Radio Dialogs I

by Arno Schmidt, John E. Woods (Introduction)

A collection of pieces on German, English and American literature by the great German author Arno Schmidt.

380 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

About the author

Arno Schmidt, in full Arno Otto Schmidt, (born January 18, 1914, Hamburg-Hamm, Germany—died June 3, 1979, Celle), novelist, translator, and critic, whose experimental prose established him as the preeminent Modernist of 20th-century German literature.

With roots in both German Romanticism and Expressionism, he attempted to develop modern prose forms that correspond more closely to the workings of the conscious and subconscious mind and to revitalize a literary language that he considered debased by Nazism and war.

The influence of James Joyce and Sigmund Freud are apparent in both a collection of short stories, Kühe in Halbtrauer (1964; Country Matters), and, most especially, in Zettels Traum (1970; Bottom’s Dream)—a three-columned, more than 1,300-page, photo-offset typescript, centring on the mind and works of Poe. It was then that Schmidt developed his theory of “etyms,” the morphemes of language that betray subconscious desires. Two further works on the same grand scale are the “novella-comedy” Die Schule der Atheisten (1972; School for Atheists) and Abend mit Goldrand (1975; Evening Edged in Gold), a dream-scape that has as its focal point Hiëronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights and that has come to be regarded as his finest and most mature work.

Schmidt was a man of vast autodidactic learning and Rabelaisian humour. Though complex and sometimes daunting, his works are enriched by inventive language and imbued with a profound commitment to humanity’s intellectual achievements.

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly disappointed to gather (Woods is a bit vague on the point) from the introduction that Schmidt did not read these himself, but still delighted that people were sitting aloud listening to someone on the radio rant convolutedly about literature.

Great "Prelude," made me eager to continue reading this passionate engagement with literature.

"Nothing is to Small for Me" -- this title speaks to my heart. I probably would have appreciated the essay more if there hadn't been so much unfamiliar poetry, all translated by the same person, which I had a hard time assessing the (de)merits of.

"Wieland" as case study in personal[authorial] development.

"Fifteen" -- All right, all right, I'll read more Tieck, give it a rest already.

"Abu Kital" does not appear to refer to the Karl May work, even though he proceeds to talk about May next. (He mentioned May in relation to Cooper in a prior dialog.) Is this a real book or something Schmidt is making up? Is the "new mysticism" a specific movement or a phrase he coined? I'm confused.

"Angria and Gondal" characterizes the Brontes as "gray". Huh. Well, in the sense that they lived in gray weather. I guess there is a gray-ness of color as I imagine the settings... I'll have to think about this.

"The Triton with the Parasol". Translating Finnegan's Wake into German must have been challenging. Translating the translation back into English - insane. In a fun way.

I don't think I was in the right mood to read this (not enough time, for one thing) and it didn't help that I am minimally familiar with a number of the works under discussion. It was still well-written and I enjoyed most of it, I'd merely be more inclined to recommend it for others who had read all the books in question.

One thing I did not appreciate was Schmidt's misogyny: attractive women are vain cockteases. Unattractive women are failures because they're ugly. The desirable marriage is to a well-off "unassuming girl". No 'intellectual companion,' 'co-worker,' or any of those seductive catchwords so very dangerous to artists. I'm not surprised because I've read Schmidt before, but it is more grating in non-fiction than fiction, where one has the liberty of writing one's characters however one pleases (just as the reader has the freedom to dislike or not-read the book).

Scenes from the Life of a Faun still my favorite Schmidt by a long shot.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amusing, entertaining, enlightening and, at times (particularly in the Bronte piece) actually rather moving.

That there was once a time such things would be beamed into ordinary folks homes makes me feel we have collectively gone wrong somewhere.

[Nathan "N.R." Gaddis]

Nothing quite as much like candy for me as to listen in on one of my Cult Authors talking about their own Cult Authors. Pretty much what Schmidt is up=to in these Radio Dialogues ; these radio performances not so much filling in his audience about what everyone else thinks everyone else ought to know about literature and german literature, but what Arno thinks everyone ought to know about literature.

Let us make the comparison :: take out your Gass essays ; strip them of the Professor of Philosophy ; transmogrify into platonic dialogues ; address folks who don’t spend 100 hours per week in the world of Letters. Something like that ; but Schmidt does his thing like Gass does his thing -- as only each respectively can do.

