The narrator meets Jacques Austerlitz in the waiting room of the Antwerp railway station in the 1960s, and the two begin to talk about architecture. Over many years, they meet again, and Austerlitz tells the story of his life: he was sent as a child to Wales on a train, and raised by a Calvinist minister, and he learned late that he was a Czech Jewish refugee, sent away from Prague in 1939. W.G. Sebald presents his search for his parents with photographs and long, unbroken sentences, and he shows memory, buildings and history linked.
It's a challenging literary novel for readers who like Holocaust memory, architecture and prose that moves slowly. It's a great pick for anyone who wants to read Sebald's mature style.
Deep, inward-looking, contemplative, open-ended and thought-provoking; a demanding read.
Best for readers like The Wisdom Collector. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2001
- Language
- EN
