Bottom's Dream discussion

“When an important writer recommends a work to you -- whether by openly naming the title; or by shy=covert use of it (which perhaps is the greater praise) then go right ahead and follow his [sic!, etc] momentous hint ! A man with expertise and taste has done trusty spade-work for you : {pre=reading} and winnowing 1000 volumes of antiquated chaff for you. Not to make grateful use of such a hint would mean my thoughtless=arrogant shoving aside all the precious, irreplaceable hours that a venerable predecessor spent reading for me.” ― Arno Schmidt, Radio Dialogs II

Did you first discover a book/author from reading Schmidt? Or did you get a prior rec confirmed while reading Schmidt? Here's a thread to catalog the INfinite book discovery-ism available from den Meister aus der Heide, Herr Schmidt.

Start with his Radio books ::
Radio Dialogs I: Evening Programs
Radio Dialogs II

One of the if not the book that established German Sci-Fi is the 1897 novel by Kurd Laßwitz called Two Planets. I was glad to hear that AS appreciated this book. It's sort of out-dated, as far as the prose goes, but the story is fascinating [40% in], and you can feel the author's enthusiasm about the topic.

History of the Abderites from Wieland is currently top of my Schmidt-recs, hope to get hold of a copy soon.

Jonathan wrote: "History of the Abderites"

Great, I have this. This goes on a new shelf.

Jonathan wrote: "History of the Abderites from Wieland is currently top of my Schmidt-recs, hope to get hold of a copy soon."

This edition :: History of the Abderites

Nathan "N.R." wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "History of the Abderites from Wieland is currently top of my Schmidt-recs, hope to get hold of a copy soon.""

no wait! There's a 2014 edition?

I just combined the edition from Jonathan with the ones already there (including the German one).

according to google, the only "2014" associated with the Abderites is my reading thereof ::
https://www.google.com/#q=+History+of...

; )

Still trying to verify gr's 2014 entry.....

Publisher's website misspells the title ; lists only the 1993. Which isn't to say that maybe a pb finally was found in 2014...
https://lupress.cas2.lehigh.edu/conte...

3000 pages in 9 volumes (3 vols/book):

Hundert Jahre. 1770-1870. Zeit- und Lebensbilder aus drei Generationen. Band 1-3
Hundert Jahre. 1770-1870. Zeit- und Lebensbilder aus drei Generationen. Band 4-6
Hundert Jahre. 1770-1870. Zeit- und Lebensbilder aus drei Generationen. Band 7-9

from http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/hundert...

Wahrscheinlich wüßten wir nichts von [Oppermann] und hätten vor allem nicht seinen Roman in so wohlfeiler und prächtig gestalteter Ausgabe wieder zur Hand, wenn nicht Arno Schmidt ihm 1959 eine längere Rundfunksendung gewidmet hätte, in der er die "Hundert Jahre" als seltenes deutsches Beispiel des "Politischen Romans" feierte. Arno Schmidt erkannte den eigentlichen Wert des Romans, nämlich das Tableau eines Zeitalters als Geschichte von unten, als Schilderung des Schicksals der Unterdrückten, der Verlierer zu entwerfen.

I'm lazy and let Goggle translate do the job [so expect some gibberish]

Probably we would know nothing about [Oppermann] and would especially his novel at hand, if not Arno Schmidt would not in so cheaply and beautifully designed issue again dedicated to him in 1959 a longer broadcast, in which he described the "One Hundred Years" as a rare German example the "political novel" celebrated. Arno Schmidt recognized the intrinsic value of the novel, namely the tableau of an age to design as a history from below, as a description of the fate of the oppressed, the loser.

Matt wrote: "3000 pages in 9 volumes (3 vols/book):
Hundert Jahre. 1770-1870. Zeit- und Lebensbilder aus drei Generationen. Band 1-3"

And the next para is good too ::
"Marquez' vielgerühmter Roman "Hundert Jahre Einsamkeit" hat also einen würdigen deutschen Vorgänger: Denn auch hier wird ein Jahrhundertprozeß politischen und technischen Fortschritts der medialen und industriellen Emanzipation des Bürgertums an den individuellen Spuren abgelesen, die in den Familienchroniken der kleinen Gemeinde Heustadt überlebten. Man kann natürlich die sprachliche Unoriginalität des Buches und die kompositorischen Mängel bekritteln. Hier schreibt natürlich kein Baumeister der poetischen Form die Literaturgeschichte weiter, hier wird durch Geschichten Geschichte eher montiert: also durch eine uns Heutigen, durch Kino Sozialisierten ja vertraute Form. Und in dieser Hinsicht weiß er seinen Buchstaben eine Kraft zu verleihen, die heute mehr den audiovisuellen Unterhaltungsmedien zukommt: nämlich Droge zu sein, deren Genuß allerdings ohne Reue ist. "
http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/hundert...

Googel=ate'it
"from http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/hundert...
"Marquez 'much vaunted novel "Hundred Years of Solitude" has thus a worthy German predecessor: Because even here the century process political and technical progress of the medial and industrial emancipation of the middle class to the individual tracks will be read, who survived in the family chronicles the small community Heustadt. One can of course criticize the linguistic unoriginality of the book and the compositional defects. Here, of course, does not prescribe a builder of poetic form, the literary history further, here is rather assembled by stories story: So by us today, through cinema socialized so familiar shape. And in this regard, he knows his letters to impart a force that today more audiovisual entertainment media have: namely to be drug whose consumption is, however, no regrets."

This sounds very typical of the kind of monstrous triple=decker Schmidt likes to ausgrab. Not a Jamesian masterpiece.... nichtsdestoweniger!!!

Nathan "N.R." wrote: "This sounds very typical of the kind of monstrous triple=decker Schmidt likes to ausgrab. Not a Jamesian masterpiece.... nichtsdestoweniger!!! "

The "Hundert Jahre" was re-published 1982 by German publisher Zweitausendeins. In fact there's a whole series of books rec'ed by Schmidt. It's called "Haidnische Alterthümer" [sic! for Haid]. Read about it here:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haidnis...

Matt wrote: "The "Hundert Jahre" was re-published 1982 by German publisher Zweitausendeins. In fact there's a whole series of books rec'ed by Schmidt. It's called "Haidnische Alterthümer" [sic! for Haid]. Read about it here:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haidnis..."

That's pretty sweet! I'd like to highlight the
Insel Felsenburg ; a mere 2,686 pages!

Nathan "N.R." wrote: "Insel Felsenburg ; a mere 2,686 pages! ."

By Johann Gottfried Schnabel. For railroaders, this is a Schnabel ::
https://www.google.com/search?q=Schna...

; )

Nathan "N.R." wrote: "That's pretty sweet! I'd like to highlight the
Insel Felsenburg ; a mere 2,686 pages! ."

Most of these books are rather long. Some stamina is required!

I don't advocate Kindle per se, but in this case I do. The three books mentioned from the "Haidnische Alterthümer" are all available for nada on Kindle. So before you buy an expensive hardcover you can check the text for delightfulness [Links to Amazon.COM]

Zwei Planeten
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_nos...

Hundert Jahre
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_nos...

Insel Felsenburg
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_nos...

I read Undine from Fouqué. A nymph.

Fouqué wrote Stevensons Bottle Imp, called ... Galgenmännlein.
Well yes Felsenburg is ok, but not a discovery and Jean Paul neither.
More Niels Klim.

I looked into Vegas Thesaurus but not Bremikers tables.