These dreams are full of portent: Werner Herzog reads Madeline

Werner Herzog movies will take you aback, and can make you gasp and even mutter to your significant other sitting next to you, equally astonished by what you have just seen, but the man himself in conversation is no less startling and perhaps even more memorable. 

In conversation with Pico Iyer this past Wednesday at UC Santa Barbara, Herzog said that he thought that despite his love for cinema, and his great accomplishments in the form, it's possible that he was a better writer than he was a filmmaker. 

After seeing him this past evening, I think he might be right. Must read his just-released Conquest of the Useless, a book of diaries, and will do so asap. 

Don't believe that he could be that memorable as a writer or speaker? 

We, here's the simplest possible example of his verbal genius: Herzog reads Madeline. 

I guarantee you, you will never forget this reading of a book you thought you knew. 

(More on Herzog's thoughts on our future… soon.)

h/t: Nancy Rommelman