Marcel Reich-Ranicki
Marcel Reich-Ranicki, a Jew from Poland who became Germany’s foremost literary critic, died on September 18th, aged 93
THEY called him Literaturpapst, the “literature-pope”. For all his dislike of lazy metaphors, he did not contest that one. Marcel Reich-Ranicki revelled in fame—and in controversy. In the cautious, unctuous and back-scratching literary world of post-war West Germany, he liked to trade scratches face-to-face, with a snarling disdain which seemed only partly affected. He found literary theory and academic jargon as phoney as politeness. The right way to write was in crisp clear language, saying whether a book was good or bad, and why—and doing so with proper German words, not fancy foreign ones.
This article appeared in the Obituary section of the print edition under the headline “Marcel Reich-Ranicki”
Obituary September 28th 2013
From the September 28th 2013 edition
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