The Sorrows of Young Werther (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1774)

I've wanted to catch up with this short book ever since going through a biography of Goethe. He wrote this when just 24; it perhaps represented an earlier stage of Sturm und Drang, though Goethe may not have even agreed; it seemed to be published just when the world was waiting for it.

Thomas Mann writes: "The world at once took possession of The Sorrows of Young Werther and it took possession of the world . . . It seemed as though the public in all countries, secretly and without their own knowledge, had been awaiting this very book by an unknown young man from a German imperial city; that this book with revolutionary, liberating power emancipated the fettered yearnings of the civilized world. Napoleon, the iron man of destiny, had the French translation in his knapsack through Egyptian campaign. He claimed to have read it seven times."

It was published in all the main languages worldwide; sparked perhaps the first mass marketing push (Werther cologne, clothes, endless similar); and made Goethe famous.

Yet today I think we would all find the protagonist simply ridiculous. Which makes it all the more interesting to think why the book was an unquestioned blockbuster - in commercial and artistic impact, plus in its effect on folks' thinking. Perhaps things were quite ripe for a reaction to rationalism, but go figure . . .

900 Days - The Siege of Leningrad (Harrison Salisbury, 1969)

Another World War II story that - if one were to write it as fiction - would be dismissed as simply too much to believe.

I had heard a bit about this siege in other reading, but it hadn't really hit home what was going on. I know it's difficult to measure these things but I would tend to believe statements that this was the worst disaster to befall any large modern city. Soviet Russia tried to suppress the goings-on after the war; the author had great familiarity with Russia from various connections, so could piece things together.

The beginning of the story is pretty well known - Stalin refused to believe his erstwhile ally, Hitler, was preparing to invade Russia notwithstanding endless clear evidence to the contrary. This led to all sorts of problems for Russia and, in particular, Leningrad. Preparations for war with Germany would have been considered "defeatism" by Stalin - so local authorities were limited in making preparations.

The Nazis had great early successes and effectively encircled the entire city. A large lake to the northeast (Lake Ladoga) was the only remaining route during the winter of 1941-42 (after it froze). It seems that the Nazis could have stormed the city and wouldn't have needed a siege - except they prioritized taking Moscow and diverted heavy armor at a critical moment. They then decided to settle in for the winter and starve the city into submission (while shelling and bombing constantly).

This winter also was supremely cold. Bad news in a city lacking fuel.

Food supplies dwindled rapidly. The author reports the ration for factory workers in November was cut to as low as 125 grams of "bread" per day (250 grams for factory workers). (Do the math, it's 454 grams per pound.)

And the "bread" on which folks tried to survive was an awful mix of flour sweepings, cottonseed cake, reclaimed flour dust, "edible cellulose," salt, etc.

What was going on for the general population in the winter of 41-42? (I focus on this because the remainder of the 900 days - while bad - wasn't as bad.)

1. A city of 3.5 million that was eerily quiet - no fuel for vehicles, streetcars, etc. Factories and stores closed - no goods, no power.

2. No heat in dwellings - in a bitterly cold winter.

3. Hunger made folks too weak to do much of anything - how could anyone function on a few ounces of marginally nutritional "bread?"

4. The survivors recall how children's sleds became the mode of transportation - you could haul your water, your relatives that were too weak to walk, your corpses.

5. Folks started dying in droves. Thousands per day in '41-'42. Everybody was repeatedly affected - estimates of losses reach one million persons, most of whom simply starved to death. Not imaginable.

6. Bodies everywhere - no smell because of super cold. Corpses stay in houses for weeks (too much effort required to remove them), lay on streets (folks just walked on by, what else was there to do?); many gathered up for mass graves.

7. Part of the eerie quiet: no dogs or other animals. Poignant stories of folks killing (and eating) longtime family pets.

8. Part of the eerie quiet: few children in the streets. Many were dying; others not allowed out much due to rumors of cannibalism, that children were preferred as yielding more tender meat. (Women supposedly better than men in the cannibal hierarchy, except perhaps soldiers who benefited from larger rations.)

