888. The Rings of Saturn

The Rings of Saturn
W.G. Sebald
1995

Around 300 pages

Here comes W.G. Sebald again, which means more pictures! Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of travelogues, but Sebald is usually pretty entertaining.

Our narrator is taking a walking tour of Suffolk, so he describes what he sees through a German lens, and connects his travels to history or art. The title is explained early on in the book's epigram and relates to the theme of the novel. As it is likely that Saturn's rings are composed of fragments of a moon that was too close to the planet, the rings exist as a beautiful, almost mythological graveyard. Which really works for this guy's vibe.

I think a lot of Sebald's individualism is lost in translation. As I understand it, his style is vastly different than other German postwar novelists, as he uses old-fashioned and complicated German phrases, which I never would have guessed based on my version.

Anyway, it's still a good novel. I don't think all the digressions were seamless, but that's kind of true to how traveling works. You start some place and end up somewhere completely different.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Published in English in 1998.

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