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| | Books | The unquenchable spirit |
 | | Michael Hofmann places Friedrich Hölderlin among the immortals |
 | | Some people have the capacity to read exotic or old works of literature - pre 19th century, let's say - without, so to speak, night vision, or 3-D specs; without something to convert or adapt or enact what something means, how it feels, what it did; because they know it already, intuitively, themselves. |
 | | The German poet Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843) unquestionably belongs in the intense company of Shelley, Kleist, Novalis, Lenz and Büchner - even though (it was his misfortune) his life was twice as long as any of theirs. |
| books.guardian.co.uk /print/0,3858,5066259-110738,00.html (1050 words) |
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