9. And there was cannibalism - meat patties trading on the black market at Haymarket Square; some Leningraders that simply looked "too healthy" for the rations received.

10. Life with ration cards - reissued on the first of every month with no chance of reissue if lost; those that lost their card early in the month didn't have a chance without charity from others. Or theft. Black market trades - family heirlooms for half a loaf of "bread."

11. Yet a sense of camaraderie; some of the Stalinist repression lifted; some performances go on; lectures; Shostakovich composing while the shells fall; saving Hermitage treasures; etc.

Wow. I suppose it was heroic, but it's not easy to classify driving off the Germans - after almost three years - as a "win" when you lose one million people.

Remembrance of Things Past (Vol 3-7) (Marcel Proust)

So what to make of all this? Back in 2007 I read the first two volumes, described here.

I read the remaining five volumes in 2008 but hadn't yet put down any thoughts about this. The final five volumes were:

3) The Guermantes Way
4) Cities of the Plain
5) The Captive
6) The Fugitive
7) Time Regained

I haven't read anything like this. In part because 3300 pages gives an author so much canvas with which to work.

Proust is astonishly good at writing scenes involving conversation - he has a near-perfect ear for the manner in which people speak to one another. He also is a great observer of human behavior, one example being the way he describes how people - and this includes all of us - mentally construct justifications for whatever it is we choose to do at any given time - whether based on expediency, kindness, honest effort or whatever. Read this book, and you will be better at catching yourself doing this.

Some thoughts:

1. The role of memory. Perspectives on how our past affects and enriches our present.

2. I've never read anyone make such an effort to put into words the way that music works (knowing that by definition words cannot suffice). But it is an interesting, useful attempt This primarily is done through the device of Vintuel's sonata.

3. Similar effort with art per the painter, Elstir.

4. Similar effort with performing arts through Berma.

5. Similar effort with literature through Bergotte.

6. Proust's ability to describe - in long passages to be sure - the beauty in what might be considered mundane (hawthorn tree).

7. The richness and depth of our relationships and conversations - there is really so much going on if one slows down and takes notice.

8. The difficulty of appreciating these things unless break the chains of habit, the constant need to push ourselves away from habit, superficiality of what is now referred to as the news cycle, etc.

9. The impossibility of personal growth or useful thinking without some quiet time alone. Now considered peculiar behavior.

10. How despite the richness of relationships, art, nature around us, we ultimately are alone (the moment when his grandmother knew the severity of the stroke she had suffered, the loss of memory she was experiencing, the lonely downward path ahead)

11. Guermantes Way, Meseglise Way, Swann's Way - more than roads.

12. He constantly is pointing out the foibles of the aristocracy (and others for that matter). But still is painting characters of great complexity - a reminder that there is usually something there. The hastening decline of the aristocracy (after all, this was written in early 20th century).

13. Interesting WWI scenes toward the end.

14. Albertine. Charles Swann. Gilberte Swann. Odette. Baron de Charlus. Morel. Robert de Saint Loup. Oriane Guermantes and husband. Faubourg St. Germain. The Verdurins and the "faithful."

15. Numerous wealthy folks with apparently little to keep them occupied, leading to some less than constructive behaviors.

16. The narrator's effort - at long last - to write a great work about memory et al; the device of the party that he attends later in life where the attendees are wearing "masks."

Lots more going on here than I can grasp. I will buy a copy and page through this every now and again.

The Day of Battle - The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 (Rick Atkinson, 2007)

This book had quite a bit of attention when published in 2007. I liked it quite a bit. First time I've read in any degree of detail about the Italy campaign. That part of WWII in general seems overlooked (in comparison to e.g. Normandy).

A motivation for learning more about this is the participation of my uncle, Irvin Bormann, in this part of the war. He was killed in one of the major Cassino dustups. Reading the book, it's a wonder any of those guys survived some of the things they were asked to do. Much of the Allied attack strategy seemed like World War I (moreso than anything else I've read about WWII); high-casualty largely frontal attacks on entrenched positions.

