"Von der Kuppel der Frauenkirche sah ich diese leidigen Truemmer zwischen die schoene staedtische Ordnung hineingesaet; da ruehmte mir der Kuester die Kunst des Baumeisters, welcher Kirche und Kuppel auf einen so unerwuenschten Fall schon eingerichtet und bombenfest erbaut hatte." (18)
This is another reaction blog. What is the point of the German? I get that is was describing the ruins of Dresden after the bombings and devastation, but why is it in another language. I realize that it is Goete's language and he is the one who said this, but couldn't the author have translated it for the english-speaking audience. I mean, I take German and didn't even understand it all. I am sure that those who don't take german just skipped this paragraph because even if it were relevant, they wouldn't understand it. The German influences on the plot of the novel are immense which makes sense because that is the general setting of the war part of the novel. Also, the war part of the novel is the most prevalent because it is the general backbone of the story and what has led to everything else like the flashbacks and alien abductions.
German is pretty useless... just kidding! But yeah, I didn't really get the German either. I honestly did just skip the paragraph... but I think it is to show how the author knows German even though he's writing a book on a battle where Germans killed hundreds of Americans. He is supposed to hate Germans, yet he still learns their language. Maybe this is another irony about war.
ReplyDeleteAnyone have the translation? I'm not continuing until I read it in English
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