Greg鈥檚 Year in Books

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2024

20,960

pages read

books read

Greg

Shortest Book

pages

The Complete Works of Primo Levi by Primo Levi

Longest Book

3,008

pages

Average book length in 2024

361

pages

Most Shelved

241,621

people also shelved

DIE OLYMPISCHEN SPIELE 1972 by Werner Schneider

Least Shelved

people also shelved

Greg鈥檚 average rating for 2024

4.3

Highest Rated on 欧宝娱乐

it was amazing

5.00 average

Die deutsche Geschichte geht weiter by Richard von Weizs盲cker

Greg鈥檚 first review of the year

it was amazing

鈥濨ei uns ist eine neue Generation in die politische Verantwortung hereingewachsen. Die Jungen sind nicht verantwortlich f眉r das, was damals geschah. Aber sie sind veranwortlich f眉r das, was in der Geschichte daraus wird.鈥�

鈥淚n our country, a new generation has grown up to assume political responsibility. Our young people are not responsible for what happened over forty years ago. But they are responsible for the historical consequences.鈥�

- Richard

鈥濨ei uns ist eine neue Generation in die politische Verantwortung hereingewachsen. Die Jungen sind nicht verantwortlich f眉r das, was damals geschah. Aber sie sind veranwortlich f眉r das, was in der Geschichte daraus wird.鈥�

鈥淚n our country, a new generation has grown up to assume political responsibility. Our young people are not responsible for what happened over forty years ago. But they are responsible for the historical consequences.鈥�

- Richard von Weizs盲cker, May 8, 1985 (, )

Ambrose Bierce, in defining a politician in The Devil鈥檚 Dictionary, noted, 鈥淎s compared with the statesman, he suffers the disadvantage of being alive.鈥� Richard von Weizs盲cker was a rare exception to the rule. His speech commemorating the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II continues to be cited by Germanas as both an acceptance historical responsibility and a challenge of how the experience must inform and motivate present and future generations. Made less than a year after he had become president of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), when the nation was split and on the front line of the Cold War, Weizs盲cker would serve until 1994, through the fall of the Iron Curtain and the reunification of Germany. Largely ceremonial as head of state, the German presidency stands above day-to-day politics, serving a unifying, representatively symbolic political function. History thus far has proven him to the epitome of what the office represents.

Weizs盲cker was born into a world of aristocratic privilege. His father Ernst, served in the German navy, joined the diplomatic corp in 1920, and was in the Third Reich鈥檚 Foreign Ministry, serving as its ambassador to the Vatican in its final two years. He was aligned with a number of resistance efforts and tried to undermine Nazi rule from within. Nonetheless, he was tried and found guilty of war crimes in 1949, a verdict Winston Churchill famously derided as a 鈥渄eadly error,鈥� serving more than three years of a seven-year sentence. Richard鈥檚 brother, Carl Friedrich, was a noted physicist who worked with Werner Heisenberg in the Third Reich. Richard was in the German army during the war and went into business after. Serving the nation buttressed by a strong religious ethic was, in a sense, a family tradition.

Prior to his presidency, Weizs盲cker was a leading figure in the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) who did not shy away from the partisan give-and-take such a role demands. But he was always different. He never demonized his opposition, valued compromise as a political goal, and would break with his party to praise the accomplishments of political opponents if he believed they served constructive policies. He was a partner and supporter of Social Democratic Chancellor Willy Brandt鈥檚 Ostpolitik, which normalized relations with East Germany and Soviet sphere of influence. As a conservative, he championed social welfare programs to foster an egalitarian society, policies, in retrospect, that were essential to achieving the post-war German economic miracle. And as a devout protestant who took on leadership roles in his church, he was a consistent champion of pluralism.

This long-forgotten, out-of-print volume, Die deutsche Geschichte geht weiter (German History Goes On), was released in 1983, the year before he became president. The collection of speeches presented at various venues ranging from political, religious, and commemorative functions and parliamentary debates (with audience reactions) are surprisingly comprehensive and, at times, intellectually and politically rousing. Intended to educate and remind Germans about the man who would easily be elected president by all German parties in 1984, today it is a time capsule of sorts that constructive decency truly was once a part of political life. Rather than discuss individual pieces, I have translated a selection below to provide a sampling of the wisdom and inspiration they contain (proviso: any clumsiness in English translation is my responsibility alone; the German original is eloquent and incisive).

