PAUL CELAN was born Paul Ancel of a Jewish family in Romania in 1920. In 1942 his parents were deported and died in an extermination camp. Celan escaped but was in a labour camp until 1944. In 1948 he settled in Paris, where he took up the study of German literature and became a lecturer at the Ecole Normale Superieur. Paris remained his home until his suicide by drowning in 1970.
Even while they lived, Nelly Sachs and Paul Celan seemed to have
receded into the remoteness of legends. Both poets lived and wrote
outside the borders of the two countries that called themselves
German, indeed they lived outside of German-speaking Europe. Both
were in exile and tormented; they owed their torment to that
'Master from Germany' who condemned people of their kind to 'the
dwellings of death' and 'a grave in the air.' And both had been
saved, of course, but they experienced their salvation as guilt.
The Times (London)"
This is a beautiful book, from the dust cover painting of
Rembrandt's Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, which held special
significance for Sachs, to the sound translation, scrupulous notes,
and dual chronology, revealing intriguing parallels . . . The
correspondence includes lovely Sachs poems and interesting accounts
of their meeting and of contact with other prominent writers of the
time. The introduction and afterword are indispensable, as is the
entire book. Choice"
Even while they lived, Nelly Sachs and Paul Celan seemed to have
receded into the remoteness of legends. Both poets lived and wrote
outside the borders of the two countries that called themselves
German, indeed they lived outside of German-speaking Europe. Both
were in exile and tormented; they owed their torment to that
'Master from Germany' who condemned people of their kind to 'the
dwellings of death' and 'a grave in the air.' And both had been
saved, of course, but they experienced their salvation as guilt.
The Times (London)"
This is a beautiful book, from the dust cover painting of
Rembrandt's Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, which held special
significance for Sachs, to the sound translation, scrupulous notes,
and dual chronology, revealing intriguing parallels . . . The
correspondence includes lovely Sachs poems and interesting accounts
of their meeting and of contact with other prominent writers of the
time. The introduction and afterword are indispensable, as is the
entire book. Choice"
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