị Linh thì biết được dịch giả Trần Bạch Lan là ai vậy đó Hahaha.
May 19, 2018
Ehrlich gesagt, sympathisch ist mir Marcel Reich-Ranicki nicht besonders. Aber sein umfangreiches Wissen der deutschen Literatur ist beachtenswert. Und dennoch, die Mann Familie hat mehr Rückgrat gezeigt, nicht, so mir nichts, dir nichts, nach dem Holocaust nach Deutschland zurückzukehren.
Ich habe vor, mehr von Reich-Ranicki über die deutsche Literatur zu lesen, da er ja wirklich ein Kenner ist und man viel von ihm lernen kann. Auch hat er mir geholfen, zu wissen wo ich eigentlich hingehöre. Ich kann jetzt, dank ihm sagen, wenn mich jemand fragt wo denn meine Heimat ist: meine Heimat ist die Literatur!
Ich habe vor, mehr von Reich-Ranicki über die deutsche Literatur zu lesen, da er ja wirklich ein Kenner ist und man viel von ihm lernen kann. Auch hat er mir geholfen, zu wissen wo ich eigentlich hingehöre. Ich kann jetzt, dank ihm sagen, wenn mich jemand fragt wo denn meine Heimat ist: meine Heimat ist die Literatur!
May 30, 2014
Cũng đã một khoảng thời gian rồi kể từ khi tôi đọc được một cuốn sách tuyệt vời như vậy, một sự kết hợp hoàn hảo giữa một tài năng đích thực và một tấm lòng hết mực với văn chương, giữa một nhà phê bình và một nhà sư phạm. Quả thực cuốn sách này có thể xem là tấm gương để các nhà phê bình và nhà văn cùng soi chiếu bản thân, nó cũng là tài liệu tham khảo đáng quý cho bất cứ ai quan tâm đến tình hình văn học nói chung và phê bình văn học nói riêng ở Việt Nam hiện nay.
April 18, 2014
Kỹ năng kể chuyện của Sheherazade, trí tuệ Do thái, dí dỏm và hài hước, nhận xét tinh tế, quán sát tinh tường, suy nghĩ sắc xảo, am hiểu quá khứ, tất cả đan xen kết hợp duyên dáng và nhuần nhuyễn của một bậc thầy văn chương đã làm cho cuốn sách không chỉ đơn thuần là một pho tự sự mà trở thành một quyển sách về tình yêu, không chỉ là quyển sách tình yêu mà còn là một tác phẩm lịch sử với đầy những biến cố khủng khiếp thương đau, và cũng không hẳn chỉ là một tác phẩm lịch sử, Đời Tôi chính là một tác phẩm văn chương hấp dẫn một cách tuyệt đối.
May 29, 2018
Ein wunderbares Buch...
June 27, 2019
Tôi rất thích cuốn này. Nhưng để nói nhiều hơn, nói sao cho không bỏ sót một mặt nào quan trọng, tôi cảm thấy mình (ít nhất là lúc này) không có khả năng đó. Vì vậy tôi cần phải im lặng. Nên chỉ chép ra một ghi chú riêng, chép lúc đọc đến đoạn thuật lại một câu chuyện mà tác giả nghe được, hoàn toàn không có ngụ ý nào về cả cuốn sách này.
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Chuyện kể có ông Sa Hoàng khi mời một nhà toán học Do thái đến cung điện để trình ra phát minh máy tính của mình. Ông Sa hoàng này băn khoăn không biết chiếc máy tính có đáng tin không, nên được nhà toán học đề nghị hãy làm một phép tính theo cách thông thường. Còn nhà toán học Do thái kia dùng chiếc máy tính. Chỉ một chút, nhà toán học đã hô lên, thần đã xong. Còn ông vua thì còn vật lộn với phép tính mãi. Rồi ông ta nói: "Máy tính tốt, nhưng người Do thái xấu".
Sau này, Marcel cũng chịu đựng một sự xa lánh tương tự từ nhiều người Đức và tờ báo Die Zeit mà ông cộng tác nhiều năm dài.
