Category Archives: literature

Hungary: A cultural scene in a state of crisis

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“The situation is desperate, but not serious” is the final sentence of this excellent New Yorker article detailing responses to the growing neo-Facist political control of Hungarian culture; For example, Nobel laureate Imre Kertesz–whose most famous novel is a semi-autobiographical account of surviving Auchwitz– had decided to give his archives to Germany instead of the land of his birth, Hungary:

January 8, 2013

THE FRIGHTENING HUNGARIAN CRACKDOWN

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In November, 2012, the Nobel prize-winning novelist Imre Kertész announced his retirement. The writer, who as a fourteen year-old was transported to Auschwitz, has become one of Europe’s most eloquent and respected literary witnesses to the Holocaust. In books such as “Fateless” and “Kaddish for an Unborn Child,” he has made the paradoxical case that “the concentration camp is imaginable only and exclusively as literature, never as reality—not even—or rather least of all—when we have directly experienced it.” Since his working life has been devoted to this act of imagination, his decision to house his archive not in his native Hungary but, rather, in Germany appears to be a profound gesture of reconciliation. Yet, when I said so on Twitter, a Hungarian writer friend e-mailed to tell me that Kertész’s decision was also driven by more negative concerns:

I’m afraid there is something more to it: he has also good reasons to believe that in Hungary his legacy wouldn’t be treated with as much respect as in Germany, as he is regarded by the current political elite as an “unHungarian” and then I’ve been euphemistic. For example, currently his work is not part of the Hungarian national education programme, due to some changes in school material in which, at the same time, three famously antisemitic writers have been included.

My friend has asked to remain anonymous, as he fears that if he is publicly identified as a critic of the government it could cause problems for him and the company where he works. His fears appear to be well founded. Across Hungary, the cultural scene is in a state of crisis.

 

Why it is OK brain cells die–from Nicholson Baker’s The Mezzanine

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I hope you enjoyed that passage as much as I did on my commute this morning. The third of Nicholson Baker’s books I’ve read, this one traces a man’s trip up an escalator in 134 pages. I’m only at Chapter 3, but nothing has happened yet. Rather it’s a discursive exploration of consciousness that’s I hope lives up to The Anthologist.

And next time you’re hungover, just say to yourself, “No, I don’t give a shit who introduced the sweet potato to North America.” (See point b)

The Anthologist, a Plummy Read

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I can’t remember the last time I wrote about a novel, but then again I can’t remember that last time I picked up such a good novel. The Anthologist by Nicholson Baker is a simple story told in a great voice that is incredibly appealing.

Told from the point of view of Paul Chowder, a sometime poet writing an introduction to an anthology of rhyming poetry, the story unfolds into one of intimate, blind self-destruction. Paul narrates his lawnmowing, his girlfriend leaving him, cleaning up the office, and about the difficulty of writing the introduction. He is overwhelmed by the task and can’t write the introduction. Even when his girlfriend leaves him because of it, he can’t write the introduction. Yet in the process the reader hears him narrate about English poetry: about rhyme schemes and past poets and why it all matters. This becomes maddening because it’s the very stuff of an introduction.

It’s both about the history of poetry and the creative process; It has a great narrative voice; Of course I loved it in the first five pages. I love poetry, and this might be as close as fiction as meta-poetry comes. The author (lucky me!) has a backlist, so I think I know what I’ll be reading after Lolita. Next time you’re searching about for a good read, check it out.