Ernst Jünger's Storm of Steel

started it this last weekend too, already had read On Pain and really liked the ideas he was putting forth in it, really like it so far
the foreword of the copy i have says it's a dry humorless book but there are some legitimately funny points in the book junger just has a more grim and ironic sense of humor, especially considering the subject matter

>tfw you will never be an aloof semi-aristocratic crypto-neet

I can at least dream, can't I?

Absolutely. His ability to find humor in everything is amazing. I could just imagine the shit eating grin he and his friend had on their faces when joking about the artillery at Les Esparges not being like Perthe.

The best literature/philosophy podcast on the web, Kulturkampf, did its latest show on this book:

spreaker.com/user/kulturkampf/kulturkampf-episode-55-storm-of-steel

Thanks, I'll check it out.

I was going to laugh first but now it's just sad that you'd think that way. A point made throughout the novel is that war itself is just, that war is *the* expression of the clash of interests, ideologies, peoples, it's the self realization of man. That's his moral philosophy and political opinion and it's very apparent.

It's really funny at points and while this might suffer in the translation I loved seeing these characters with all the charm of their respective home regions. I've heard lefties call this dry, boring and not prosaically pretty often enough, I think they just don't want to get it.

Read it a while back, didn't find it as good as All quiet on the Western front. I didn't really like the main character, some things were interesting but I didn't like his attitude.

Fair enough, though I still standing what I gleaned of it. I agree on the idea of war being *the* conflict of interests and ideas, as the realization of man, but at no point did I really think the idea ot war being just came into question. War is just as much nature as the changing of seasons. Just and unjust have no bearing on it.

I've not read All Quiet on the Western Front recently enough to say whether I think it or Storm of Steel the better book, but it's certainly one of the few other pieces of literature I think captures a similarly raw perspective on the war.

And personally I found Ernst to be quite an endearing character in his own, dark and dry sort of way.

>with no political opinions
Because Penguin edited it out

All quiet is soppy drivel written by someone who didn't see the front for more than a month. It's kind of pathetic.

What exactly did they edit out?

It was 2 months iirc. But yeah, it's pretty shit.

>was going to post my Ernst Junger copypasta that I wrote yesterday
>nothing in this thread to take issue with
>don't want to ruin a nice thread

Penguin censored a shitload of stuff. Not just stuff about German nationalism but also I think they mixed his words about French civilians. I think there was a very untrustworthy guy who tried to screw him over at some point. All redacted. I'm a Francoboo too so this pisses me off simply because its censorship not because i want proof of frog perfidy

Thanks, will check it out.

Half of it was in reserve.

I thought Junger edited it out? I thought he made several editions of the novel each time going back and forth between his nationalism or not.

To my understanding this was the case. Seemingly with each new generation he would come back and make various edits, altering, adding, and removing things based on how important he thought they were to the story.

Another podcast with a Junger episode:

alwaysalreadypodcast.wordpress.com/2015/02/23/interview-with-kasina-entzi-on-ernst-junger/

>thinking that such a thing is even possible
shaggy doggy.
read a historiography textbook dumbass

Well, yes, true objectivity is impossible. A poor choice of words on my part. In revision, it is a mostly factual account whose ties to strong opinion are few and far between. Ernst provides, for the most part, an account of events with little insertion of personal feelings.

And how much he thought they would sell the book. Eg in the 30s there were two revisions that cut more of the "war sucks" stuff from it while also toning down the depictions of violence so that people don't get the idea that you might get horribly maimed in war or anything, while the post-war editions restored these parts.

The current Penguin release is from the final "Sämtliche Werke" 1978 revision btw.

I have this version (Howard Fertig, 1996). Anyone know if this has been heavily edited? I heard it was the best one to get.

It really pushes the "war is hell" meme that most Americans ascribe to because they're retarded (and the Americans only fought retardedly for nine months).

For the average soldier the war was, like all wars, boring.

I rather like the aesthetic as it captures the mood of the late Weimar period when Jünger was formulating the concept of the worker. The hordes of faceless soldiers are marching not only towards their doom but the annihilating power of technology itself represented by the early model tank. It is at this point that man realizes that we have entered the Titanic age.