Văn chương Đức là chủ đề chính của cuốn tự truyện. Cạnh đó cũng có âm nhạc, kịch và thơ. Ai đọc cũng cảm thấy những điều này có ý nghĩa thế nào với nhà phê bình này.
Rồi nghĩ về thái độ của mấy người Đức, một câu nói nảy ra trong tôi, chắc chắn bất công và nặng lời, nhưng cũng chỉ nói ra để châm chọc: "Văn Đức tốt, nhưng người Đức xấu".
Châm chọc vậy, nhưng không quên rằng, còn có những người Đức khác. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zqDS...
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Chuyện kể có ông Sa Hoàng khi mời một nhà toán học Do thái đến cung điện để trình ra phát minh máy tính của mình. Ông Sa hoàng này băn khoăn không biết chiếc máy tính có đáng tin không, nên được nhà toán học đề nghị hãy làm một phép tính theo cách thông thường. Còn nhà toán học Do thái kia dùng chiếc máy tính. Chỉ một chút, nhà toán học đã hô lên, thần đã xong. Còn ông vua thì còn vật lộn với phép tính mãi. Rồi ông ta nói: "Máy tính tốt, nhưng người Do thái xấu".
Sau này, Marcel cũng chịu đựng một sự xa lánh tương tự từ nhiều người Đức và tờ báo Die Zeit mà ông cộng tác nhiều năm dài.
Văn chương Đức là chủ đề chính của cuốn tự truyện. Cạnh đó cũng có âm nhạc, kịch và thơ. Ai đọc cũng cảm thấy những điều này có ý nghĩa thế nào với nhà phê bình này.
Rồi nghĩ về thái độ của mấy người Đức, một câu nói nảy ra trong tôi, chắc chắn bất công và nặng lời, nhưng cũng chỉ nói ra để châm chọc: "Văn Đức tốt, nhưng người Đức xấu".
Châm chọc vậy, nhưng không quên rằng, còn có những người Đức khác. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zqDS...
December 21, 2013
Seine Buchkritiken habe ich geliebt.
Wie gut, dass ein Kritiker das, was er kritisiert, nicht besser können muss, als diejenigen, die er für das, was sie tun, kritisiert (Was für ein Schachtelsatz...).
An vollkommen unpassenden Stellen und völlig aus dem Zusammenhang gerissen beschreibt Reich-Ranicki, weleche Berühmtheiten er wann getroffen hat. Dieses reine Namedropping unterbricht den Lesefluss. Diese Angeberei hat der Autor bei seinem Leben und seinen Fähigkeiten nicht nötig.
Schade.
Der Tod Marcel Reich-Ranickis ist zweifellos ein herber Verlust aber das ist in meinen Augen ein furchtbares Buch!
Wie gut, dass ein Kritiker das, was er kritisiert, nicht besser können muss, als diejenigen, die er für das, was sie tun, kritisiert (Was für ein Schachtelsatz...).
An vollkommen unpassenden Stellen und völlig aus dem Zusammenhang gerissen beschreibt Reich-Ranicki, weleche Berühmtheiten er wann getroffen hat. Dieses reine Namedropping unterbricht den Lesefluss. Diese Angeberei hat der Autor bei seinem Leben und seinen Fähigkeiten nicht nötig.
Schade.
Der Tod Marcel Reich-Ranickis ist zweifellos ein herber Verlust aber das ist in meinen Augen ein furchtbares Buch!
August 15, 2022
Elena S. Danielson 8-14-22
Some notes on Mein Leben by Marcel Reich-Ranicki
Munich: Deutsche Velags-Anstalt, 1999
It feels presumptuous and somewhat recursive to write a review of work by the most influential book reviewer in post-war Germany. Marcel Reich-Ranicki spent his life reading and reviewing German literature. He wrote about writing. And his own writing is intensely engaging and conversational, completely free of academic jargon. And when he writes about his improbable life, as in this autobiography, 565 pages go by very quickly.
