The Details of Time: Conversations with Ernst Jünger

by Julien Hervier, Joachim Neugroschel (Translator)

These "conversations" are an intense reflection on the major events of the author's life, from a childhood marked by the Dreyfuss Affair and the sinking of the Titanic, to his meetings with such major figures as Heidegger, Borges, Picasso, and Braque. Junger treats ambiguous, sometimes alarming beliefs with rare honesty, affording an absorbing, often haunting look into the mind of one of Europe's most renowned writers. Full of wit and wisdom. The Details of Time is a perfect introduction to Junger's work, as well as a personal testament to a life in which joie de vivre and intellect are inevitably intertwined.

Through widely published throughout the world, Ernst Jünger’s work has, until recently, been unavailable in English. Despite repeated calls by prominent writers such as Susan Sontag, Bruce Chatwin, and George Steiner, Jünger remained largely untranslated until a few years ago when Marsilio, in its Eridanos Library series, issued some of his most important novels, including A Dangerous Encounter, Aladdin’s Problem, and Eumeswil.

Julien Hervier is the French translator of Nietzsche, Heidegger and Hesse, and teaches Comparative Literature at Poitiers University. He is a close friend of Jünger’s and the author of an important study: Two Individuals Against History: Drieu La Rochelle, Ernst Jünger.

Genres: German Literature, Literature, Biography

119 pages, Hardcover

First published April 2, 1986

Reviews

[John Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given the scant resources available on Ernst Jünger in English, this book of interviews with him, which were conducted at the time of his 90th birthday, in 1985, is a welcome addition. One gets a much more personal view of Jünger, and his opinions and ideas, than one does in his books (at one point he even outlines his daily routine), and it could be profitably read alongside the Swedish documentary "102 Years in the Heart of Europe," which is an interview conducted with him shortly before his death and which is available online with English subtitles. However, this book is really only for those who already have some basic familiarity with Jünger's life and work; it is by no means an introduction and certainly not a biography, even though Jünger discusses aspects of his life and work in it. Jünger also ranges over a wide variety of other topics, including German history, the figures of the father and mother in dreams and mythology, travelling, a whole host of books and writers, terrorism, ecology, astrology, the occult, anarchism, and Christianity.

[OSCAR · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contrario a la posterior y y in articulo mortis entrevista hecha al "Anarca" contenida en "Los titanes venideros", aquí Ernst Jünger se explayó y expuso ampliamente sus ocurrencias en materia literaria y sus vivencias históricas. Este hecho condujo, tristemente, a que a ratos uno se perdiera en la prolijidad de detalles expuestos e incluso se aburriera. A mi parecer, aquí el interpelado se mostró abierto y franco, lo cual hace que el texto rezuma no sabiduría pero sí experiencia fructificante.

[Soufiane Chahid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grâce à la connaissance intime que Julien Hervier a de l'oeuvre d'Ernst Jünger, ces entretiens font la lumière sur un écrivain majeur du XXéme siècle. On constate d'ailleurs que le vieux sage n'a rien perdu de sa fougue de jeune soldat de la grande guerre.