Selected Stories by Robert Walser with a Preface by Susan Sontag and an afterword by Christopher Middleton (2012, 208 pages)

Stories and Feulilltetons by Robert Walser - Written from 1907 to 1929 -Translated by Christopher Middleton and others.

My Posts on Robert Walser

"Kleist in Thun" and the near novella length "The Walk" belong in the category of high art, as defined by Susan Sontag in her still very important essay, "Notes on Camp".  They are sublime works literature of almost transhuman beauty.  They are both included in Selected Stories Robert Walser along with a number of other mostly brief works of fiction with a few feuilletons.  I have posted previously on six of his short stories and one of his four novels, Jacob von Gunten.  I do not wish to generalize about his short stories and the zietgeist behind it (you can read the excellant essay by Sontag by downloading ten Kindle sample edition) but simply urge all lovers of the sublime to buy this collection so you can read it many times.

I see Walser's stories as at least worthy to stand next to Melville's "Barnaby the Scrivner" and Kenzeburo Oe's "When He Himself Shall Call My Name" as great tales of the Preterite of the Earth.

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