Hugo von Hofmannsthal

[Mirabell]

Hofmannsthal was an incredible writer, sometimes more exciting than at others, wrote poetry, plays, essays and prose. I will put a statement on the Conservative Revolution on my blog within the next two weeks, where he was a principal player. Once a member of the Georgekreis, a circle of culturally conservative writers gathering around the luminous master Stefan George, but ever the non-conformist, singular writer, he dropped out early on. Original to the rafters he was accomplished in all he did. I may not subscribe to his political views but as an artist he has few peers in German literature. I always mention him when someone has the idiotic notion that considering political views expressed in writing is new to recent Nobel awards. He was a clear favorite for the Nobel, but Thomas Mann snagged it from him due to his strong political stance after he adjusted his opinion to the changing stream.


The occasion is that I, quite accidentally, came upon the fact that JD McClatchy has published a new edition of selected writings, translated by himself.
http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Difference-Sel...24509750&sr=8-5 (http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Difference-Selected-Writings-Hofmannsthal/dp/0691129096/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224509750&sr=8-5)

Even without finding out the exact contents of the volume, this is highly highly recommended.

[titania7]

Thanks, Mirabell, for starting this new thread. I'm not familiar
with Hofmannsthal. He definitely sounds like a writer worth reading.

I'll look forward to reading your forthcoming remarks on the Conservative Revolution at your blog.

Cordially,
Titania

[nnyhav]

poetry, plays, essays and prose
In that order of merit? I was disappointed by all but the title cut of The Lord Chandos Letter and Other Writings - NYRB Classics (http://www.nybooks.com/shop/product?usca_p=t&product_id=4276) (I opined "There's piquancy to the notion that, in this venue, what he'll be remembered for writing was about an inability to continue writing," and he forsook poetry shortly thereafter); I don't question the competence in his craft, and I realize that Bassompierre is considered exemplary, but it didn't do that much for me. Maybe it's just me.

What's your take on PushkinPress: Hugo von Hofmannsthal: Andreas (http://www.pushkinpress.com/hofmannsthal-andreas.html)? Don't know if the late work however unfinished might be more to my tastes (the nyrb collection includes only one post-Chandos snippet, which I liked better).

[Mirabell]

In that order of merit?

drama, poetry, essays, prose

his poetry is incredibly accomplished but his everyman and elektra and der schwierige (the difficult one?) will never be forgotten.

[Eric]

I read the Chandos, which is blandly entitled Ein Brief, actually, back in the early 1970s, when doing a course on Modernism at UEA. I'm sorry to say I remember nothing about its content and purport.

It is contained in a book of Hoffmanthal's collected essays, published in the Blackwell's German Texts series back in 1955, and edited by Mary Gilbert.

I shall perhaps read the Introduction (some 30+ pages long) again, as I know he is regarded as an important author, but can't for the life of me remember why. As a playwright and librettist in his own right, I suppose, as well as for his essays.

Wiki:

Hugo von Hofmannsthal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_von_Hofmannsthal)

A quote from that article:


Hofmannsthal saw in English culture the ideal setting for the artist. This was because the English simultaneously admired Admiral Nelson and John Milton, both war heroes and poets, while still maintaining a solid national identity. "In [Hofmannsthal?s] view, the division between artist (writer) and man of action (politician, explorer, soldier) does not exist in England. Britain provides her subjects with a common base of energy which functions as equilibrium, a force lacking in fragmented Germany".
Maybe England's changed a bit, since then... I can't see Andrew Motion, with Martin Amis and Zadie Smith at his side, manning the barricades, rifle in hand, or exploring the Amazon Delta (what's left of it) by boat, as Amis declaims poetry by the Georgian poet Dzhugashvili.

[Mirabell]

as Amis declaims poetry by the Georgian poet Dzhugashvili.

cheap shot.

[Mirabell]

The occasion is that I, quite accidentally, came upon the fact that JD McClatchy has published a new edition of selected writings, translated by himself.
http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Difference-Sel...24509750&sr=8-5 (http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Difference-Selected-Writings-Hofmannsthal/dp/0691129096/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224509750&sr=8-5)

Even without finding out the exact contents of the volume, this is highly highly recommended.

...or not.

here is an excellent essay/review by Paul Reitter where you'll learn a lot about Hofmannsthal, Reitter doesn't like the book. Sounds as if he's right.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol...icle6902508.ece (http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article6902508.ece)

[Cleanthess]

Hofmannsthal huh? I tell ya, if you like modern poets like Merrill and want to keep thinkin' they're great and all, then you better stay away from old young Hugo. In Scott Horton's translation (with one line changed):
http://harpers.org/blog/2007/11/hofmannsthals-manche-freilich/

Manche freilich müssen drunten sterben
wo die schweren Ruder der Schiffe streifen,
andere wohnen bei dem Steuer droben,
kennen Vogelflug und die Länder der Sterne.

Many will of course have to die down there
Where the heavy oars of the ships sweep
Others reside above near the helm,
and know birds' flight and sidereal lands.


Many lie always with heavy limbs
At the roots of a life intertwined,
Others have seats prepared for them
With the sibyls, the queens,
And sit there as if at home,
With a giddy head and light hands.
But a shadow falls from those lives
Across and into the others’ lives,
And the light are bound to the heavy
As the air is bound to the earth.
The weariness of peoples quite forgotten
I cannot banish from my eyelids,
Neither can I keep away from my terrified soul
The silent descent of distant stars.
Many fates weave alongside my own,
All are interconnected by a common existence
And my part is more than simply this life’s
Slender flame or narrow lyre.