Walter Kempowski was one of my favorite postwar writers and the literary scene in Germany has not been the same since he died in October 2007. So imagine my joy when I began to receive "tweets" from Walter Kempowski. Evidently, everybody now has a Twitter account – even the dead. It is a bit surprising, since while he lived among us Kempowski was not known for embracing modern technology. But I'm happy to say that the old man is as grumpy and acerbic as ever. Death hasn't mellowed him in the least.
Here are a couple of my favorite Kempowski tweets:
Man darf ja heute
nicht seine Meinung sagen in Deutschland. Versuchen Sie das doch mal!
Ein Schritt vom Wege, und Sie sind erledigt. (You are no longer permitted to express your opinion in Germany. Just try to do it! One step off the path and you're done for.)
Das Einzige, was mich am Tod wirklich traurig macht, ist, dass man als Toter keine Musik mehr hören kann. (The only thing that really makes me sad about death is that one can no longer listen to music.)
I'm glad that I can stay in touch with Walter Kempowski on Twitter, but this platform limits you to 145 characters per message – or per tweet. Hopefully, he'll move to another. more expansive medium – such as a blog!. So that we can get the "full Kempowski".
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Nice to think of Kempowski going on after death.