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"A unique and personal portrait of the beloved, legendary Swiss writer, finally in English. After a nervous breakdown in 1929, Robert Walser spent the remaining twenty-seven years of his life in mental asylums, closed off from the rest of the world in almost complete anonymity. While at the Herisau sanitarium, instead of writing, Walser practiced another favorite activity: walking. Starting in 1936, Carl Seelig, Walser's friend and literary executor, visited and accompanied him on these walks, meticulously recording their conversations. As they strolled, Walser told stories, shared his daily experiences of the sanatorium, and expressed his opinions about books and art, writing and history. When Seelig asked why he no longer wrote, Walser famously replied: "I'm not here to write, I'm here to be mad." Filled with lively anecdotes and details, Walks with Walser offers the fullest available account of this wonderful writer's inner and outer life."--… (more)
User reviews
It was written in German but I can’t read German and couldn’t get it in English due to the Corona crisis. So I got it in Danish.
It turned out that Robert Walser was a noted Swiss writer who had checked in
His friend, Carl, visited him there regularly and accompanied him on long walks, which he describes in the book.
These walks took place between 1936 until 1956, when he died, appropriately enough, when out on a walk, but this time on his own.
At first, I wondered why the author, Carl, was continuously enlightening us on everything Walser said on the walks, no matter how inconsequential. It was at this point I discovered that he was a well-known author (in Switzerland, at least, and at that time).
We’re informed of the routes of all these walks. Walser always wore a suit when out walking, but no overcoat, even in winter.
They talked mostly about Swiss writers all completely unknown to me, though they also discussed some famous authors.
They generally visited cafés and restaurants to eat breakfast and other meals, and we’re informed of what they eat; they drink beer, wine and vermouth. I’m 95% vegan and was also on Medical Medium cleanses while reading the book (and still am), and thus don’t eat dairy products or other such unhealthy things; and it seemed like Robert and Carl were always eating eggs and cheese (and lots of cakes). I wasn’t envious, I just kept thinking about what an unhealthy diet they ate.
This book and this review will undoubtedly be of little interest or if of interest, only to elderly Swiss. I just kept on with it because I liked reading the details of where they walked and hearing about the various authors I’d never previously heard of.
But now I intend to order Robert Walser’s own book, “The Walk”, from the library, if I can now obtain it in English, that is.