This article (first published in The New Republic) is really great. It contains a lot of detail about Sebald's life and all the things that are often said about him. These kind of articles are supposed to create an appetite for the author and his books. So after reading it, you are hopefully convinced of reading something from the author itself.
But I don't think his life says anything about the quality of his writing. Here on HN I will try to convince you by pointing out that Sebald is writing the most beautiful code. Skip all articles and go read one of his books. For instance The Emigrants. You can read the long articles about his life afterwards.
One detail maybe worth mentioning. Sebald wrote The Emigrants in German. But he also contributed to the English translation. Sebald left Germany and moved to England in 1966 when he was 22. By the time The Emigrants was translated to English, he has already lived in the UK for close to 30 years.
I wanted to like Austerlitz but couldn't get into it. However, "The Emigrants" which the article talks about seems interesting to me, being a German emigrant to the US myself. I'll give it a try.
This review is written from a solidly Jewish-American perspective, and your experience of Sebald's work may differ.
Just get a copy of Austerlitz and start reading. It won't make sense for a while. Don't get bogged down, skim if you have to. Peer at the photos, as if from a distance of fifty years. The narrator is in a kind of fog, as if the only way he can express his emotions is through some metaphor about European history. I don't know any other book like it - in film, it reminded me of Tarkovsky's Solaris.
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[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 24.8 ms ] threadBut I don't think his life says anything about the quality of his writing. Here on HN I will try to convince you by pointing out that Sebald is writing the most beautiful code. Skip all articles and go read one of his books. For instance The Emigrants. You can read the long articles about his life afterwards.