I've seen quote of few of these Storm of Steel threads lately. As many others have pointed out, it seems that growing number of men are in desperate search of some form of heroic masculinity that will provide meaning in an age of banality. Granted, Storm of Steel is essential, but it does not do the author justice. I see it as a more of a precursor, a record of the period the that molded the man.

I am of the opinion that his postwar works are more important for our gneneration, especially his often cryptic criticism yet paradoxical acceptance of the technological age. For too often are those on the right intoxicated with his role in the "conservative revolution", speaking of him in the same breath as Evola. I suspect that if Jünger were alive today he would harbor some sympathies for the new right, but would ultimately reject their platform. Can one really halt the the world spirit?

Junger would probably reject the neu-right just because they're a bunch of wimps.

If only that legendary bastard had lived out of the 90's to do it straight up. I'd have loved to see him rip apart the neu-right.

>ascribe to

Subscribe. Apologies.

Stylistically the cover reminds me of some of Otto Dix's art. Not the war art, rather his (even more unsettling IMO) paintings of crippled soldiers and Weimar Germans.

You can see his move toward the figure of the anarch in the post-war period as a rejection of all forms. It is something that I've accepted as being better than the fizzled potential of mass politics. I look at the so called hard right figures like that poof Spencer and the opportunist charlatans like Peterson and fucking Cernovich etc. and I'm not really moved to want to participate. To opt out is a kind of pragmatic individualism. Like Junger says about authority, he craves it, but rejects it on the basis that it isn't actually authoritative. We're getting into Evola territory (someone who has been fucking ruined by spergs who think he wrote a self help book for racists) but we've really entered a period we just have to sit out. Might not be in our lifetime. junger thought it might come to a head in the 2200's. You just gotta sit and bide your time, don't draw a target on yourself and don't do anything stupid.

"Wherever possible, he plays his own game within their framework; this makes the fewest waves"

Actually in the 30s he cut out the more nationalistic statements because they were soured by the Nazis, that seems to be the opposite of selling well.

You haven't read it clearly, because war is boring is prevalent throughout the book and hell is short lived.

Why would anyone want to join the army in peacetime? Ze Germans aren't invading Norway again any time soon.

I find it funny because i read the book for political reasons (and personal, of course) but the fact that the book lacks on politics makes it better
It talks about war, about how to live under a battle, how to survive in a world of chaos, even if the war in itself wasn't justifible and if Junger rejected the war, it wouldn't change its physical aspects
And the fact that there is a little bit of nationalism, since he says how glorious is Germany and how he wants to fight, makes the war justifible, and still that nationalism isn't really a political one but a feeling
The book is great, one of the best i've ever read

Junger says the opposite, he shows that the worst moments are when there is nothing happening, and shows that boredom is a constant feeling at war
Go read the book ffs

Because it's your duty to prepare your body and mind for war, to become not just a defender but also a better, more disciplined citizen. As one who finds the men of old so admirable he should welcome the chance to participate in the Männerbund (get ass fucked in the shower).

I think Junger's character was more like a psycho, which made it hard to feel for him.

Remarque's character was much more human.

If duties still had any connection with rights I would be more sympathetic to this line of reasoning. I've heard they're going to start drafting women soon, what a joke.

This is the original cover btw

It's not a character, it's the author himself, it's real. And he's not a psycho, he's a Landsknecht. Remarque was a goddamn wuss who was in the trenches for one month before getting his ass blown off and never returning and his entire book is just anti war tearjerkers. It's really sad to see that we've gotten to a point where dealing with the reality of life and death with a stiff upper lip and some appropriate snark is a sign of an unhealthy mind.

