Austerlitz - W.G. Sebald

Why does time stand eternally still and motionless in one place, and rush headlong by in another? Could we not claim, said Austerlitz, that time itself has been non-concurrent over the centuries and the millenia? It is not long ago, after all, that it began spreading out over everything. And is not human life in many parts of the earth governed to this day less by time than by the weather, and thus by an unquantifiable dimension which disregards linear regularity, does not progress constantly forward but moves in eddies, is marked by episodes of congestion and irruption, recurs in ever-changing form, and evolves in no one knows what direction? Even in a metropolis ruled by time like London, said Austerlitz, it is still possible to be outside time, a state of affairs which until recently was almost as common in backward and forgotten areas of our own country as it use to be in the undiscovered continents overseas.

Sebald is a most fascinating writer. This book takes the reader into a timeless, surreal environment where one man tells another about his life and self-discovery. I read Sebald with an amusement that is strangely comforting knowing that people examine life from his unusual perspective. His writing is rich and complex. This book, like others of his, includes many odd photographs that are as intriguing as the writing. The photos look as if they were taken from old boxes that would be meaningless to anyone other than the photographer who was simply documenting things he had seen. But put in the context of the writing, they too become oddly captivating. Sebald meanders off into science and history unearthing facts and ideas about things you either never knew or had no idea you wanted to know--such as a biological study of moths.

Not for everybody, as many will likely find Sebald's writing too slow paced and lacking in a typical storyline or format. I find myself amongst those that love Sebald and will read more of his work.