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The beauty and tedium of the works of Adalbert Stifter

The 19th-century Austrian was an astonishingly pure stylist, as W.G. Sebald acknowledges – but it takes real dedication to craft to write such boring novels

Philip Hensher
Adalbert Stifter.  Getty Images
EXPLORE THE ISSUE 18 January 2025
issue 18 January 2025
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  • Silent Catastrophes: Essays in Austrian Literature

    W.G. Sebald, translated by Jo Catling

    Hamish Hamilton, pp. 240, £25

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