"Sketchbook; Jünger as a Teutonic Beetle Knight"

by Matthew the Stoat

During the First World War I was still completely atheistic. I remember that one day I found myself in front of a trench under heavy fire. I had to cross it and thought that now a prayer would be appropriate. But I said to myself, "No, if I didn't care for the good Lord when all was well, it would be pathetic to claim His services now!"

(...)

So Miller despises the technical world and surrenders to Eros, but this is a snake biting its own tail. In other words, for me he has put the cart before the horse, insofar as sexuality takes a mechanical turn with him, which makes it lose all its charm. (...) It would be a real pity, by the way, to lose the appeal of a certain veiling.

Every nation has its Hercules, the Germans have Siegfried, the Scythians had Zalmoxis; I felt that we were coming to an agreement with Eliade. I wrote to him and we met in Switzerland; he was very cordial and agreed to the idea, so we managed the magazine together for twelve years. I still feel his absence…he was, like many other Romanians, a very profound spirit, whom I appreciate very much. If I may make a side observation, I would like to say that Romania is the only nation in the East where my works are printed and where there is his magazine, "Secolul 20," published by very intelligent people. But now also in Poland… yes, Poland and Rumania are the two nations where the Western world has taken the strongest root, and both now have my "Marble Cliffs," which sold out immediately, so perhaps the situation is not quite so terrible.