Sebald’s Vision

In a series of close readings, Jacobs perceptively analyzes how W.G. Sebald’s books have represented, and sometimes obscured, the author’s exacting worldview. During Sebald’s relatively brief career (he only published four works of fiction before his death in 2001), he was able to achieve an astonishing amount of his artistic vision for German postwar literature. Jacobs moves chronologically through most of Sebald’s works, starting with the long poem After Nature and then going on to the novels The Emigrants, The Rings of Saturn, and Austerlitz. She also examines his nonfiction and essays, as well as major interviews Sebald gave at several points in his career. Her examination finds that Sebald confronted the horrors of the 20th century indirectly, through citations of paintings, photographs, and other artworks, rather than head on. That being said, Jacobs shows that Sebald did not remain neutral in historical matters, but reserved a strong moral judgment for those who evade the truth. The book does not give much sense of the greater literary or cultural context to Sebald’s work. Nonetheless, it will leave serious readers with plenty to contemplate regarding Sebald’s aesthetic and moral insights. (Sept.)