Some years ago I went to a dance in a University hall of residence, and in the library I came across a book called Auto da Fé by Elias Canetti. I had heard about this book but never seen it before. I knew nothing about Canetti, except what I had read in an essay by Professor John Isaacs. He called the book 'one of the great novels of the century; a book of giant stature'. So I had to read it. I borrowed this copy and read it and was overwhelmed by its power and range and penetration. I thought I'd write something about it. But nobody could tell me anything about Canetti. I should mention that Auto da Fé is a translation from the German. For some time I couldn't even find out what the German title was. It's called Die Blendung. And how did it come about that a man with a name like Canetti wrote in German? Nobody seemed to know. Should I perhaps write to him? One of my friends said: ...