El Tirachinas

by Ernst Jünger

Teo y Clamor son compañeros de juegos y estudios ; apenas tienen, no obstante, nada en común. El primero se impone al otro con la natural crueldad adolescente con la que los espíritus fuertes dominan a los más débiles. Clamor es un soñador, un alma contemplativa, temerosa y sensible ; Teo, en cambio, es un jugador que ve la realidad como un campo de fuerzas donde hay que apostar para ganar. Presa del miedo que le inspira el fuerte temperamento de éste, Clamor le sigue en sus correrías en un mundo que le es ajeno, y que tal vez acabe con él… Inevitablemente, el lector se preguntará si estos dos niños extraños no serán como el doble trazo del tirachinas , ese instrumento mitad arma mitad juego que inspira una inquietante peligrosidad.

Genres: Fiction

260 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1973

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

[Juan Pablo Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novela muy inquietante desde sus inicios. Comparte los clásicos elementos de la novela de formación, pero se inmiscuye a explorar la filosofía de Heidegger en temas de arte, personalidad y psique: lo que se descubre y lo que se oculta (¿la luz, el carácter?)Hay todo tipo de personajes y un desfile peculiar de caracteres, donde los dos protagonistas, Teo y Clamor, no son solo los más interesantes sino que llenan de contenido al resto de variopintos: el belicoso y esclavo Buz; el bondadoso (homosexual) profesor de dibujo; el Superus, que es el papá de Teo, inferior y despreciado por su hijo... Y así

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stilistisch überzeugend. Ansonsten...- eher dürftig. Jugenderinnerungen mit viel Atmosphäre.

[Marco Sán Sán]

Un libro flojo, no me cautivo. Tiene sus momentos, líneas puntuales, reveladoras. Pero el conjunto se me hizo largo, pesado.

[Jorge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Críptico e inquietante.

[Mingamarco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prendete un giovane Holden e ficcatelo nella bassa Sassonia (che non so manco dove si trova) di inizio 900.
tutte le sue paure inespresse in una combriccola di bulletti di una sorta di collegio che avrebbero dovuto formare degli uomini di acciaio che si sono trasformate pochi anni più tardi nelle peggiori belve, progenitori dei barbari che ieri hanno tentato di devastare Napoli.
Questo libro è la testimonianza che la sensibilità teutonica è qualcosa che a noi latini manco lontanamente ci assomiglia e la prosa di Junger è fatta della stessa materia. E’ austera, spigolosa, refrattaria, fatta di freddo che forma alla sofferenza il giovane che se va bene è coraggioso, se va male è violento, se va come al protagonista implode.
E’ un romanzo che trasmette tristezza e poca speranza di vie di uscita. Un tempo e una regione dove proprio non mi sarebbe riuscito di sopravvivere, discipline ai limiti del ghetto e un dio severo e cattivo trasposto nelle figure paterne fatte di fatica, poche parole e giustizia fatta di punizioni, per non parlare delle donne disegnate come animali domestici.
tanto per rimanere più immerso, o meglio congelato, nella lettura l’ho letto alle pendici del Monte Bianco sulla sponda di un lago ghiacciato con nella pancia Pino Daniele che mi urlava le note di “chi tene ‘o mare” per scappare il più presto possibile.
Comunque prosa pregiata di un uomo che a leggere su Wikipedia mi è sembrato discutibile, che ha avuto la ventura di vivere anche a Napoli, ma probabilmente non gli è servito.

[Casian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The protagonist in this book is quite uncommon. Clamor who can be defined as an autistic person or as an artist who can see the details but forgets about the whole. The antagonist,Teo, is smarter and more experienced in any way than our protagonist and is even able to make others think that he is a genius. Hardly ever have I read about an antagonist whose purpose is clouded by his desire to do bad things.
On the other hand, Clamor feels sometimes like an empty shell which constantly need to be filled with a sense of safety. He's always scared, but is neither brave nor dares to ask someone for help. Until the end his fate remains unknown even though deep down that his life will start anew in his new family.