Product Description
Ernst Junger (1895-1998) is an important figure in 20th century German intellectual history. His extensive work still polarizes literary critics and public response to his work, particularly because of the 'heroic nihilism' of his early work with its tendency to glorify violence, which originated in his reading of Nietzsche. At the same time, his linguistic artistry and gift of observation as shown for example in his travel writings and journals make him one of the most important figures in modern German literature. The present volume provides a complete compendium combining analyses of the most important aspects of his work, including his critique of the modern and his concept of aesthetic escapism, the political, literary, mythical and psychoanalytical influences on his stories and novels, and the role of the writer in modern philosophical and literary systems. The volume presents a many-facetted overview of the current state of Junger research and offers a new objective academic perspective on the influential work of this significant writer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Sequel to "The Storm of Steel"
This is the second of two books written by lieutenant Ernst Junger, recalling his exploits as a German storm trooper in WW1. This book focuses exclusively upon his activities in a small forest, Copse 125. There are discussions of daily life in the trenches, and of the battle to defend it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Conversations With A Titan
I must confess to feeling a sense of disappointment after reading Details of Time for the first time. I was expecting an in-depth expose of Junger, the man and his ideas. Instead I was left feeling Julien Hervier had missed out on a golden opportunity to question, probe and challenge this modern-day titan to elaborate on some of his celebrated themes, aka polished darkness. For whatever reason: friendship, respect or just plain not being up to the task, Hervier asks too many lame questions and dodges too many hot topics, leaving many important questions unanswered. However, upon rereading and focusing solely on Junger's words did I discover the true value in the seemingly page after page of untimely wisdom, sagely maxims and metaphysical perspectives. What is lacking in depth, Details of Time makes up with breadth as this retrospective covers the full spectrum of Junger's opus, from his wanderlust teenage years in the French Foreign Legion, through the traumatic yet character-forming war years to his iconoclastic views on time, ageing, family, childhood, drugs, metaphysics, self transcendence and the Nazi era. Much insight is gleaned from Junger's first hand account of important themes as the worker, the anarch, ecology as well as a severe critique of the destructive and soulless nature of modern technocratic society. Details of Time showcases Junger's penetrating mind, his uncompromising missal on man as a unique person. However one question mark still remains, how does one reconcile Junger's penchant for a balanced ecologically centered humanity within the context of the anarch's me-first morality.

A short, interesting look at a unique man
It's hard to give anything this short 5 stars-hence my four, especially when so much more information is desired.No doubt we'll get it when his Journals all get translated into English.Anybody who has read Storms of Steel and On The Marble Cliffs (in English) will sympathize.There's apparenntly much that gets lost in the translations now available and the books remain to a great extent, opaque, especially stylistically.-This short dialogue with Hervier nevertheless contains many interesting things.I haven't heard a writer come out and confess to a "taste for decadent literature" in quite some time as if there were nothing to it. Decadent has become synonymous with bad in the past century in the English-speaking world.Not since Yeatshas a prominent writer in English spoken up for the Decadents.Also interesting is his admission that Rimbaud's "The Drunken Boat" transformed his life "from top to bottom."Junger says, "...decadence releases forces that would otherwise remain dormant, feeble.A sick man often discovers colors and sounds that are far more subtle than he suspected when he was in good health.That's something that often appears on a death mask, the lux aeterna, the great radiance." and he continues later, "everything is ambivalent...to the extent that everything has its bright side and its dark side; and the latter is indispensable."These quotations reveal Junger as more than the enlightened mystic.They put him firmly in English in that "Decadent" tradition that includes Yeats, Djuna Barnes, and Malcolm Lowry.And in German, he admits to admiring the lucidity of Nietzsche's remarks even after madness has taken hold. None of this is particularly surprising, mystical writing and a taste for the decadent and unearthly are almost always combined in some way.It's just refreshing to hear someone come out and say it without fear of the critics (One gets the impression, however mistaken it may be, that Junger is not afraid of much of anything.)-This is a good little book, even if the dialogue is a bit rambling....We'll just have to wait for the Journals for a more comprehensive view of this fascinating man.In the meantime, I recommend an essay Bruce Chatwin wrote on Junger and his Journals before they both died for the New York Review of Books entitled "An Aesthete at War."One of the starkest images is of Junger surveying a death camp and commenting, in Chatwin's translation, "My daughters will pay for this in a brothel for niggers."-As I said, neither was Junger afraid of the Nazis at the time (whose SS leaders wanted him locked up or worse for his writings.) or of modern sensibilities!-Where are those Journals?!?

A dive into a cultured and fascinating personage.
This book has an extraordinary attraction: it contains the life and thought of the oldest german writer still alive (Ernst Junger was born in 1895) told by himself. Before the First World War he stayed for 5 weeks in Africa with the legendary French Foreign Legion and after the War he was a highly decorated lieutenant in the german army by reason of many exploits. In the Second World War he was based in Paris as a captain belonging to the german military staff - a center of officers related to the plot against Hitler. His literary work started in 1920 with "the storms of steel", a book with his experiences throughout the First World War which brought him fame. He has written a great number of essays, journals, travel's books, novels, some of them availble at http://www.Amazon.com. As a dive into such a cultured and fascinating personage this book is really worthwile. ... Read more