Celan has a frustrating encounter with Martin Heidegger, who is wholly unapologetic about his support of Nazism. Celan writes an important poem about their conversation, “Tübingen, January.” Heidegger later says of Celan: “Celan ist krank -- heillos (Celan is sick -- incurable.)”
In the late 1960s, Celan tries to kill himself. He goes after Gisele with a knife, and they decide they must live separately. He is in and out of institutions. Max Frisch has ended things with Bachmann, she is in and out of institutions, she drinks too much and takes pills. I am leaving everything out of the story. In 1970, Celan drowns himself in the Seine. In 1973, Bachmann dies from burns caused by a lit cigarette in her Rome apartment.
Celan leaves open a book by Hölderlin in his almost-empty room, with the underlined text: “Sometimes this genius goes dark and sinks down into the bitter well of his heart…” He does not underline the rest of the passage: “but mostly his apocalyptic star glitters wondrously.” Also in the room are a book by Rilke, a book about French minerals, and an unfinished letter to Martin Heidegger.
Vati MH's directness of speech impresses at times, even if one doesn't completely approve of his politics, ontology etc.
As with his comments on Celan, another poetic drama queen from all appearances. Sick. Or paraphrasing Nietzsche, the suicidal should be helped out. Jump! And ...lets not forget how the Kafkas and the beatniks and marxistas replaced Rilke and Ezra Pound, not to say Nietzsche & Co (tho...granted Kafka was a dark genius of sorts). As evidenced on the booksluts' Lit-biz site itself. Plenty of kosher, PC, cartoony soft-porn, New Yawker style. Ezra Pounds and Celines don't appear.
