Re: _In Stahlgewittern_ - Origin of Booktitle

[Bertil Haggman <bertil.haggman@helsingborg.se>]

Umberto Rossi wrote:
> 
> > 2. Another reason might be that the word "Stahlsturm" is a
> > composite of two one-syllable-words both beginning with "st"
> > (therefore building an alliteration). For me as a German the word
> > "Stahlsturm" has a rather static, monolithic sound. "Stahlgewitter"
> > has a quite more dynamic melody and is therefore more fitting to
> > the subject of the book.
> 
> I was afraid to say that, but now that a native German speaker
> supports my stance, I'll tell you that the *sound* of Stahlgewittern is
> just wonderful. Having read a lot of WWI literature before beginning
> the original German version of J.'s memoir (I ignored everything
> about the Edda reference and the first title at that time), I
> remember I was struck by the title, its meaning, the sound of it, and
> thought:  "this is the Great War itself".  Lukacs' appreciation of
> the memoir later proved I was right.

Well, in the Nordic tradition
alliteration plays a grand role.
Thus Stahlsturm (Swedish Staalstorm)
sounds more poetic and grand to me. But
we are talking German literature
so I guess it is how Stahlgewittern
sounds to Germans that counts.

Bertil Haggman