Literature
I spent my boyhood and youth mainly reading. Sports has never had enthused me. Of course, I undertook many things with my friends. I learned to swim quite early and I spent most of the summer at the nearby public baths. During the winter time, adventure books carried me off into the wide world.
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During the adolescence, I fastened myself onto the supernatural: metaphysics and parapsychology. I calculated horoscopes, laid Tarot cards, read the magical works by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim and purchased books about how to correspond with the dead, the aura, spirits and witchcraft, read Nostradamus and devoured the novels by Gustav Meyrink. Of course, I believed everything I read and was accordingly scared. This gave me the 'kick' other may seek with Bungee Jumping. Later, I got a bit more rational and changed to psychology. Jung, Freud, Adler were read, later I found Bachofen (who appears to be the root of them all). This was followed by Hesse, Nietsche and his teacher Schoppenhauer and that ones teacher Kant. I arrived at philosophy. |
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Away from the occident I read through the Indian (a bit sweet for my taste) and subsequently through the Chinese philosopy to which I felt quite attached because of its spiritual clarity. During that time, I got myself quite involved in the «Young Church», but quit the church in 1972 after I had seen enough.
For diversion I am reading mostly — but not exclusively — science fiction and fantasy novels. The most important authors writing in the English language are Isaac Asimov, Stephen R. Donaldson, J.R.R. Tolkien, Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. For pure literature, I prefer the German language and there is only one name for me: the greatest of them all is Goethe. Of course, there are may authors that I find excellent and, like Elias Canetti, many of them could be mentioned here.