He was born into an assimilated Jewish family in a provincial Polish town that only two years earlier had been part of the Russian empire. His first language was Polish, but his mother spoke high German, and the religious Jews in his town spoke Yiddish. Some kind of linguistic magic has been known to happen in these borderlands with a complex mix of German and Slavic groups. There are many examples, Rilke and Kafka writing in German in a sea of Czech speakers. Or Günter Grass in a German enclave surrounded by Polish speakers. Paul Celan also grew up in a multilingual world. We all know from history that the mix is politically volatile, but linguistically it can be a source of unexpected creativity.
Reich-Ranicki already heard the German language and quotations from fine literature from his mother in Poland. Then a financial crisis sent Reich-Ranicki’s family to Berlin for help from wealthier relatives. And in Germany, the boy quickly fell in love with the German language and its literature, classic and modern. And this love affair tragically began just as the National Socialists were starting to take control and make life miserable for the Jewish population.
He tells an anecdote about an encounter in his teens with a young Jewish woman in Berlin in the 1930s whose ambition was to become an actress. He told her his ambition, age 15 or so, was to become a literary critic, a theater and book reviewer for the newspapers. These were two seriously unrealistic Jewish kids on the edge of a precipice, hopeless dreamers with dangerously unrealistic notions. Their chances of survival were, as he says, “microscopic.” Both of their families were largely wiped out by the Nazis. Then after the war is over, R-R miraculously survived and went to the theater. The director of the play brings over the star to meet the critic writing up the show. Actress and critic recognize each other and simultaneously say “no introduction is necessary.” Mein Leben has a number of such intriguing before and after stories.
The description of his day-to-day life in the Warsaw ghetto, after being deported from Germany, is a valuable record of survival against horrendous odds. He would read poetry with a soulmate while people outside were being shot in the streets, rounded up for deportation to Treblinka, and then the total destruction of the city by the German army, followed by the Soviet army moving in. Reich-Ranicki says that reading poetry helped, especially Erich Kästner’s wry satirical verse. Novels, he says, were impossible to read under the pressure of the wartime conditions. I doubt many Jewish intellectuals found comfort in the German language. But Reich-Ranicki is exceptional on many levels. And he definitely found validation in talking with Kästner after the war.
Surviving the Warsaw Ghetto was just the first challenge. Then he had to survive the Soviet occupation of Poland. Both during and after the war he was miraculously resourceful in finding odd jobs to survive, translating was in demand, as was rolling cigarettes. He married his soulmate Tosia (Teofila) in the middle of it all. And their marriage is another kind of miracle. They initially got along with the Soviet occupiers, used their language skills to good advantage. Reich-Ranicki even was hired by the apparatus to go to London as part of an intelligence operation. This part of the story is understandably lacking in detail. But it was there in the relatively orderly British environment that the couple was able to have a child, a son who made his parents extremely proud. (It is quite touching how he never misses an opportunity to explain that his son became a professor of mathematics.) Working for the Soviet-controlled Polish authorities in a secret police organization could not have been easy, and there was the inevitable falling out. He landed on his feet once again and made a meager living using his German language skills and promoting cultural exchange with East Germany, the German Democratic Republic, not a very popular topic in Poland at the time.
In yet another miracle he manages to get to West Germany, the Federal Republic of Germany, and immediately begins writing and publishing book reviews. His course is set. The Germans are determined to rise from the ashes. And German culture is a source of great pride. Reich-Ranicki’s wide-ranging reading with an almost photographic memory for plots and quotations impresses the newspaper editors, and he gets published and paid, writing amid the ruins of Hamburg and Frankfurt for the very best emerging press, Die Welt, Die Zeit, and Die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. As the details of the Holocaust became known, having a Jewish book reviewer help publicize the new German literature was no doubt welcome in intellectual circles. But R-R doesn’t address this possibility. There was still residual anti-Semitism to contend with. He did get on surprisingly well with the post-war authors, having a fish dinner with Günter Grass, and travels with Heinrich Böll.
