The scrawny fellow above is one Heinrich von Kleist born this day 1777, in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany. Don't feel too bad for the poor education that he received as a child, after all, the "von" in his name means he wasn't born into a poor family. Sometimes money is better than brains. He joined the Prussian army, from which he eventually retired in 1799 with the rank of lieutenant, after the army, he did what all shiftless, young men do, he went to university to study law, and philosophy. After a few years knocking about France, and Switzerland, he was arrested in 1807 as a French spy. That little side line got him six months in jail under close guard. Before all of this foolishness, he had penned a letter to his sister saying that "incomprehensible how a human being can live without a plan for his life." If only we all had a plan things might just work out better for us all in the long run. Then again, as you will soon see, maybe having a plan is not the answer after all. In his brief life von Kleist was considered one of the most important of the North German Romantics, and his writings have been consider masterful narratives. However, the plan went horribly wrong on November 18th- 1811, when von Kleist shot his "girlfriend" Henritta Vogel, then himself by the banks of Wannsee River. Seems that having a plan sometimes ends up in the same shit as the rest of us. However, for writing some lovely prose (good enough to get a literary award named for him), and for following his plan to the bitter end, Heinrich von Kleist, October 18th, 1777- November 18th 1811, at the age of 34), you are my hero of the day.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
We all need a Plan
The scrawny fellow above is one Heinrich von Kleist born this day 1777, in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany. Don't feel too bad for the poor education that he received as a child, after all, the "von" in his name means he wasn't born into a poor family. Sometimes money is better than brains. He joined the Prussian army, from which he eventually retired in 1799 with the rank of lieutenant, after the army, he did what all shiftless, young men do, he went to university to study law, and philosophy. After a few years knocking about France, and Switzerland, he was arrested in 1807 as a French spy. That little side line got him six months in jail under close guard. Before all of this foolishness, he had penned a letter to his sister saying that "incomprehensible how a human being can live without a plan for his life." If only we all had a plan things might just work out better for us all in the long run. Then again, as you will soon see, maybe having a plan is not the answer after all. In his brief life von Kleist was considered one of the most important of the North German Romantics, and his writings have been consider masterful narratives. However, the plan went horribly wrong on November 18th- 1811, when von Kleist shot his "girlfriend" Henritta Vogel, then himself by the banks of Wannsee River. Seems that having a plan sometimes ends up in the same shit as the rest of us. However, for writing some lovely prose (good enough to get a literary award named for him), and for following his plan to the bitter end, Heinrich von Kleist, October 18th, 1777- November 18th 1811, at the age of 34), you are my hero of the day.
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2 comments:
So, the guy murders a woman and makes it onto your hero list? What do you do for a living, again?
what i "do" for a living has nothing to do with it.
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