The Birth Of A Nation Book

His documentaries are still strong, but Herzog the person has started to lapse into self-parody thanks to Youtube readings of "Green Eggs and Ham," etc. It's easy to imagine his journal chronicling the torturous making of "Fitzcarraldo" would be chock full of madly hilarious Germanic ravings and pronouncements on the maniacal cruelty of nature and hairbrained insanity of the universe - but in fact this is a nuanced, affecting, microscopically observant, and sometimes visionary account of the inner and outer landscapes Herzog navigated during his epic filmmaking project in the jungle.

Those who have read the equally wonderful "Of Walking In Ice" know that Herzog is a superb stylist and his written voice is far richer than his relatively one-dimensional public persona. These entries are dense with physical and poetic detail, crafted to capture at least a sideways glance of those sensations which tend to elude language. As the book progresses, it would be helpful to be familiar with the movie but it's not strictly necessary. These dark ruminations and unflinching observations are their own reward.

And for those who crave the crazier Herzog, here are some prime bits of jungle madness:

"At the market I ate a piece a grilled monkey - it looked like a naked child."

"Our speedboat is stranded with gasket failure. The boatman forgot to take along spare parts and tools and is now waiting for a miraculous intervention that might revive the engine. Sweat, storm clouds overhead, sleeping dogs. There is a smell of stale urine. In my soup, ants and bugs were swimming among the globules of fat. Lord Almighty, send us an earthquake."

"For a moment the feeling crept over me that my work, my vision, is going to destroy me and for a fleeting moment I let myself take a long, hard look at myself, something I would not otherwise do - out of instinct, on principle, out of self-preservation - look at myself with objective curiosity to see whether my vision has not destroyed me already. I found it comforting to note that I was still breathing."

"Seen from the plane, the sheer expanse of jungle is terrifying: no one who has not been there can picture it. We do not need virtuosos of syntax."