A repeated motif that emerges from the vignettes in the book is his astonishment that writers are all so very self-absorbed. (And, of course, R-R was himself rather self-absorbed, as well.) And he is also surprised that even the best novelists didn’t seem to understand literature. He concluded that novelists know as much about literature as birds know about ornithology. And he is always offended that authors could be offended by critical reviews. He begins one review by saying he admires the author so much, he still admires him after reading his latest failure of a book. It is all part of his eccentric charm. The so-called “rubble” authors in postwar Germany needed him, as much as he needed them. And he was a key partner in Gruppe 47 that did usher in a phenomenal age of creative literature, something that has faded a bit over time with the ease of a prosperous life.
Not being a native German reader, and not being educated in German schools, I am certain I have missed a great deal in this story. I know just enough to appreciate the many witty allusions woven into the tale. Reich-Ranicki often paraphrases famous quotations in original ways. I am sure I only catch a small portion of the linguistic riches here. The final chapter is a short love-letter to his wife Tosia, whose family was also largely destroyed in the Holocaust. She is somewhat less of a Germanophile than her husband. But the marriage endured against great odds. So while he reads a German novel, she may be reading verse by Polish Jewish poet Julian Tuwim. He ends his autobiography with a tribute to Tosia and a quote from Hofmannsthal about their marriage as a miraculous dream:
Ist ein Traum, kann nicht wirklich sein,
Dass wir zwei beieinander sein.
Some notes on Mein Leben by Marcel Reich-Ranicki
Munich: Deutsche Velags-Anstalt, 1999
It feels presumptuous and somewhat recursive to write a review of work by the most influential book reviewer in post-war Germany. Marcel Reich-Ranicki spent his life reading and reviewing German literature. He wrote about writing. And his own writing is intensely engaging and conversational, completely free of academic jargon. And when he writes about his improbable life, as in this autobiography, 565 pages go by very quickly.
He was born into an assimilated Jewish family in a provincial Polish town that only two years earlier had been part of the Russian empire. His first language was Polish, but his mother spoke high German, and the religious Jews in his town spoke Yiddish. Some kind of linguistic magic has been known to happen in these borderlands with a complex mix of German and Slavic groups. There are many examples, Rilke and Kafka writing in German in a sea of Czech speakers. Or Günter Grass in a German enclave surrounded by Polish speakers. Paul Celan also grew up in a multilingual world. We all know from history that the mix is politically volatile, but linguistically it can be a source of unexpected creativity.
Reich-Ranicki already heard the German language and quotations from fine literature from his mother in Poland. Then a financial crisis sent Reich-Ranicki’s family to Berlin for help from wealthier relatives. And in Germany, the boy quickly fell in love with the German language and its literature, classic and modern. And this love affair tragically began just as the National Socialists were starting to take control and make life miserable for the Jewish population.
He tells an anecdote about an encounter in his teens with a young Jewish woman in Berlin in the 1930s whose ambition was to become an actress. He told her his ambition, age 15 or so, was to become a literary critic, a theater and book reviewer for the newspapers. These were two seriously unrealistic Jewish kids on the edge of a precipice, hopeless dreamers with dangerously unrealistic notions. Their chances of survival were, as he says, “microscopic.” Both of their families were largely wiped out by the Nazis. Then after the war is over, R-R miraculously survived and went to the theater. The director of the play brings over the star to meet the critic writing up the show. Actress and critic recognize each other and simultaneously say “no introduction is necessary.” Mein Leben has a number of such intriguing before and after stories.
The description of his day-to-day life in the Warsaw ghetto, after being deported from Germany, is a valuable record of survival against horrendous odds. He would read poetry with a soulmate while people outside were being shot in the streets, rounded up for deportation to Treblinka, and then the total destruction of the city by the German army, followed by the Soviet army moving in. Reich-Ranicki says that reading poetry helped, especially Erich Kästner’s wry satirical verse. Novels, he says, were impossible to read under the pressure of the wartime conditions. I doubt many Jewish intellectuals found comfort in the German language. But Reich-Ranicki is exceptional on many levels. And he definitely found validation in talking with Kästner after the war.