Imagine being Ernst Junger in 2017 and having to be all like "damn, /pol/, you fuckin' fine, all sexy with your plebeian populism and horrific crypto-nazi NEET shitposting. I would totally identify as one of you, both my character and the real me." when all he really wants to do is fight another world war in his coffin. Like seriously imagine having to be Junger and not only sit in that grave while /pol/ flaunts its disgusting politics all over you, the favorable anonymity barely concealing the acne and morbid obesity, and just sit there, post after post, thread after thread, while they perfected that ideology. Not only having to tolerate its monstrous fucking visage but its haughty attitude as everyone on set tells her she's STILL GOT IT and DAMN, 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION LOOKS LIKE *THAT*?? because they're not the ones who have to sit there and watch its mannish fucking gremlin face contort into types of LARPing you didn't even know existed before that day. You've been fucking nothing but a healthy diet of blonde beasts and Prussian junkers and later alleged July 20 plot conspirators for your ENTIRE CAREER coming straight out of the boonies in Heidelberg. You've never even seen anything this fucking disgusting before, and now you swear you can taste the sweat that's breaking out on her dimpled trap stomach as she sucks it in to writhe it suggestively at you, smugly assured that you are enjoying the opportunity to sit there and revel in her "Western (for that is what she calls herself)" beauty, the beauty she worked so hard for with gaudy romantic painting threads in the previous months. And then OP calls for another "redpilled literature" thread, and you know you could kill every single person on this board before the janitors could put you down, but you sit there and endure, because you're fucking dead. You're not going to lose your salvation over this. Just bear it. Hide your face and bear it.

The Greeks seemed to think that war was a natural part of a man's life.

Well, then I guess Junger himself was a little bit of a psycho. That macho attitude and extreme fascination with gruesome wounds was boring to read, though I can see the appeal if you're into gore.

You sound like an edgy teenager who wants everyone to know how dangerous and cool you are for not flinching when you watch a scary movie.

The Greeks were also fond of fiddling with little boys' genitalia.

Holy fuck saved. If Junger gets memed by fags the same way they ruined Evola I will drive off a fucking bridge desu

Great post. America and Americans were a mistake.

They would probably find our sexual habits equally baffling.

That is the point I'm trying to make. The fact that people reference it as "war is hell" is the retardation.

Your post is a bit hyperbolic but excellent nonetheless.

its a copypasta moron

Anybody who liked "Storm of Steel" should give "The Passing Bells" by Phillip Rock a try. It starts out pretty lame, like some Jane Austen novel, but it gets really hardcore when the actual war begins. Easily as good as Jünger's book.

That bit where they're on this big advance, they're taking cover for a moment and one guy see a rabbit off in the distance and he pretends to shoot it and they all start laughing at the absurdity of it all

I don't know how any of you people think this is a good post. The person literally sounds deranged.

Junger was alive for most of the development of the New Right. He met de Benoist and probably read most of his work but kept a distance from it all mostly, his only connection was Mohler who disagreed with his post war position.

Don't make the mistake of confusing the French New Right with elements in the American Alt-Right which merely appropriated the term.

Macho attitude? Jünger? What have you been reading?

And yes, shockingly when you see death on a daily basis you tend not to flinch at it like a teenager watching a slasher movie. Funny how that works in humans.

No you said it, the book, pushes the meme, suggesting it's supporting that view.

>they're going to stop arbitrarily exempting half of their country's capable population from the draft, what a joke!

And shortly after that when he's on top of the trench in machine gun fire just laughing hysterically while one of his fellow officers in the assault is chasing a Tommie around with hand grenades, runs out, and just starts slinging lumps of mud at him

It is an autobiographical book, it is not some fictional character. And yes, Jünger was really that badass. He kept saying for the rest of his life how much he enjoyed the war.

>Jünger was really that badass.
It's been awhile since I've read it, but I wonder how much of it is exaggerated. Like the part where said he slept through an artillery barrage.

>American equality and American liberalism means total mobilisation of a population for war
really makes u think

He was wounded 14 times and got both of imperial Germany's highest awards so I'm inclined to trust him

Not to mention that, while many went on to die later, there was no shortage of people that served with him and could corroborate his deeds. The general infantry in particular seemed to think quite highly of him across the board.

I agree.

I think what I hate most about /p*l/ is how insane it seems to make people who stand opposed to it. Pole (or rather the locus of ideas associated with it) sucks but Jesus Christ has the boogeyman thereof elicited the most shrill, paranoid, delusional behavior. “Lest you too become a monster” and all that I guess. Fools can’t even think straight on Veeky Forums hardly any more.

Anyway storm of steel is great and it is very interesting that the people I find most enthusiastic for Jünger are post left anarchists and natsoc/fascist-adjacent or whatever . Maybe that’s telling, maybe not.

