30 April 1945
English world rights (Seagull), France (P.O.L.)
Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: Poland (W.A.B.)
The thirtieth of April 1945, a Monday, was the last working day observed in the Third Reich. It is followed by a national holiday and the transfer of what remained of the state to powers which had no control over the week-long no-man’s-land leading up to the surrender. It was a day filled with contradictions and bewildering life events.
The centre of Berlin was consumed by violent conflict, the Red Army occupied the city, Hitler committed suicide. By comparison, Switzerland seemed idyllic. In San Francisco the United Nations were being founded. In his latest book, Alexander Kluge describes local and global events. It is about life in a small town already occupied by US forces, about the rhythm of hairstyles, as well as events happening around the world, including the story of two SS officers stranded on one of the Kerguelen Islands. One question emerges as ubiquitous and unavoidable: What is the appropriate reaction to the total upheaval of the status quo? Martin Heidegger, for instance, in the seclusion of Wildenstein Castle, falls back on the poetry of Hölderlin…
The collective experiences of all the lives turned upside down on the 30th of April 1945 extend into the present day, and looking back, 69 years later, we see our own reflection in those events.
»Uncompromisingly experimental and resistant to the shaping power of narrative. Kluge creates from the fragments of history the chronicle of a single day. ... Interspersed with lyrical interludes by the poet Reinhard Jirgl, Kluge's episodic tapestry allows the reader to appreciate the diverse responses to the imminent collapse of the Reich. ... Kluge's ›mosaic of time‹ shows the endpoint, but also the blossoming of new beginnings.« Times Literary Supplement
»Those familiar with this particular date in history might feel as if they already know the story of the day Hitler committed suicide, but Kluge weaves a tale of all the events large and small that occurred concurrently. From the momentous political occasions to small tragedies, the examination of one single day demonstrates compellingly how the effects of war radiate out from the big players.« World Literature Today
Persons
Alexander Kluge
Alexander Kluge, born in 1932, is the director of numerous films and countless TV broadcasts as well as an author, but: »My books are my most important work.« He has received numerous awards for his oeuvre.
Alexander Kluge, born in 1932, is the director of numerous films and countless TV broadcasts as well as an author, but: »My books are my...
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Sand and Time
»Wisdom is the art of remaining faithful under shifting circumstances«
Anselm Kiefer and Alexander Kluge have been friends for many years – and they share an aesthetic and analytical interest in the deeply human possibility of reliability. But what is reliability?...
English world rights (Seagull)
War Primer 2023
»War is back.« Alexander Kluge begins his latest book with this first of six stations, prompted by a war of aggression that is initially being waged in a European setting, but...
English world rights (Seagull)
The Book of Comments
English world rights (Seagull)
Circus / Commentary
English world rights (Seagull)
Russia Container
Not just in light of a currently contested pipeline but also after centuries of both exchange and rejection, Russia and Germany were and are as far away from each other as they are connected. The...
English world rights (Seagull), Russia (Garage)
World-Changing Rage
Rage and obstinacy are closely related. In the work of Georg Baselitz and Alexander Kluge they are fundamental categories. Rage is dynamic: it can grow and suddenly erupt into flaming protests,...
English world rights (Seagull)
Kong’s Finest Hour
To dissolve theory in concrete stories has been Alexander Kluge’s lifelong approach. To him, there is music in the texture of thoughts, and so with this book, Chronicle of...
Dispatches from Moments of Calm
English world rights (Seagull), Chinese simplex rights (Beijing Imaginist Time Culture)
Anyone Who Utters a Consoling Word Is a Traitor
Alexander Kluge's work has long grappled with the Third Reich and its aftermath, and the extermination of the Jews forms its gravitational center. Kluge is forever reminding us to keep our present...
English world rights (Seagull), Italy (Finis Terrae), Serbia (Kulturni Centar Novog Sada)
Drilling through Hard Boards
English world rights (Seagull), Arabic world rights (Sefsafa)
December
English world rights (Seagull), Chinese simplex rights (Beijing Imaginist Time Culture), France (Diaphanes), Italy (La Grande Illusion), Turkey (Everest)
The Labyrinth of Tender Force
English world rights (Seagull)
Air Raid
Alexander Kluge’s account The Air Raid on Halberstadt on 8 April 1945 first appeared in 1977. Exactly twenty years later, it became one of the most important points of reference...
English world rights (Seagull), France (Diaphanes), Italy (Meltemi), Netherlands (Cossee), Korea (Moonji), Turkey (Ketebe), Israel (Pitom)
Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: Spanish world rights (Machado), Poland (Ossolineum)
Cinema Stories
The 120 stories of this volume are literary essays told in Alexander Kluge's customary short and laconic style. At the same time, they also expose director Kluge's deep fondness for...
Spanish rights Latin America (Caja negra), France (Diaphanes)
Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: Italy (L'Orma), Turkey (Lemis)
The Devil's Blindspot
English world rights (New Directions), France (P.O.L.), Israel (Pitom)
Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: Spanish world rights (Anagrama)
Chronicle of Feelings
Russia (NLO), France (P.O.L.)
Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: English world rights (New Directions), Sweden (Brutus Östling)