The Rings of Saturn

W. G. Sebald (1944-2001) - a German writer, poet, and literary historian, lecturer at the University of East Anglia, author of four novels and several collections of essays. The novel "The Rings of Saturn" was published in 1998.
"In August 1992,... when the summer heat had subsided, I set out on a walking journey through the county of Suffolk, hoping to rid myself of the feeling of emptiness that had engulfed me (after completing quite a large piece of work). This hope was fulfilled to some extent. I walked for whole days along the seashore past deserted villages, experiencing a strange sense of liberation.
However, on the other hand, it now seems to me justified the ancient superstition that under the sign of Sirius certain diseases of the soul and body become stuck in us. In any case, later I was tormented by memories.
Not only of the blissful freedom of movement but also of the horror that suddenly paralyzed me even in this remote area in the east of England at the sight of traces of destruction leading far into the past."