German Masquerade
Writings on Politics, Life and Literature in Chaotic Times INTRODUCTION NOTE: An earlier version of this selection was posted in…
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The Cutting Room Floor
Eight outcast and orphaned pieces from the prolific pen of Alfred Döblin “He found production in no way difficult; on…
Read Full PostGerman Masquerade
Döblin’s writings on politics, life and literature are completely unknown to English speaking readers. Yet his non-fiction output was enormous:…
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The Versailles Treaty required Germany to reduce its military to no more than 100,000 men. When the government of the…
Read Full PostConstruction of the epic
What happens then when Homer starts up, when Dante goes through Hell, when Don Quixote sets off on his horse…
Read Full PostTropics – the Myth of the Journey
“We alternate something, we make it different, absurd, upside down, and look, it is still something. We think a thought…
Read Full PostArno Holz Phantasus complete
The poet Arno Holz was born 156 years ago today, on 26 April 1863 in Rastenburg, East Prussia. We…
Read Full PostArno Holz and Phantasus
The first version of Arno Holz’s poem cycle ‘Phantasus’, published in 1898-99, contains 101 short poems, each presenting a scene…
Read Full PostDoeblin’s Eulogy for Arno Holz
In his funeral oration for the poet Arno Holz (1863-1929), Doeblin reveals his admiration for a leading figure…
Read Full Post3 Political Essays 1919
Döblin’s eye-witness accounts of the end of the World War and the stumbling first steps of the Weimar Republic present…
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