Talk:Robert Walser (writer)

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"he attended the military conscription" This is not English, but I don't know what in fact happened. Was he called up, or did he choose that time to fulfill a service requirement? (CK)

In Switzerland, the militia is mandatory for all men at age 19, though you can postpone it for some years. That is, he didn't choose it, but he was called up, though that call up was expected. It is a service all men are supposed to render. I'm sorry I don't know how to express it in Enlish. The usual phrase (seinen) Militärdienst leisten/absolvieren may be literally translated as ‘to render (ones) military service’. (By the way, if you sign your talk contributions with ~~~~, then date and signature will be inserted.) ― j. 'mach' wust | ✑ 18:36, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

I made it "he was called up to fulfill his military service obligation," then. Maybe you or someone else can help with a few more points:

"Walser repeatedly was crotchety and refused to leave the sanatorium": "crotchety" usually refers to someone who has many quirks or peculiarities and may be difficult to deal with. But usually one either is crotchety all the time, or one isn't, so it sounds odd to say that he "repeatedly was crotchety." Does the German suggest that he was "stubborn" or perhaps "eccentric"?

"reminiscences of Swiss German are expressed charmingly and somewhat freshly": this does not sound right. As written, it can only refer to the Swiss German language or dialect, but I'm not sure that is what is intended. And "somewhat freshly" also does not sound right. Is the point here that his writing was "original"?

"In the following years, he often, though inordinately and in many different places, worked as a "Kommis", that is, as a bureau worker and bureau writer": The first part of this comes off as gibberish; "inordinately" can not be the right word (it means, more or less, "excessively"), but I don't know what the intent is. And there is no such thing in English as a "bureau worker": you can be an "office worker" or you can be a "bureaucrat" (which is a negative word). Was Walser simply a clerk or an office worker?

"There, he got to know the washer-woman Lisa Mermet with whom he developed a close friendship." This is perfectly fine English, but it perplexes. Was this a romantic relationship?

Thanks for your input. Chris k 00:40, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

he was called up to fulfill his military service obligation: This might be too much information. Maybe he was called up earlier already. What about he fullfilled his military service obligation?

I've repeatedly was crotchety and refused to was crotchety and repeatedly refused. My mistake.

A reference to the Swiss German dialect is intended. The German text says that the use he made of Swiss German elements is charming and original.

I see "inordinate" is not appropiate for "unregelmässig" in this case. Perhaps "unsteady", "erratic", "sporadic"? Or just "often, but not all the time and in many different places"? I guess "clerk and typist" might be a better translation of "Büroangestellter und Schreibkraft", though I guess that "Schreibkraft" ('write-power') needn't imply typing at that time.

As for Lisa Mermet, the German text only mentions a close friendship. I guess it is not known whether there ever was any romantic element in it. ― j. 'mach' wust | ✑ 09:53, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

I have attempted to incorporate appropriate changes based on the information from J. 'mach' wust (see above).Chris K 00:22, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

the pencil region

"More and more, he used the way of writing he called the "pencil method" (...) Aus dem Bleistiftgebiet" There's an interview with Bernhard Echte on http://www.swissinfo.org/ger/magazin/detail/Robert_Walser_ist_uns_heute_ganz_nahe.html?siteSect=108&sid=6836994&cKey=1153826311000 . Apparently the title "Aus dem Bleistiftgebiet" is quoted from a letter by Walser to Max Rychner in which Walser remarks that one of the enclosed texts, for once, did not originate in the "Bleistiftgebiet" ("pencil region"). In the same interview Echte claims that Walser switched to writing with a pencil after experiencing a loss in spontaneity and liveliness with the pen. The pencil proved helpful in this situation because it was easier and less restrictive to handle. The efforts toward this microscopic penmanship demanded a particular form of concentration and subjugation to the handcraft. Echte says he had to emulate Walser's mental disposition in order to be able to decipher Walser's micrograms in a relaxed way. -- Sluzzelin--62.65.129.85 19:28, 1 August 2006 (UTC)62.65.129.85 19:26, 1 August 2006 (UTC)