And what a failure ; apparently English-language readers still don’t read Schmidt. They don’t read much of anything in translation. The failure here is to have produced a third volume of Woods’ englishing ; Green Integer published only two books of these dialogues ;; there were to have been a total of nineteen. Perhaps they will appear when Bottom’s Dream becomes a publishing sensation and English-language readers won’t be able to get their fill of Schmidt-Schmidt-Schmidt.

Dialogues ;; performances. A little bit didactic. But I’ll bet you don’t know much about what Arno knows. Tieck? Wieland? Brockes? Schnabel? Karl May? (“Anyone who admires Schmidt will sooner or later have to deal with the awful fact of Karl May.”) You know the Brontë’s (but do you know about their massive juvenile literary out=put? I didn’t. Angria & Gondal, anyone?) and Joyce.

Let’s just keep this short. I am much begeistert for volume the second.

Let’s enumerate the for-whom of recommendation :: Schmidt=heads of course ; students of romantic literature (Arno’s peculiarity here is paramount for this demographic’s to-read list) ;; readers of essays about literature, like me, who read fictioneers=about=fiction ;;; all Germanistiker und -innen ;; all readers of The Wake* ;; all those nostalgic for the back=in=the=day when radio was literate and even Television had things like Hitchcock= and Twilight=Zones ;; imagine a Gass doing weekly fire=side radio addresses. Screw the internet, srsly.




*Arno’s piece here on The Wake is recommended for both Wake-newbees and Wake-veterans ; nearly as important and while-worthy as Beckett’s thing “Dante... Bruno. Vico... Joyce” in James Joyce/Finnegans Wake: Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress ;; especially nice is his rather charitable airing of several of those most common anti-Wake grievances ;; also, some nice reading tips ;;; although I get a little irritated every time someone says “decode” about reading The Wake ,, grant’d however that there is that moment when “decoding” is kind of necessary. etc. Worth the price of admission.
Let’s say this too :: for you Wake=heads, here is an interesting study -- several Wake passages render’d into German by Herr Schmidt have been back=english’d by Woods (corresponding pagination provided). Schmidt’s is a very early kind of attempt to at least begin thinking about maybe creating at last a readable something or other out of The Wake and into The German. But now The Deutsche=Wake has been performed, so there’s that finally at last.

[Jonfaith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weary of wandering wastelands of letters full of vacuous brainchildren and hidden in pretentious verbal fogs; disgusted with both aesthetic sweet-talkers and grammatical waters of drink; I have resolved: to treat all who have ever written, whether out of love and hate, as alive and ever living ! - - -

As a young adult, I treasured collections of literary essays by Carlos Fuentes and Salman Rushdie. It was such a confirmation to see my opinions about the pantheon confirmed or challenged. It was with a similar nerdy insularity that I plunged into this collection.

It is no surprise but I was unfamiliar with all (save for Karl May) of the German authors which Schmidt explores. That said, I was intrigued and found myself making inquiries and scribbling notes. The tome concludes with forays into the Family Bronte as well as the formidable Wake. I feel enriched on both counts.

[may · Rating 4 out of 5]

Radio Dialogs Roundup:

Q: Is this secondary Schmidt? A: NO! - No Schmidt is secondary.
Absolutely essential Schmidt reading. Opened up a veritable hardware store of doors to Schmidt's texts (and the featured authors). Woods translation - locked=on and knocks it outtath'park once again.

Introduction: indispensable.
Prelude: made me feel warm=fuzzy.
Nothing Is Too Small For Me: did not know who Brockes was - now want to read (some of) him.
Wieland: responsible for my interest in the English translation of his 'History of the Abderites' - if only I could find a well priced copy to read.
Fifteen: bloody hell Tieck wrote a lot.
Abu Kital: very tempted to read Schmidt's very strict Karl May recommendations.
Angria & Gondal: kicked the life back into my interest on (arguably) my county's best.
The Triton With The Parasol: following my recent decision to read The Wake sometime soon, this was an absolute blast to read and would recommend it to all past and future pilgrims of Joyce's baffling bewk.

This collection gets a thumbs up. Volume 2 awaits and already I'm bothered about the lack of a Volume 3 (teased in the intro).