Surviving the Warsaw Ghetto was just the first challenge. Then he had to survive the Soviet occupation of Poland. Both during and after the war he was miraculously resourceful in finding odd jobs to survive, translating was in demand, as was rolling cigarettes. He married his soulmate Tosia (Teofila) in the middle of it all. And their marriage is another kind of miracle. They initially got along with the Soviet occupiers, used their language skills to good advantage. Reich-Ranicki even was hired by the apparatus to go to London as part of an intelligence operation. This part of the story is understandably lacking in detail. But it was there in the relatively orderly British environment that the couple was able to have a child, a son who made his parents extremely proud. (It is quite touching how he never misses an opportunity to explain that his son became a professor of mathematics.) Working for the Soviet-controlled Polish authorities in a secret police organization could not have been easy, and there was the inevitable falling out. He landed on his feet once again and made a meager living using his German language skills and promoting cultural exchange with East Germany, the German Democratic Republic, not a very popular topic in Poland at the time.
In yet another miracle he manages to get to West Germany, the Federal Republic of Germany, and immediately begins writing and publishing book reviews. His course is set. The Germans are determined to rise from the ashes. And German culture is a source of great pride. Reich-Ranicki’s wide-ranging reading with an almost photographic memory for plots and quotations impresses the newspaper editors, and he gets published and paid, writing amid the ruins of Hamburg and Frankfurt for the very best emerging press, Die Welt, Die Zeit, and Die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. As the details of the Holocaust became known, having a Jewish book reviewer help publicize the new German literature was no doubt welcome in intellectual circles. But R-R doesn’t address this possibility. There was still residual anti-Semitism to contend with. He did get on surprisingly well with the post-war authors, having a fish dinner with Günter Grass, and travels with Heinrich Böll.
A repeated motif that emerges from the vignettes in the book is his astonishment that writers are all so very self-absorbed. (And, of course, R-R was himself rather self-absorbed, as well.) And he is also surprised that even the best novelists didn’t seem to understand literature. He concluded that novelists know as much about literature as birds know about ornithology. And he is always offended that authors could be offended by critical reviews. He begins one review by saying he admires the author so much, he still admires him after reading his latest failure of a book. It is all part of his eccentric charm. The so-called “rubble” authors in postwar Germany needed him, as much as he needed them. And he was a key partner in Gruppe 47 that did usher in a phenomenal age of creative literature, something that has faded a bit over time with the ease of a prosperous life.
Not being a native German reader, and not being educated in German schools, I am certain I have missed a great deal in this story. I know just enough to appreciate the many witty allusions woven into the tale. Reich-Ranicki often paraphrases famous quotations in original ways. I am sure I only catch a small portion of the linguistic riches here. The final chapter is a short love-letter to his wife Tosia, whose family was also largely destroyed in the Holocaust. She is somewhat less of a Germanophile than her husband. But the marriage endured against great odds. So while he reads a German novel, she may be reading verse by Polish Jewish poet Julian Tuwim. He ends his autobiography with a tribute to Tosia and a quote from Hofmannsthal about their marriage as a miraculous dream:
Ist ein Traum, kann nicht wirklich sein,
Dass wir zwei beieinander sein.
March 14, 2022
In der Tat, er kannte keine Heimat, überall war er fremd. Aber ganz einsam war er doch nicht. Denn er lebte stets im Zeichen der Literatur, sie war ein permanenter Bestandteil seines Daseins.
April 7, 2021
Der Meister der Literaturkritik!
Dieses Buch nehme ich gerne an!!!
Dieses Buch nehme ich gerne an!!!
October 2, 2014
If you are not German, then there's a good chance you've never heard of Marcel Reich-Ranicki (pronounced Reich like that thing the Nazis tried to build, Ranicki like "ranitzky"). In Germany, up until his death last year he was the guy for "German high culture" - if there was a controversial new German book, at least one TV-station would interview him. The biggest newspapers put him on the cover when he wrote a more important critique (most famously, this cover:
). With a few others he had a huge weekly TV show in which they argued about new and old books. Like all Germans, I grew up with the guy, at my parents' place there's two of the book collections he put out, each collection a case of about 20 big books with the (to Reich-Ranicki) most important German literature. In 1999 he published his autobiography, and it's great!
