New books on Welles - German book just out

[NoFake]

I came across a mention, in the October issue of the German film magazine "epd Film," of a new book: "Orson Welles. Genie im Labyrinth," by Bert Rebhandl. Has anyone read this? From the description, it seems to at least address the major areas (theatre, radio, film), but at 190 pages, it can't be very thorough. I'm curious: with all the learned disquisitions on Welles available, why would someone write what on the surface appears to be such a generalized book? (The description does note that it also "shows his contradictions," but that's hardly new.) If anyone's read it, I'd be very interested in your thoughts -- and recommendations, if you think it would be worth ordering.

[Eve]

NoFake - I beg you and anybody considering to order it, please stay away from it as far as you can -
it's worse than anything I read about Welles so far - in terms of the attitude of the author (a not especially good journalist) towards his 'subject' and his abilities as a writer in general.
The biggest part of the book is devoted to what one could describe as some sort of mini biography focusing mainly on his work - essentially nothing but facts presented in an extremly boring way. In the remaining parts the 'author' tries desperately to search for something he might be able to add to this awful "contradiction" discussion - throwing in bits and pieces of what some german writers had to say about film in general - everything in a such a limited manner - that I stopped reading around page 80 or so.
The book got little mention in the german press when it came out - and the reason for this is fairly obvious.
When Arte made a short feature about Welles - in honor of his 90th birthday - the 'author' was also interviewed and what he said was - what made Welles interesting for him (if I remember it correctly), was that he started producing his films independently and that he didn't go on making movies in the 'Hollywood' manner, adjusting himself to its policy - and he made it sound like as though this is the only reason to take an interest in this artist after all these years at all! Please avoid it ...
The sad thing about it, is that this is in fact only the fourth book about Welles published by a German so far - and the reason for this undertaking is so obvious: to make money in this year.

The only publication worth ordering that originated in Germany - for those who don't have it already - is "The Unknown Orson Welles" (edited by Stefan Droessler) with articles in English, French and German (containing also Droessler's article that got translated and was included in the "The Other Side of the Wind" screenplay-book).

[NoFake]

Thank you, Eve! Much appreciated. I will indeed avoid it. Since you seem to recommend the Droessler compilation exclusively among German books, I'm guessing you don't recommend the Eckhard Weise book? I read it several years ago, when I was fairly new to Welles scholarship, so my positive impressions at the time may have been at least partially attributable to my fascination with the subject matter. But while we're on the subject, and since you were so helpful and forthcoming regarding the Rebhandl, I thought I'd ask.

[Eve]

My pleasure, NoFake! - I want to help everybody to avoid wasting their time and money on something dreadful like this.
About the Eckhard Weise book:
in fact I liked it very much and still do - I read it too when I was "new to Welles scholarship" - and so, when it was first published in 1996, I was extremly happy to see that there was also somebody writing about him in that language. I simply didn't mention it because it's basically a compilation of the main sources (it's part of a comprehensive series of the publishing company about famous people in history, all done in a similar way: lots and lots of quotes, plus a small but real input of the authors themselves on a decent level) - yet indeed a very good one. I especially liked his decision to close the book with a chapter on Welles and his 'relationship' with Dinesen.
I once had the fortune (at first unbeknownst to me) to be sitting beside the author himself at a screening during the second conference -
he was so kind to give me an autograph - and you know what he did write (I assume I revealed a little bit too much of my fascination and enthusiasm)? "Er macht es einem leicht Ihn gemeinsam zu lieben." - referring of course to Marlene Dietrich's famous quote (my bad 'translation'): "He makes it easy for oneself to love him."

[NoFake]

Glad you liked it too, Eve! While it may be essentially a compilation of other sources, I also found it very perceptive. For example, while we all (or most of us) are angered, and even offended, by those who try to apply pseudo-psychology to “explain” Welles, I thought Wiese hit the nail on the head when he said the following (page 15, last par. before “Screen or stage?” I hope my translation isn’t too far off; I’m not a native German speaker, but wanted to give other Wellesnetters an idea of what he says there):

“The painful recollection of a childhood that wasn’t allowed to be one, the eager and inventive attempts to hide this bitter truth from the outside world, and where possible, from himself, would become in equal measure the sources from which he would have to draw his creative strength — for an art that played inexhaustible variations on a single theme: the expulsion from Paradise.”

[catbuglah]

Speaking of recent writings, here's a short but sweet piece, I stumbled across recently:


Findarticles-Signature

[catbuglah]

sociopsychoeconomic

[LA]

sociopsychoeconomic

Wow, what an awful theory. It seems to be based entirely on profitability and fame - "greatest hits"-ism, disregarding the fact that the famous works aren't always the greatest ones. The idea that Eliot never achieved anything more important than Prufrock is patently absurd, never mind the idea that Welles peaked with Kane.

That's what happens, I suppose, when you ask an economist to write a history of art. I come across so many books I want to buy that it's rather refreshing to hear about a book I can't imagine ever wanting to read.

[Glenn Anders]

I agree with you, LA, but I did enjoy the other essay, the one by Geoffrey Heptonstall. It had an arresting balance, and some rare insights.

Glenn

[catbuglah]

It seems to be based entirely on profitability and fame

I'm not sure that's exactly the case - viz.
Galenson based his findings on an examination of a number of indicators of success: the highest prices paid for art work by particular artists, listings of work in art textbooks, the number of references to particular authors in anthologies and critical opinions of the movies made by film directors. In each case, when he began to look at the age at which these creative people gained the most success, he found two different patterns at work.

The idea that Eliot never achieved anything more important than Prufrock is patently absurd

I don't think that the text really says that-viz,
Rather than coming up with a new paradigm for poetry, as T.S. Eliot did in his famous work, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” Frost spent a lifetime listening to people in New England and reproducing the poetry of their language. Elliott was only 23 when he wrote “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” while Frost was 48 when he penned his most frequently anthologized poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”

never mind the idea that Welles peaked with Kane.

Again, I'm not sure that the text is saying that - viz.
Orson Welles completed Citizen Kane, his first film, when he was 26. The film was important largely because of its technological breakthroughs.

This guy's approach I find interesting because it's different and seem coherently argued - also because it's not a rigidly specialized view - there's an interdisciplinary appraoch there that I find helps give a more global perspective.

In each case, he has found that creative people fall into two camps: the conceptual artists who come up with new visions for their fields and blossom early, and the experimental artists who spend long careers polishing approaches to their work and often achieve their most important success later in life.