The overall impression was that this was just an extremely difficult slog with a number of factors making things very tough. Such as:

1. Germans in 1943 and early 1944 still had quite a bit of firepower left in them. (Diminishing resources, but far less of the young boys/old men problems later into 1944 and into 1945.)

2. Italian terrain is a tough place to make war. There always is another line of mountains as you make your way north. Germans were always well prepared, well dug in. Few roads or open routes through which tanks could get involved; attacks were funneled through defined routes where the Germans had a relatively easy time inflicting casualties.

3. Americans were forced to attack in part to draw Nazi resources off the Eastern Front and away from Western Europe (Normandy invasion planning was in full swing and Italy was viewed mostly as a diversion.)

4. The attacking was extra difficult because taking on established uphill positions required lots of resources. And guess what - resources were being diverted to Normandy (men, ships, etc.). (This led to a big shortage of landing craft for Anzio that contributed directly to the problems there.)

5. To sustain the pressure/diversion, the Allies kept trying to push forward in winter. Something even Hannibal and other classical campaigners never tried to do. Constant rain, cold - just miserable conditions.

6. Lots of confusion about the real goals in the campaign, weak cooperation between Americans and British.

Patton had a key role in taking Sicily; I didn't realize this was where the slapping incident occurred that put him on the shelf for awhile.

Discussion of difficult Salerno landing; rivalries and distrust with British Eighth Army; up to Naples and to onto the Gustav line (including in particular Cassino, where things bogged down). Click to enlarge the map for a good summary.

Anzio was supposed to draw off Nazis to enable the Gustav line (and Cassino) to be breached - but one of the big attacks on Cassino was launched when things weren't really ready so as to keep the Germans occupied and permit the Anzio beachhead to be established in the first place. This was the tail wagging the dog. The description of this part of the Cassino battle is almost heartbreaking, one of the bloodiest episodes for Americans anywhere in the entire war. Sent to cross the Rapido River with Germans dominating the heights across the river with a clear field of fire (and no pressure brought to bear on the German positions) - awful casualties without getting so much as a toehold across the river.

Another big - and failed - assault on Cassino in the January 25 - February 12 timeframe. Yes, the timing of these efforts to take Cassino correspond to the date where Irvin was killed.

Finally enough materiel and men were amassed to break through, starting May 11. Better weather had arrived. Polish and Moroccan units were effective. They finally broke out of Anzio around May 23. After that it was onto Rome; Fifth Army (Mark Clark obsession) arrived June 4-5. A big achievement immediately upstaged by D-Day.

Discussion of the debate whether to destroy the abbey; the author pretty clearly thinks this was unnecessary except perhaps that the regular soldiers had developed a belief in the importance of destroying the abbey and it was affecting morale. Destruction of the abbey didn't help a bit, probably made things worse because the Germans now occupied the ruins.

There is a really compelling story at the end where one of the key leaders (Truscott) gives a speech at the beachhead cemetery at Anzio (picture below). He turned his back to the audience and spoke to the dead. Who can imagine this?

Interesting, the Moroccans apparently were pretty effective fighters. This author's description of their behavior with the local female populace corresponded with the Sophia Loren movie (Two Women) of 1961.

Ernie Pyle and Bill Mauldin were strong presences.

Sounds like the battle among the local partisans, Nazi sympathizers, side-switchers, etc. resembled behavior in the Balkans (and elsewhere, I suppose).

The author writes how the American troops were hardening over time; less likely to take prisoners as time went on . . .

Something interesting was the countless references to the classics as the Allies moved out of North Africa, into Sicily, and up the Italian boot - Aeneid, Odyssey (Cyclops, Sirens); Horace; Hannibal; Caesar; on and on.

I thought the author was pretty balanced. For example, he talked about the failure to pursue opportunity at Anzio, but pointed out the high risk of an under-supplied group breaking out with a long unprotected flank. Etc.