As global citizens, we are as far removed from constructive politics and governing鈥攅verywhere鈥攁s we have ever been in the past century. Selfishness, arrogance, and absolute senses of entitlement have bred an inability to compromise and see other human beings as human beings with fundamental needs and rights. Weizs盲cker never donned such blinders in his private and public life.

During the turmoil of the Watergate crisis and OPEC-caused oil shortages during the mid-1970s, the American rock group Chicago released a single with the lyric, 鈥淎merican needs you, Harry Truman.鈥� Although few remember him today and the lyricism would certainly be odd, now, more than ever, the song we need is: 鈥淭he world needs you, Richard von Weizs盲cker.鈥�

(As a lowly staffer in the U.S. Senate, I had the privilege of attending a speech Weizs盲cker gave at the U.S. House of Representatives鈥攍iterally sitting in the middle of the floor thanks to a ticket provided to me by my boss鈥攊n 1992. It remains one of the most memorable moments of my life. Had I read this book before attending, I might have been screaming like a girl at the Ed Sullivan theater when The Beatles performed.)

鈥濪er Staat hat die Aufgabe, das Gemeinwohl zu sichern. Kernst眉ck seiner T盲tigkeit sind Ma脽nahmen ausgleichender Gerechtigkeit zugunsten derer, die sich selbst nicht ausreichend helfen k枚nnen. Die Verantwortung f眉r eine gerechte Gesellschaft liegt bei ihm. Aber die Macht, dieser Verantwortung gerecht zu werden, entgleitet ihm mehr und mehr.鈥�

鈥淭he state has the duty to secure the common good. The essence of its obligations are to balance measures of justice to benefit those who are not able to sufficiently help themselves. The responsibility to be just lies with it. But the responsibility to exercise this power fairly slips away more and more.鈥�

鈥濫s gilt doch zu verhindern, da脽 in irgendeinem Bundesland unsere Kinder durch radikale Lehrer zur Intoleranz erzogen werden k枚nnen.鈥�

鈥淚t is obvious we must prevent, in any state, that our children might possibly be taught by radical teachers.鈥�

鈥濪ie Bundesrepublik Deutschland erwarb sich ihre politische Handlungsf盲higkeit nicht zuletzt deshalb, weil es eine pragmatische Allianz quer durch die Partien gab. Pragmatische Politik bedeutet nicht, auf grunds盲tzliche Orientierung zu verzichten, wohl aber sich gegen eine ideologische Fixierung der Programme auszusprechen. Denn diese machen zum Kompromi脽 und damit zur Demokratie unf盲hig. Politische Heilslehren f眉hren zur totalit盲ren Rechthaberei. Pragmatische Politik dagegen ist der heilsame Zwang zur Konzentration der Werte und Ziele auf die F盲higkeit zur Entscheidung.鈥�

鈥淭he Federal Republic of Germany earned its political capacity to act in no small part because of pragmatic alliances running through all parties. Pragmatic politics does not mean renouncing fundamental bearings, but rather to be against pronouncements of ideological fixations of agendas. Because these make compromise, and therefore democracy itself, impossible. Political doctrines lead to totalitarian dogmatism. Pragmatic politics is, on the other hand, concentrate the healing obligations of values and goals on the capacity to decide.鈥�

鈥濻ozialleistungen sind heute nicht Almosen, sondern Rechtsanspr眉che. Das ist ihr gro脽er Fortschritt.鈥�

鈥淪ocial welfare benefits today are not charity, but rather legal rights. That is their greatest accomplishment.鈥�

鈥濪em Menschen droht, kaum da脽 er der alten Objektrolle entronnen ist, eine neue: zum Objekt des Kollektivs zu werden鈥enn es gibt keine totalen Antworten, sondern h枚chstens totalit盲re, die wir nicht wollen. Es geht vielmehr um Etappen und Schritte auf dem Weg zu Freiheit.鈥�

鈥淲hat threatens the individual is not losing the role of being the object, it is a new one: to become an object of a collective鈥ecause there are no total answers, at best totalitarian, which we don鈥檛 want. It is more about stages and steps on the way to freedom.鈥�

