''On the Natural History of Destruction'' is a 1999 book by the German writer W. G. Sebald. Its original German title is ''Luftkrieg und Literatur'', which means "Air war and literature". It consists of essays about literature and writers, through which Sebald discusses the German processing of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

* "Air War and Literature", on the meagre portrayal in culture of the bombings of German cities during

* "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea", on

Alfred Andersch Alfred Hellmuth Andersch (; 4 February 1914 – 21 February 1980) was a German writer, publisher, and radio editor. The son of a conservative East Prussian army officer, he was born in Munich, Germany and died in Berzona, Ticino, Switzerland. Ma ...

* "Against the Irreversible", on Jean Améry * "The Remorse of the Heart", on the works of

Peter Weiss Peter Ulrich Weiss (8 November 1916 – 10 May 1982) was a German writer, painter, graphic artist, and experimental filmmaker of adopted Swedish nationality. He is particularly known for his plays ''Marat/Sade'' and ''The Investigation'' and hi ...

Publication

The book was published in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

in 1999 through

Carl Hanser Verlag The Carl Hanser Verlag was founded in 1928 by Carl Hanser in Munich and is one of the few medium-sized publishing companies in the German-speaking area still owned by the founding family. History From the very beginning, the publishing house h ...

. The German edition features the long titular essay and the one on Andersch. In 2003 the book was published in an English translation by

Anthea Bell Anthea Bell (10 May 1936 – 18 October 2018) was an English translator of literary works, including children's literature, from French, German and Danish. These include '' The Castle'' by Franz Kafka, '' Austerlitz'' by W. G. Sebald, the ''In ...

, to which the shorter essays on Améry and Weiss were added.

Reception

John Banville William John Banville (born 8 December 1945) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, adapter of dramas and screenwriter. Though he has been described as "the heir to Proust, via Nabokov", Banville himself maintains that W. B. Yeats and Henry ...

reviewed the book for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'': "''On the Natural History of Destruction'' is a quietly spoken but fierce protest at the mendacity and moral evasiveness of our time. In the tragic absence of more Sebald fiction, it will have to do. One can do no better than to say of Sebald's work what he himself quotes

Elias Canetti Elias Canetti (; bg, Елиас Канети; 25 July 1905 – 14 August 1994) was a German-language writer, born in Ruse, Bulgaria to a Sephardic family. They moved to Manchester, England, but his father died in 1912, and his mother took her ...

saying of the diary, 'notable for precision and responsibility', of a survivor of Hiroshima: 'If there were any point in wondering what form of literature is essential to a thinking, seeing human being today, then it is this. Kenneth Baker of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'' wrote: "Sebald's matter-of-fact evocation of the wartime events on which his collection turns make sickening reading. He relies on the written recollections of a few contemporary witnesses, notably

Hans Erich Nossack Hans Erich Nossack (30 January 1901 – 2 November 1977) was a German writer. Among his works are ''Spätestens im November'' (1955), ''Der jüngere Bruder'' (1958) and ''Ein glücklicher Mensch'' (1975). In 1961 Nossack was awarded the Geo ...

and

Alexander Kluge Alexander Kluge (born 14 February 1932) is a German author, philosopher, academic and film director. Early life, education and early career Kluge was born in Halberstadt, Province of Saxony (now Saxony-Anhalt), Germany. After growing up durin ...

but offers long descriptions of the terrible events in his own even voice." Baker ended the review: "''On the Natural History of Destruction'' leaves an aftertaste of sadness that flows from both its own bleak reflections and the knowledge that Sebald's indispensable voice has been silenced."

References

1999 non-fiction books German essay collections Works by W. G. Sebald 20th-century German literature Carl Hanser Verlag books de:Luftkrieg und Literatur tr:Hava Savaşı ve Edebiyat {{Essay-stub

Contents

Publication

Reception

See also

References