From now on spoilers.
Roughly split into two parts, the first one being Marcel Reich-Ranicki's youth in Poland and Berlin, then his internment in the Jewish ghetto in Warschau, how he lost his entire family to Treblinka, married his wife in the ghetto (the story of how he met her - wow) how he escaped with tons of luck, was hidden by a Polish worker, until the Soviet army invaded Poland in 1944 and he was free.
The second part of the book is his short work for the Polish government as a kind of Till Eulenspiegel spy who doesn't know anything about his work and receives no orders, then his disenchantment with Communist Poland, his move to Germany and his rise to become the biggest critic of German literature, publishing articles weekly, being in constant contact with all famous writers of Germany after 1945. He never even went to university, apart from high school, he was completely self-taught. Amazing.
The first part should interest everyone, the detached way he writes about the loss of so many people close to him kills you. The second part is probably only of interest to Germans, or those who are into modern German literature. People like Günter Grass, Anna Seghers (great story about Reich-Ranicki realizing that she didn't understand her own work), Wolfgang Koeppen, Golo Mann, Stefan Fest and more make up the bulk of this part (how cool was Wolfgang Koeppen?), and if these names don't tell you anything, then the second part will bore you.
There is however a great, short anecdote in that part in which Joachim Fest invited Albert Speer ("Hitler's architect" and close associate, free after 15 years of prison) and Reich-Ranicki to the same book release and it's a small miracle Reich-Ranicki didn't murder Speer on the spot. I might have.
Throughout both parts the love for literature and music abounds, full of quotes, so this book is a treat for fans of literature. I read through the 500+ pages in one or two days. Last month a new collection of older essays on German literature was published in Germany, can't wait to read it.
Not recommended for: If you're not into books, you'll probably be bored. But what are you doing on Goodreads then?
). With a few others he had a huge weekly TV show in which they argued about new and old books. Like all Germans, I grew up with the guy, at my parents' place there's two of the book collections he put out, each collection a case of about 20 big books with the (to Reich-Ranicki) most important German literature. In 1999 he published his autobiography, and it's great!
From now on spoilers.
Roughly split into two parts, the first one being Marcel Reich-Ranicki's youth in Poland and Berlin, then his internment in the Jewish ghetto in Warschau, how he lost his entire family to Treblinka, married his wife in the ghetto (the story of how he met her - wow) how he escaped with tons of luck, was hidden by a Polish worker, until the Soviet army invaded Poland in 1944 and he was free.
The second part of the book is his short work for the Polish government as a kind of Till Eulenspiegel spy who doesn't know anything about his work and receives no orders, then his disenchantment with Communist Poland, his move to Germany and his rise to become the biggest critic of German literature, publishing articles weekly, being in constant contact with all famous writers of Germany after 1945. He never even went to university, apart from high school, he was completely self-taught. Amazing.
The first part should interest everyone, the detached way he writes about the loss of so many people close to him kills you. The second part is probably only of interest to Germans, or those who are into modern German literature. People like Günter Grass, Anna Seghers (great story about Reich-Ranicki realizing that she didn't understand her own work), Wolfgang Koeppen, Golo Mann, Stefan Fest and more make up the bulk of this part (how cool was Wolfgang Koeppen?), and if these names don't tell you anything, then the second part will bore you.
There is however a great, short anecdote in that part in which Joachim Fest invited Albert Speer ("Hitler's architect" and close associate, free after 15 years of prison) and Reich-Ranicki to the same book release and it's a small miracle Reich-Ranicki didn't murder Speer on the spot. I might have.
Throughout both parts the love for literature and music abounds, full of quotes, so this book is a treat for fans of literature. I read through the 500+ pages in one or two days. Last month a new collection of older essays on German literature was published in Germany, can't wait to read it.