鈥濪ie Weimarer Republik ist nicht gescheitert, weil es zu viele Nazis gegeben hatte, sondern zu wenig wirklich 眉berzeugte Demokraten鈥u wenige Deutsche waren es gewesen, die den Ausgang des Ersten Weltkrieges und den 脺bergang zur Weimarer Republik innerlich angenommen hatten鈥ie lie脽en die Menschen allm盲hlich den Glauben verlieren, da脽 die Republik imstande sei, einem Chaos zu wehren.鈥�

鈥淭he Weimar Republic did not fail because there were too many Nazis, but rather too few genuine, committed democrats鈥oo few Germans inwardly accepted the results of the first World War and the transition to the Weimar Republic鈥hey let the people gradually lose belief that the Republic was in a position to defend against chaos.鈥�

鈥濿er die moralische Basis seiner Politik nicht klarzumachen wei脽, macht schlechte Politik. Moral auch im Sinn der Vers枚hnung ist nicht auf das pers枚nlich mitmenschliche Verh盲ltnis beschr盲nkt, sondern geh枚rt auch zu den Elementen staatlicher Beziehungen.鈥�

鈥淭hose who don鈥檛 know how to make the moral basis of their policy clear, make bad policy. Morality, even in the sense of reconciliation, is not just limited to personal relationships, but rather also belongs to the elements of state relations.鈥�

鈥濻owjetische Politik gegen眉ber Europa ist bei der alten russischen Tradition geblieben: Es geht um die langfristige und geduldig ins Werk gesetzte Ausdehnung des politischen Einflusses鈥as den Kreml vor allem beunruhigt, ist der Gedanke an einen echten Machzuwachs Westeuropas.鈥�

鈥淪oviet policy with respect to Europe has abided by an old Russian tradition: It鈥檚 about the process of long-term and patient expansion of political influence鈥hat worries the Kremlin the most is the idea of an actual increase of power in western Europe.

鈥濪ie Frage nach ihrer Identit盲t und Nation hat den Deutschen noch nie allein geh枚rt.鈥�

鈥淭he question of their own identity and nation has never belonged to Germans alone.鈥�

鈥濿er nicht wei脽, wo er auf die Dauer hingeh枚rt, wird auch keine F盲higkeit und Bereitschaft entwickeln, sich einzugliedern.鈥�

鈥淭hose who don鈥檛 know where they belong in the long run will also never develop the ability and readiness to integrate.鈥�

...more

骋搁贰骋鈥橲 2024 BOOKS

it was amazing

The Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee

The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright

Conspiracies of Conspiracies by Thomas Milan Konda

Rebell im Ma脽anzug. Leonhard Frank by Katharina Rudolph

it was amazing

Old Truths and New Clich茅s by Isaac Bashevis Singer

The Injustice Never Leaves You by Monica Mu帽oz Martinez

Das D眉rrenmatt Lesebuch. by Friedrich D眉rrenmatt

Going for the Cure by Francesca Morosani Thompson

it was amazing

Hinrichtungen im Strafgef盲ngnis Pl枚tzensee by Stiftung Gedenkst盲tte Deuts...

The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin

Haut ab! Des iss unner Feuer! by Wilhelm Wolpert

GEO Epoche Nr. 52 - Otto von Bismarck by Michael Schaper

A Sense of the Mysterious by Alan Lightman

The Luck of the Bodkins by P.G. Wodehouse

it was amazing

The Devil鈥檚 Dictionary / Tales, & Memoirs by Ambrose Bierce

it was amazing

The Statecraft of Machiavelli by Herbert Butterfield

The Unnamable Present by Roberto Calasso

it was amazing

Rash艒mon and Seventeen Other Stories by Ry奴nosuke Akutagawa

Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPherson

it was amazing

Dr. Arnulf Schmitz-Zceisczyk by Gerhard Polt

Greg鈥檚 last review of the year

it was amazing

After reading this last New Year's Eve (2023), I resolved to make it annual tradition. Now in year two, it still seems like a good idea.

In just a few pages, Gerhard Polt's genius emerges once again, this time in the form of a nouveau riche German from northern Germany who tries to "keep up with the Joneses" by buying into a wealthy community south of Munich. And through the bits we learn through him, his wife and his new neighbors, as a "foreigne ...more

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