Cartea ceasului de nisip

by Ernst Jünger

Traducere si prefata de Viorica Niscov. „Cartea ceasului de nisip” este un fermecator si erudit eseu despre istoria intrumentelor de masurare a timpului, cu feluritele lor denumiri, moduri de functionare si utilizari, din Antichitate si pina in zilele noastre. Ea este totodata o meditatie grava asupra duratei si inscrierii in durata a constiintei umane, timpul insusi figurind in calitate de erou al acestei scrieri care reuneste multe dintre temele de reflectie predilecte ale autorului.

Cuprins: Ceasuri si timp • Nisiparnite • Timpul nisiparnitei ca medicament • Noi ceasuri elementare

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Ernst Jünger was a decorated German soldier and author who became famous for his World War I memoir Storm of Steel. The son of a successful businessman and chemist, Jünger rebelled against an affluent upbringing and sought adventure in the Wandervogel, before running away to briefly serve in the French Foreign Legion, an illegal act. Because he escaped prosecution in Germany due to his father's efforts, Junger was able to enlist on the outbreak of war. A fearless leader who admired bravery above all else, he enthusiastically participated in actions in which his units were sometimes virtually annihilated. During an ill-fated German offensive in 1918 Junger's WW1 career ended with the last and most serious of his many woundings, and he was awarded the Pour le Mérite, a rare decoration for one of his rank.

Junger served in World War II as captain in the German Army. Assigned to an administrative position in Paris, he socialized with prominent artists of the day such as Picasso and Jean Cocteau. His early time in France is described in his diary Gärten und Straßen (1942, Gardens and Streets). He was also in charge of executing younger German soldiers who had deserted. In his book Un Allemand à Paris , the writer Gerhard Heller states that he had been interested in learning how a person reacts to death under such circumstances and had a morbid fascination for the subject.

Jünger appears on the fringes of the Stauffenberg bomb plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler (July 20, 1944). He was clearly an inspiration to anti-Nazi conservatives in the German Army, and while in Paris he was close to the old, mostly Prussian, officers who carried out the assassination attempt against Hitler. He was only peripherally involved in the events however, and in the aftermath suffered only dismissal from the army in the summer of 1944, rather than execution.

In the aftermath of WW2 he was treated with some suspicion as a closet Nazi. By the latter stages of the Cold War his unorthodox writings about the impact of materialism in modern society were widely seen as conservative rather than radical nationalist, and his philosophical works came to be highly regarded in mainstream German circles. Junger ended his extremely long life as a honoured establishment figure, although critics continued to charge him with the glorification of war as a transcending experience.

Reviews

[Constantin Vasilescu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Minunat! Un eseu amplu și profund despre timp. Un cuget sclipitor și o scriitură blândă, care se cerne printre pagini întocmai ca nisipul într-o clepsidră. Nota bene: la origini, clepsidra (gr. hoț de apă) era un ceas cu apă, de unde și distincția față de nisiparniță, sursa de inspirație și pretextul cărții. Junger dezvăluie diferența esențială între timpul firesc, teluric, tihnit, profund uman și timpul mecanic, care organizează artificial, impune, tiranizează; dintre timpul liniar, competitiv, care presupune un scop și un final și timpul ciclic, al veșnicelor începuturi.
Dintotdeauna nu am suportat limitele prestabilite de timp atunci când l-am petrecut cu cineva, când am stat în natură sau când m-am jucat (joc izvorât dintr-o nevoie firească, nu sportivă). Acum, abia acum am înțeles pe deplin de ce...

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

La primera parte me ha cautivado y la conclusión (“El reloj de arena como medicamento”) es gloriosa. Una pasada.

[Elena Druță · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like history and are obsessed with watches, this little ”course” it's just for you :)

[Cristian Sirb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un elogiu adus cumpătării și cumpănirii. Ieșirii din constrângerile lumii mecaniciste, din automatismul stilului actual, repetitiv, de a munci și de a trăi.

Revolta contra ceasului abstract, contra bătăilor lui ce sunt de natură a ne subția timpul, grăbindu-l, măsurându-l până la manie, robotizând atât inferioritatea noastră cât și relațiile interumane.

Cartea asta e un alt pas în lateral. O scrutare calmă și erudită a lucrurilor cu adevărat importante (de la întemeierea lumii încoace). Ieșirea din timp - obsesia lui Eliade.

[aida · Rating 5 out of 5]

"La modificación causada por nuestros relojes no podría ser tan significativa si fueran únicamente máquinas que miden el tiempo. Más tajante es el hecho de que sean máquinas que crean tiempo, que producen tiempo."

[Tudor Petcu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Technical book. Though one might think it has sth to do with psychology or philosophy, you couldn t add up more than a couple of pages on that part.

[Maria Sol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo subrayé entero, fascinada con el cerebro de este hombre

[Michel Van Goethem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Le Traité du sablier
by Ernst Jünger