Intro was a slog at first–felt like I was back in graduate program for literature–but then was like riding a bike after a couple of pages.
Book reads at a good clip. I’m about halfway done, so I’m tracking for 5/22.
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Just started, should be good for a 5/22 discussion.
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Almost done. On track for 5/22
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About half finished. On track for 5/22!
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Finished the book last night.
Are we thinking a 9pm zoom call again on Friday? Timing works well for this east coaster with 2 younger kids!
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9 pm est is a great time for me at least
9pm est works well! After dinner for the east coast crew and before dinner for those us us on the west! @Zocco can set up zoom?
I’ve tried to dig up some discussion questions to get the conversation going (although we didn’t really need them for last go around). I don’t love the ones I found, but these were the best I could come up with. If people have others or have other topics/questions percolating while reading, feel free to add! (I’ve hidden them below because of spoilers).
Summary
Reading Guide Questions[
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Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
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In what ways can Sebald’s work be said to create a new genre? Do we know whether to take Austerlitz as fact or fiction?
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Why do you suppose Sebald incorporates photographs into his work? To what effect?
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Where does the name Jacques Austerlitz come from? Why do you think Sebald chose it?
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What is the relationship between past and present throughout the book? What tricks does Sebald play with the passage of time? What does Austerlitz have to say on his experience of time?
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What sort of mood does Sebald’s use of language create throughout the novel? How does Sebald’s language function in the same way that character and plot do in a more traditional novel?
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Some critics have called attention to Sebald’s wan sense of humor–a “low-key gallows humor.” What examples of this humor can you find in the book?
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What type of architecture most appeals to Austerlitz? What do you make of this fascination?
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Various animals appear throughout the novel. What does the novel make of the relationships between humans and other creatures, and between all animals–humans included–and their environment? How do animals in the novel orient themselves, and what does it mean, throughout, to become literally dis-oriented?
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What does the novel have to say about the mind’s defenses against great trauma?
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At the novel’s end, Austerlitz tells the narrator of a Jewish cemetery located just behind his house in London, behind a wall, whose existence he’d only discovered during his last days in the city. How does the discovery of the cemetery replicate Austerlitz’s discovery of his heritage, and what does this link suggest about the connection between physical artifacts and the workings of memory? In what way could it be said that this cemetery’s presence in the novel honors the durability of the world of European Jewry that Nazi Germany attempted to expunge?
Edit: The below is a useful timeframe of the events of the book (again, hidden for spoilers)
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The Zoom will go up around 830 p.m. Est on Friday so that people may shuffle in as they like
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I’m ready, finished it yesterday.
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Since the book was your choice I’m considering going with champagne (well…sparking wine…) as the accompanying beverage
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Feel asleep with 7 pages left last night, so just finished this morning. Looking forward to this discussion tonight.
@Sarah Thank you for the questions and timeline.
Unfortunately, I will be unable to make this one. I’ve been pretty swamped with a client eyeing down a recapitalization.
Thanks for setting up, @Sarah & @BeenMacKenzied . I look forward to catching back up on the next go-round.
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bump !
For those that may have missed it, here are some discussion questions I was able to locate. I don’t love these questions but figure they’re a good starting point if needed. Wasn’t a ton of coverage on this book. Funnily enough, when I searched “Austerlitz Sebald Book Club Discussion” this thread came up on the second page of the Google Search!
Looking forward to chatting! Thanks for the great suggestion @BeenMacKenzied
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Finished the book last night, looking forward to it! Thanks for putting this together
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Hey all, so I loved the book & was really looking forward to tonight but my brother came back home for the first time since the pandemic so I’ll be hanging with him tonight.
Bros before bookclub and all that.
But I would definitely be interested in another book if this club keeps going.
Have fun tonight.
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Other thoughts/questions:
- Work of the translator. The descriptions are so rich.
- Process for writing this book?
- No chapters? No natural breaks. Relentless, but yet continuous, the transitions over time/space are not abrupt. Connections by metaphor/theme.
- Use of multiple languages - reasoning?
- Who is the cast in the movie version ?
- Is the word Nazi used at all in entire book? I don’t think so. Reliance upon the reader’s historical framing of WW2.
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Zoom Link:
I’ll put it up if you guys want to come in a little early. Just me in here currently, drinking some pinot noir
Going to bypass the decaf book beverage this time and find a dark beer to nurse. Hope to join soon.
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