Walking with Walser

In 1929, the Swiss German writer Robert Walser hid in a mental hospital and stayed away from the world for the rest of his life. In 1933, Walser closed the book. He said that he was not here to write, but to go crazy. If he wanted to write, he would not come here. He turned to another favorite activity: hiking. Starting in 1936, Carl Zelich visited regularly, walked with Walser, and wrote a diary, which became the only true record of Walser's last twenty years of life. During the long walk, Zelich entered the heart of the poet who had been silent for a long time, and Walser began to pour out his insights on life and literature again. On Christmas Day 1956, Walser died in the snow of the Alps, discovered first by a hunting dog, then by nearby farmers, and then by the entire world.