Not recommended for: If you're not into books, you'll probably be bored. But what are you doing on Goodreads then?
February 14, 2024
Eine der berührendsten Biografien, die ich gelesen habe. Als Literaturkritiker mag man ihn geliebt oder gehasst haben (ich gehöre zu ersteren), aber was für ein Leben, was für eine Persönlichkeit und was für ein enormer Beitrag zum deutschsprachigen Literaturbetrieb!
Seit er nicht mehr lebt, halte ich Ausschau nach einem vergleichbaren Kaliber, aber mir ist klar das wird es so nicht mehr geben. Es gibt auch heute ein paar unterhaltsame Kritiker (z.B. Philip Tingler), aber keinen der das mit einer so fundamentalen Leidenschaft macht wie MRR.
Seit er nicht mehr lebt, halte ich Ausschau nach einem vergleichbaren Kaliber, aber mir ist klar das wird es so nicht mehr geben. Es gibt auch heute ein paar unterhaltsame Kritiker (z.B. Philip Tingler), aber keinen der das mit einer so fundamentalen Leidenschaft macht wie MRR.
July 24, 2015
Cuốn sách này quả thật cho ta thấy một nhà phê bình văn chương thực thụ. Marcel Reich-Ranicki đã có một cuộc đời đầy sóng gió, quá nhiều mất mát, nhưng tình yêu văn chương của ông, đặc biệt là văn học Đức, và vô tận. Một "tham chiếu" nhỏ tới Dostoevsky: cái đẹp sẽ cứu rỗi thế giới.
Một cách khăc khe, nếu bỏ qua vài chương đầu, đây sẽ là cuốn sách 5 sao.
Một cách khăc khe, nếu bỏ qua vài chương đầu, đây sẽ là cuốn sách 5 sao.
January 9, 2024
Ich kannte Marcel Reich-Ranicki kaum als ich das Buch gelesen habe. Nur seine Rede zum Fernsehpreis und einige Teile aus dem literarischen Quartett sind immer wieder zu stetigen Lachern im Freund:innenkreis geworden. Irgendwann wollte ich dann aber mehr über diesen Menschen erfahren, warum weiß ich selber nicht so genau. Ich bin ganz und gar nicht bewandert mit Klassikern der deutschen Literatur. Das Buch, das nach Jahren in 5 Abschnitte geteilt ist, lässt sich meiner Meinung mach in 2 große Abschnitte teilen, die für mich auch unabhängig voneinander funktionieren. Zu Beginn ist es die Erzählungen eines jüdischen Menschen kurz vor und während des 2. Weltkrieges und dann eine Aneinanderreihung anekdotischer Erzählungen zu Treffen mit großen Namen aus der Literaturszene.
Den ersten Teil habe ich mit Schrecken gelesen. Auch wenn man über die Geschichte jüdischer Menschen weiß, ist es extrem mitreißend und bewegen von diesem Leid aus der Perspektive eines Betroffenen Zeitzeugen zu lesen. Die Grausamkeiten nehmen einem tief ein. Es ist dabei spannend, wie die Erzählungen immer wieder mit Verweise auf Kultur, Theater, Literatur, Poesi und Musik gespickt sind.
Der zweite Teil liest sich recht unterhaltsam und angenehm, bevor es gegen Ende nochmal das Thema der Jüd:innen in Deutschland aufnimmt.
Für mich eine spannende Leseerfahrung, die ich gerne und guten Gewissens weiterempfehle.
Den ersten Teil habe ich mit Schrecken gelesen. Auch wenn man über die Geschichte jüdischer Menschen weiß, ist es extrem mitreißend und bewegen von diesem Leid aus der Perspektive eines Betroffenen Zeitzeugen zu lesen. Die Grausamkeiten nehmen einem tief ein. Es ist dabei spannend, wie die Erzählungen immer wieder mit Verweise auf Kultur, Theater, Literatur, Poesi und Musik gespickt sind.