>missing the fact that the post parodies /pol/'s own insanity

Both of these groups seem like his perfect audience I'm not sure why you are surprised.

Have you never heard the Arnold True Lies copypasta? It's a meme, doofus

If you've suffered sensory overload and body fatigue in a war environment for such an extended period of time then it's not surprising at all

I idealize the military and the soldier but my country just stopped recruiting men so we can have 25% women
what would Junger do?

>"I idealize the military and the soldier"
>but but but but the only reason I don't actually join the military is because girls!

suuure buddy.

surprisingly it's rather difficult to join an institution which only wants women as a man

>but but but but I didn't join before the recruitment ratio changes because
>but but but but I'm not joining the Foreign Legion because

goddamn chickenhawks.

That’s the one I read and no, it hasn’t been edited. Good choice. Everyone else should read this one and only this one. I can’t even think of the book without the things that were edited out of other editions.

Considering Jünger deserted from the Foreign Legion I think he'll get a pass on that one.

I've been caught off guard by the way they pronounce Kulturkampf and the general air of white nationalist yank that seems to be oozing from their characters. Bad first impression or painful truth?

>he finds it surprising that alt-right retards are retards
Are you ok?

They discuss Jünger, Evola, Plato and the Illiad. You can be right wing without being a frog and roleplayer.

Every white nation was white nationalist until 50 years ago. Do you really think that since then there has been some transcendent shift toward progress and greater equality when every metric of society has been declining precipitously ever since? That's a jewish lie they used to gain power. The smartest men, and the men who will determine the future, know that and are white nationalists who understand that a new paradigm shift has occurred. It's impossible to be an intellectual today and to get the big picture if you don't understand the jewish problem.

Is there a solution to this problem?

Yeah, we have to remove the jews and the non-whites they imported into our countries.

If we remove them won't they just come back? I'm looking for a final solution of sorts here

So, hang on. Would all of the white midgets in the world be fighting against all the black midgets in the world?

They can't "come back" if people don't let them come back.

This is an unrealistic goal that would require incredible human and material costs. Adjust or self destruct. What has been accomplished cannot be undone. However, there is still time before the deluge to build a proverbial ark if your greatest concern is to protect the cultural legacy of European man.

I suspect Jünger would have regretted the loss of many aspects of Western culture. For instance, in the Glass Bees he continually laments the disappearance of chivalry in the wake of mechanization. However, he would despise any talk to "removal" as it would harken back to the darkest days of the war.

Though I am no leftist, one must really look drivers of the ever accelerating drive towards cosmopolitanism. It is unlikely that the mass migrations will end as long as capitalism persists in its current form. I believe in time we will reach a transition point once the global population begin trending downward, which will then in turn cause the the current economic model to break down. Yet it seems we are still some decades off from this. It is possible that this transition point will be one of the most significant events in human history. The question is will it be a "soft landing" or a catastrophe.

Until then, it would behoove us to follow the example of the Anarch, by biding our time and staying true to our authentic selves, nurturing and protecting the cultural legacy that each of us harbors. It also worth noting that we should also be having children to ensure that this legacy will continue after we die.

>Adjust or self destruct. What has been accomplished cannot be undone
BUllshit.

These people have all arrived in a short period of time and they can leave in the same amount of time. Whites are capable of large-scale feats much more complex than that, all that's lacking is the will.

Speaking strictly of Europe, who would you consider eligible for removal? You have a viable arugment for some of the recent arrivals from Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East & Central Asia. What about rooted communities? Ecuadorians in Spain? Turks in Germany? Indonesians in Holland? Not to mention the Gypsies, who have been on the continent for centuries, and the Jews who have had an integral role to play for millennia.

Controlling the deluge is certainly one of the key questions of our time. Africa must be managed. However a blanket statement about removing all "non-whites" is as ridiculous as it is stupid.

None of those people are Europeans and need to be encouraged to leave and ultimately removed, especially jews, who have been the main instigators of mass immigration policies.

> removing all "non-whites" is as ridiculous as it is stupid.

Not in the slightest. That is how it was until very recently. That is how it is by default. And that is the state to which it must ultimately return.