Inventory

A Reader
Selection by Günter Eich. With an afterword by Susanne Müller-Hanpft
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Inventory / Inventur
A Reader
Selection by Günter Eich. With an afterword by Susanne Müller-Hanpft
This selection made by Günter Eich himself from his work shortly before his death gathers poems, radio plays and prose created over a period of more than forty years.

Eich, one of the most important poets of the post-war period, curated this edition from the perspective of someone who considers the effect of his own work, reflects on readers’ reactions and responds to them: he omits that which has been quoted time and again, aphoristically abbreviated, as if the keyword...
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This selection made by Günter Eich himself from his work shortly before his death gathers poems, radio plays and prose created over a period of more than forty years.

Eich, one of the most important poets of the post-war period, curated this edition from the perspective of someone who considers the effect of his own work, reflects on readers’ reactions and responds to them: he omits that which has been quoted time and again, aphoristically abbreviated, as if the keyword were enough to communicate, as if the essence of an entire poetic oeuvre could be expressed in one line. The omissions take us away from effortless connections and to a new perception. Thus, the reader Inventory surprises and revives beauty – a memory for some, a first encounter for others.
1981, 331 pages
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Günter Eich was born on February 1, 1907 in Lebus an der Oder. In his early childhood, the family moved often. After graduating from high school, Eich studied Sinology in Berlin. In 1927 Eich began publishing his first poems and texts, some under a pseudonym. In 1932 he abandoned his studies and began a career as a freelance writer for a friend’s newspaper. In 1933 he began writing radio plays for various German radio stations. In 1939 he was drafted into the Luftwaffe as a driver and radio operator. Almost all his manuscripts were lost in an air raid on Berlin in 1943. After the war he continued to publish poetry, prose, screenplays, but above all radio plays. In 1947 he became a member of the Gruppe 47, whose first prize he won in 1950. He married Ilse Aichinger in 1953. His...
Günter Eich was born on February 1, 1907 in Lebus an der Oder. In his early childhood, the family moved often. After graduating from high...

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Collected Poems
Year of Publication: 2006
Günter EichYear of Publication: 2006
»Be uncomfortable; be sand, not oil, in the machinery of the world« – this is perhaps the most famous line from the poems of Günter Eich, who was at the height of his fame in the 1950s and 60s and whose poems, alongside those of Gottfried Benn and Karl Krolow, were to many readers the epitome of what modern poetry could achieve after 1945. The motivations that had led...
Dreams
Year of Publication: 1953
Günter EichYear of Publication: 1953
»Anyone who has read the four dream plays feels as though touched by magic. In these dream scenes, the experience of fate and existence in our present time has become an immediate image and...
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Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: Thailand (Nanmee Books), Czech Republic (Dilia)