Der zweite Teil liest sich recht unterhaltsam und angenehm, bevor es gegen Ende nochmal das Thema der Jüd:innen in Deutschland aufnimmt.
Für mich eine spannende Leseerfahrung, die ich gerne und guten Gewissens weiterempfehle.
January 4, 2021
Unbedingt zu empfehlen!
Gerade die erste Hälfte des Buches, die M.R.R.s Leben im und die Flucht aus dem Warschauer Ghetto beschreibt, ist als Zeitzeugenbericht in meinen Augen ein absolutes Lese-Muss.
Die zweite Hälfte ist dann eher literaturgeschichtlich geprägt und beschreibt teils etwas langatmig seine Begegnungen mit verschiedenen namhaften Autor*innen, was manchmal ein bisschen in ein name dropping abgedriftet ist. Ich hätte mir hier manchmal mehr Fokus auf sein persönliches Leben gewünscht - z.B. die Beziehung zu seinem Sohn.
Nichtsdestotrotz ist das gesamte Buch ein berührende Bericht über ein außergewöhnliches Leben. Und Reich-Ranicki wird seinem eigenen Anspruch gerecht: Er schreibt absolut verständlich und gut lesbar.
Gerade die erste Hälfte des Buches, die M.R.R.s Leben im und die Flucht aus dem Warschauer Ghetto beschreibt, ist als Zeitzeugenbericht in meinen Augen ein absolutes Lese-Muss.
Die zweite Hälfte ist dann eher literaturgeschichtlich geprägt und beschreibt teils etwas langatmig seine Begegnungen mit verschiedenen namhaften Autor*innen, was manchmal ein bisschen in ein name dropping abgedriftet ist. Ich hätte mir hier manchmal mehr Fokus auf sein persönliches Leben gewünscht - z.B. die Beziehung zu seinem Sohn.
Nichtsdestotrotz ist das gesamte Buch ein berührende Bericht über ein außergewöhnliches Leben. Und Reich-Ranicki wird seinem eigenen Anspruch gerecht: Er schreibt absolut verständlich und gut lesbar.
August 26, 2025
Unheimlich spannende Einblicke über sein Leben im Warschauer Getto und das ambivalente Verhältnis zu Deutschland. Anekdoten über die Begegnungen mit Albert Speer, Ulrike Meinhof oder den Wodkakonsum von Günter Grass sind zutiefst beeindruckend und unterhaltsam, weil auch in einem unnachahmlichen, subtil humorvollen Schreibstil verfasst. Zudem konnte ich mich in meiner gegenwärtigen Lebenssituationen gut mit der des 33 jährigen M. R.-R. identifizieren:
„In materieller Hinsicht ging es uns kümmerlich, denn Tosias Gehalt reichte nicht aus. Wir wohnten in einer Zwei-Zimmer-Wohnung: In einem Zimmer hauste unser Sohn, das andere war unser Eß- und Schlafzimmer und zugleich mein Arbeitszimmer. Übrigens hat uns eine Putzfrau schon nach kurzer Zeit den Dienst verweigert: Sie könne nicht in einem Haushalt tätig sein, in dem die Frau täglich zur Arbeit gehe, der Mann aber immer Zuhause sitze und Romane lese.“
„In materieller Hinsicht ging es uns kümmerlich, denn Tosias Gehalt reichte nicht aus. Wir wohnten in einer Zwei-Zimmer-Wohnung: In einem Zimmer hauste unser Sohn, das andere war unser Eß- und Schlafzimmer und zugleich mein Arbeitszimmer. Übrigens hat uns eine Putzfrau schon nach kurzer Zeit den Dienst verweigert: Sie könne nicht in einem Haushalt tätig sein, in dem die Frau täglich zur Arbeit gehe, der Mann aber immer Zuhause sitze und Romane lese.“
July 26, 2022
Đây là cuốn tự truyện đầu tiên mình đọc. Một cuốn sách hay tuyệt, tác giả không chỉ là một "người đọc" khủng, mà còn là "người viết" chất lượng.
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