Writes John Self, in "Who is Laszlo Krasznahorkai, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature? Everything you need to know about this year’s winner and his apocalyptically gloomy novels" (London Times).
"His best-known novel is his debut, Satantango (1985), about a 'devil' figure who arrives in an apocalyptically dilapidated Hungarian village. It took me three goes to get through it but, even when I struggled, I admired the weird rhythms of its sentences... and its bolshy refusal to compromise on its bleak vision. If you can’t stomach the book, you could always try the film adaptation, although at almost seven and a half hours it is not much less gruelling...."
"Satantango"... I thought it said Santiago. But no, it's in Hungary. Satan Tango.
Posts
9 comments:
I bet this guy is somehow related to our own Laslo Spatula.
Gazans and Israelis both cheering Trump by name in the streets, and our Leftists are in the street screaming "F*ck Trump".
Satan is the only explanation, I don't even believe in the dude is real.
after a run of more approachable writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Abdulrazak Gurnah and Annie Ernaux?
How did Dylan not make this list??
"This Vladimir Brusiloff to whom I have referred was the famous Russian novelist... Vladimir specialized in grey studies of hopeless misery, where nothing happened till page three hundred and eighty, when the muzhik decided to commit suicide." --P.G. Wodehouse, "The Clicking of Cuthbert"
The Times write up was interesting. Nothing on his Jewish background which would seem rather important. Otherwise, there doesn't seem to be much that would justify his getting the prize, and by-passing 50 other talented writers.
Sidenote: If you want to read more know more Jewish authors (mostly non-fiction) go to the website "Jewish Book Council", they have a big list.
I can't say I've closely followed the literature prize, but I do find myself wondering how often someone wins who is not writing apocalyptically gloomy material.
After reading some Jon fosse, I think Laszlo might be more "approachable". At least they have punctuation.
I heard of Pinter's plays described as dark comedy or satire, but the Nobel Prize committee says "" his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms"
Its unclear whether Pinter's plays use a crowbar or an axe.
Post a Comment
Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 2 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith.