Poland. That's where it all began. That was the crucible. Was it my Adam Ant dancing? W. remembers my Adam Ant dancing with special fondness. He could see I was a man of limited self-awareness who barely knew of the existence of shame. He admired my exuberance. W. sensed I had something he lacked, he says. And no doubt it was the same with me: I sensed he had something I lacked. Scholarly prowess, W. says. The respect of others.
It was a bit like what Hoelderlin said about the Greeks and the Germans, W. says. The Greeks had the divine fire, but lacked the capacity for rational thought, and the Germans had the capacity for rational thought, but lacked the divine fire. Was that it? It was in the letter to Boehlendorff, W. says. Anyway, he says, he had the capacity for sustained and sober scholarship, but lacked the shamelessness of the truly ignorant, while I lacked … well, it was clear what I lacked, W. says.
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