Arno Schmidt: A Primer

Sections:
00:00 Intro
04:33 Arno Schmidt – A Post Mortem
10:21 In the Wake of the Wake
15:14 What the Hell am I Looking At?
26:16 Etym Theory – Uneartheing the Subconscious
30:14 John E Woods and the Dalkey Archive
36:33 Bibliographic Survey and Proposed Starting Points
43:08 The Elephant in the Room
45:34 Flex
46:44 The Elephant in the Room (Cont’d)
50:43 The Schmidtaissance, /r/Arno_Schmidt, Looking Forward

Secondary Resources:

Arno Schmidt: Evening Edged in Gold
Published by Marion Boyars, 1980
Hardcover, 215 pages
ISBN: 9780714527192

Arno Schmidt (Vol 1): Collected Novellas
Published by Dalkey Archive Press, 1994
Paperback & Hardcover, 446 pages
ISBN: 9781564780669

Arno Schmidt (Vol 2): Nobodaddy’s Children
Published by Dalkey Archive Press, 1995
Paperback & Hardcover, 256 pages
ISBN: 9781564780904

Arno Schmidt (Vol 3): Collected Stories
Published by Dalkey Archive Press, 1996
Paperback & Hardcover, 328 pages
ISBN: 9781564781345

Arno Schmidt (Vol 4): Two Novels
Published by Dalkey Archive Press, 1997
Paperback & Hardcover, 432 pages
ISBN: 9781564786623

Arno Schmidt: Bottom’s Dream
Published by Dalkey Archive Press, 2016
Paperback & Hardcover, 1496 pages
ISBN: 9781628971590

You can find me at

Music: “I Hate That” by ThisKidsNoGood

[christianebbertz]

22:40 La=bimmel, La=bammel, La=bumm 😊
Wonderful to learn that apparently an effective translation into English of Schmidt's work was actually possible (hats off to John E. Woods!).
I have a bit of a feeling that „Bottom‘s Dream“ and the etym theory are a bit of a deterrent and so get in the way of people's perception of Schmidt. If Schmidt's incredible humor and wordplay from Woods also ignites in English, I can also only recommend the reading order for beginners:
"Scenes from the Life of a Faun",
"Dark Mirrors" and
"Republica Intelligentsia". Once you're "in", it will also be a lot of fun with
"B/Moondocks". In the late work I find
"The School for Atheists" and
"Abend mit Goldrand" (both without a first-person narrator, by the way) are great and I've only read parts of "Zettel's Traum" occasionally. I'm waiting for someone to make a reading book out of the best parts (there's already an attempt, but it obviously doesn't hit the best spots).
...and Schmidt as the inventor of emojis! Wonderful!
28:24 The German title ("eine MärchenPosse - 55 Szenen aus der Lä/e/Endlichkeit für Gönner der Verschreibk/Kunst") is nowhere near as explicit as the translated version (In "MärchenPosse" the "Po" (butt) is not orthographically emphasized, the different versions Ländlichkeit/Lendlichkeit/Endlichkeit, are "Country life", "Life of the hip" and "Finiteness").

[sordel]

Once upon a time there were two brothers. One went to sea. One started a series of YouTube videos on Arno Schmidt. Neither of them was ever heard from again.

[herrpenschuck]

zettel's traum translated in english? i am dazed! that is really mindboggling. world could be worse... ❤

[lukeoconnell]

I can't believe I just watched that entire video lmfao subscribing now

[glennrussell]

Thanks for this! I'm gonna start my Arno Schmidt run. First up: The Egghead Republic, followed by the 4 novellas - N's Children, Life of a Faun, B's H & Dark Matter.

[CruelSpirit]

Glad to have you back making videos. It was only a few weeks ago I was flipping through a copy of one of Arno Schmidt's works at a bookstore and you're right. A lot of perplexing intrigue just from that surface level introduction. I may have to get a copy of one of his works in the near future.

[frankandreasr]

Have been a Schmidt Fan since my school days in Germany. As he said: "My heart belongs to my head ".🤩

[natehime]

Wonderful video, just picked up my loan of Nobodaddy's Children from my library today, excited to dive in after watching this!

[KalleVilenius]

For a couple months now I've been eyeing The School for Atheists but not pulling the trigger. I'll take this as a sign that it's time to finally get into Schmidt.

[simonailiescu]

Great video. Moving to the second one. Thank you for this😀

[alexjohnson]

Great video! You're a great orator. Verbose and intelligent without being obtuse or indecipherable.

[Steveisdriftless]

Excited about this. Have all four volumes of Dalkey and started digging in, but now… might dig in deeper. Count me in… Bottom’s Dream is on its way…

[darwinu]

Glad you are going down this rabbit hole. I started collecting WTV years before I finally let the damn burst, and I feel the potential energy with Schmidt getting close to a point of action. This was nice to remind me to not just get my ass into gear on Schmidt, but Moore and A. Theroux. It is also time to get back to Vollmann's RURD. Probably more of a kick in my pants than I intended by watching this.

[xgryphenx]

I was one of those who bought BD the week it was published from the Strand in NYC, $62 usd. Before it left stores I saw it while I was traveling, in Portland, Oregon marked down to $45 usd. Likewise all of the Dalkey Schmidt paperbacks languished for years in remainder bins—once again at Strand circa 2015 or so I think each Dalkey paperback (novellas, stories, Nobodaddy etc) was around $4.

All i mean to say by this, as opposed to bragging, is that it's remarkable all of these books have been published at all given that for YEARS there has been very little to no interest in them. Nice to hear there is interest now!

[kintrap]

Im not getting my hopes too high… if the way they’ve handled the release of Miss MacIntosh, My Darling is any indication of how this new leadership does things at Dalkey, then it’ll be over a decade before we see any Schmidt.

[stevewilson]

Excellent video! Question: what is the book with the cool op art spine at the top left of the middle shelf?

[basserman]

Any advice on where to look for vol. 4 two novels? It’s not just that it’s pricey, but I can’t find it for sale online anywhere.

I can find copies of ZT and Evening edged in gold, but not even one listing of Vol. 4.

[benjaminmolina]

Great episode!!! Which are the translators that you mentioned in the Dalkey section? Greetings from Chile

[doormatdoormat]

What is that black and white swirly book on top of Philip Freedenberg's Cactus Boots?

[eoind]

WASTE: any plans to review Finnegans Wake? Maybe you’ve done that already. Another beast of a book. Definitely worth reading. Much harder than Ulysses but far more rewarding 💥