Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Die Elixiere der Wissenschaft: Seitenblicke in Poesie und Prosa

Rate this book
Book by Enzensberger, Hans Magnus

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

2 people are currently reading
37 people want to read

About the author

Hans Magnus Enzensberger

310 books165 followers
See also:
Cyrillic: Ханс Магнус Енценсбергер

Hans Magnus Enzensberger was a German author, poet, translator and editor. He had also written under the pseudonym Andreas Thalmayr.

Enzensberger was regarded as one of the literary founding figures of the Federal Republic of Germany and wrote more than 70 books. He was one of the leading authors in the Group 47, and influenced the 1968 West German student movement. He was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize and the Pour Le Mérite, among many others.

He wrote in a sarcastic, ironic tone in many of his poems. For example, the poem "Middle Class Blues" consists of various typicalities of middle class life, with the phrase "we can't complain" repeated several times, and concludes with "what are we waiting for?". Many of his poems also feature themes of civil unrest over economic- and class-based issues. Though primarily a poet and essayist, he also ventured into theatre, film, opera, radio drama, reportage and translation. He wrote novels and several books for children (including The Number Devil, an exploration of mathematics) and was co-author of a book for German as a foreign language, (Die Suche). He often wrote his poems and letters in lower case.

Enzensberger also invented and collaborated in the construction of a machine which automatically composes poems (Landsberger Poesieautomat). This was used during the 2006 Football World Cup to commentate on games.

Tumult, written in 2014, is an autobiographical reflection of his 1960s as a left-wing sympathizer in the Soviet Union and Cuba.

Enzensberger translated Adam Zagajewski, Lars Gustafsson, Pablo Neruda, W. H. Auden and César Vallejo. His own work has been translated into more than 40 languages.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
6 (40%)
4 stars
7 (46%)
3 stars
2 (13%)
2 stars
0 (0%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Profile Image for Javi.
65 reviews
April 24, 2023
Es un libro de una gran erudición y la mayoría de los poemas me han resultado indescifrables. Además, muchos tratan de hazañas de personajes históricos desconocidos para mí por lo que añade más dificultad.
Los ensayos en prosa son buenísimos, desde el relato del CERN, hasta las reflexiones sobre la IA que parecen hechas ayer mismo y no hace 21 años.
43 reviews
February 18, 2024
Libro delizioso che offre uno sguardo inatteso e meraviglioso del connubio tra arti e scienze. Caldamente consigliato a tutti, ma in particolar modo ai letterati spocchiosi e a chi si vanta con gusto di non sapere la matematica o non conoscere tale o tal altra branca della scienza.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.