Oh my goodness, you are talking about one of the best novels I've ever read. We had a discussion here at RP some years ago on another work of W.G. Sebald. He is a unique, postmodern author and I read "Austerlitz" twice, when it first came out. As you know, he was a German professor teaching in England when he died an untimely death from a car accident a few years ago. I found this book, with its black and white photos very thought-provoking. I went on to read 3 of his other works. He also wrote a book of poetry, which I've not read. I would also recommend Sebald's "Rings of Saturn."

jankin, I was quite taken with Austerlitz and that's something of a miracle because I think most postmodernist writing is pretentious and gimmicky. Somehow Sebald pulled this one off though, for me, in spite of "gimmicks" (no paragraphing, no quotation marks, a scattering of photographs with no clear correlation to text). In fact, the lack of these things made me ponder more about what I was reading. But if it hadn't been for the underlying interesting story (what's going on here?) I wouldn't have put up with the stylistics.

It was Sebald's Vertigo that we discussed here at RP several years ago. I admit that one baffled me. I found The Emigrants the most accessible of his books: I remember it as quite funny, and humor disarms me.

For a reader more poetic than I, I imagine Sebald's storytelling would be even more enticing and affecting. I am interested in what you will think of it, jankin, so please let us know.

Thanks so much to both of you - I feel very positive about taking this on now - I must confess that I felt rather daunted by the look of the layout and the factual/autobiographical implications.
I do love his 'Ring of Saturn' especially as we know many of the references and locations well.

I respectfully differ with Frieda's opinion re the B & W photos having no relationship to the text. That is why I read "Austerlitz" TWICE. The second reading made the references much clearer. I think it the book is a classic. I also loved "The Emmigrants" and recommend it highly. I did not care for "Vertigo" as I found it rather inaccessible. All I can recall of it are vague references to Kafka.

Jan, I wish you would elaborate on the references and locations you know well from "Rings of Saturn."

Glad to see you posting here, again.

woodnymph, I don't think we differ greatly in our opinions of the photographs as they are linked to the text. I stated my view clumsily and too briefly, so to expand on it a bit:

To me there was not a readily obvious correlation between the photos and the adjacent text on first reading -- not in the typical sense of a captioned photograph explicitly encapsulating a point in the text. Rather, the explanations of the photographs were drawn from deduction and inference in the adjacent and surrounding text (both before and after) and also from the overall accretion of the story as it was being told (some things weren't apparent, for instance, until several pages away from the actual photographs). At least that's the way I remember it -- it's been several years now since I last read it.
That is why I read "Austerlitz" TWICE. The second reading made the references much clearer. [emphasis mine]This is your statement, woodnymph, that makes me think we aren't that different in our opinions, at least on a first reading. *grin

Jan, good luck with the Sebald reading; not an easy writer to follow, but this may give greater grist to the discussion.
Mary, the photos that accompanied Rings of Saturn were taken while on his trip along the East Anglian coast, so in Jan's neck-of-the-woods. Apparently he deliberately used poor-quality 'grainy' shots. Maybe it was to add to the sombre nature of his work, although if you like wide skies and interesting cloud formations (and freezing winds) Norfolk and Suffolk are the places to visit.

Thanks, Vee. It has been a while since I have read "Rings of Saturn". Wasn't Sebald making a subtle point about the nuclear facilities built in the lonely, isolated Waterlands?