Ernst Jünger – A Portrait

Ernst Jünger – A Portrait is a book about Ernst Jünger (1895-1998), Germany’s greatest author since Goethe. This is a popular Jünger biography for the English speaking world, a personal portrait painted by an avid Jünger reader. The book starts out with a thorough biography of Jünger’s life. Then there’s a look at the controversial sides of the man, plus a discussion of Jünger’s role as an outsider, mentioning something about the reception of his works today.

After a look at Jünger’s books on war there’s a survey of central Jünger works such as The Adventurous Heart, On the Marble Cliffs, Heliopolis and Eumeswil. Moreover there are chapters on Jünger’s way of looking at art, history and philosophy, on Jünger as a Science Fiction author and comparisons between Jünger and other authors, dead or alive. – In his introduction to Ernst Jünger – A Portrait the author says:

My aim in this study has been to look at what Jünger represents rather than at what he is, in this respect striving to highlight the fruitful aspects of his work, the neglected sides such as the esotericism and the idealism, the vitalism and the life-affirming traits. At the same time I don’t deny that Jünger in the 20s was a radical nationalist dealing with fire; I have chapters covering that too. Wishing to write a book that’s simple and hands-on, I sport “simple but not facile” as my ideal.

About the Author: Born in the north of Sweden in 1965, Lennart Svensson took a BA in Indology in Uppsala 1998. While working as a freelance writer he has published novels like Antropolis and Camouflage. His blog Svenssongalaxen has been online since 2007. Ernst Jünger– A Portrait is his debut in English.