Klabund (1890–1928)

Originally published in 1922, this is a very subjective selection of highlights from a thousand years of German-language literature. Henschke starts with Charlemagne-era prayers and ends with Great-War-era literatures. During his overview he ticks off plenty of classics and various movements and other zeitgeist-y groupings.

The whole thing took me more than an hour, but the book is very light-hearted and, above all, very opinionated, but in a good way. For instance, Henschke is confident that Martin Luther’s Reformation, while necessary at the time, will in the long run prove to be merely a passing fancy; he also sets aside a whole chapter just to worship Goethe. If you like your literature professors to be vocal about their likes and their dislikes, Henschke would love to tick that box for you.

I’ve come away from this book with a few recommendations, and I think I will be consulting it in the future for more reading tips.… (meer)

This little book doesn't quite live up to its claim to tell you everything you need to know about the history of German literature in an hour (it took me about twice that to read it), but it comes pretty close. It takes you from the early middle ages to 1920 in under a hundred pages, pausing for breath halfway through with an extended discussion of Goethe, but otherwise devoting little more than a paragraph each to the writers discussed. Like Volker Weidermann in Lichtjahre (2006), Klabund is shamelessly subjective in his choices and opinions, but he does make some gestures towards grouping writers into movements and styles and relating them to what is going on in the world around them. A fun little book, and probably a good jumping-off point for exploring the German classics, as long as you remember to take what Klabund tells you with a pinch of salt.… (meer)