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Sten Nadolny

Sten Nadolny, (born 29 July 1942, in Zehdenick, Province of Brandenburg) is a German novelist. His parents, Burkhard and Isabella Nadolny, were also writers.

His best known work is "The Discovery of Slowness" (1987; originally published in 1983 as "Die Entdeckung der Langsamkeit"), a fictionalized meditation on the life and lessons of British Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin. A pre-publication portion of the novel titled "Kopenhagen 1801" (which would become the fifth chapter) had earned Nadolny the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize in 1980.


“On Sunday, May 23rd, 1819, all of our people embarked..." "Our people?" But they went on board themselves, not just some other people that belong to them. So he'd better say "travelling party". No, "the men under my command". But that was also wrong, since the phrase didn't include him, and he had installed himself on the Prince of Wales at the same time. "I and the men" pleased him as little as "the men and I". "We embarked in full number" was inaccurate; the "entire party including my own person" discouraged reading. "On Sunday, May 23rd, 1819, our entire party led by me embarked..." - Well, now what?”
Sten Nadolny
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“We don't see the world as a botanist who is at the same time an architect, a physician, a geologist, and a ship's captain. Recognizing isn't at all like seeing; the two often don't even agree...”
Sten Nadolny
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