I remember describing her essays for the LRB as more stand-up than literary criticism. So, I'm grateful to Kevin Power for the assurance that "unless you're a Lockwood fan, you will, as you read, feel that specifically contemporary feeling: that this book was written for . . . Someone Who Isn't Me."

The film version is great too. I was able to watch it at a cinema a couple of years ago.

My view is that Satantango is the easiest way into his work. If that appeals to you, you're on your way!

I'm a big fan of long books. I've just finished a novel of c. 800 pages. It was the third one of that sort of length in recent months.

Yes, I wish I had the time to read the books in order of original publication. The Melancholy of Resistance was the first novel I read, followed by War & War, so it was a big surprise to find some light in Seiobo, especially that first chapter about observing an egret.

I agree with you about Seiobo. It has something of all his tendencies.

I'm delighted to hear that you bought the books. Maybe now is a good time to try one of the shorter ones? They are distinctly different from the longer books.

Krasznahorkai has said of his work: ‘You will never go wrong anticipating doom in my books, any more than you’ll go wrong in anticipating doom in ordinary life.’

In 2012, we recorded a 94-minute conversation with Colm Tóibín for our Bookshop podcast:

www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/podcasts-vid...

Great news.

First interview with Krasznahorkai after winning the Nobel.

youtu.be/cM7Pwsu2L8s?...

Thanks, Martin.

Hear, hear!

That's nice to know.

I'll be dancing with a breadstick on my head later!

Absolutely! It's great to see him getting the prize at last. I was a bit emotional when I saw the announcement.

I felt a lump in my throat when it was announced that László Krasznahorkai had won this year's Nobel Prize in Literature. I love his books and have reviewed four of his novels for The Irish Times.
Many thanks to @martindoyle.bsky.social for allowing me to do so.
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...

I'll be reviewing it.

It's a great day to remember how important a translator like @ottiliemulzet.bsky.social is for those of us who can only read in English.
Without her superb translations, we would have missed so much of the great work of László Krasznahorkai.

I took this picture of Olga and László in London in 2018. Congrats to Krasznahorkai and his translators, including George Szirtes and @ottiliemulzet.bsky.social, and long live a Central Europe free of dictators (foreign and domestic) and full of magnificent minds like these!

Some fascinating items from “Out of the Box”, an exhibition of 75 years of the archives of the Akademie der Künste Berlin. The exhibition runs until January 2026, and we start with the Tin Drum from movie and novel with the same name.

It would be amazing if Greta Thunberg were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. She fully deserves it.
But I'll settle for some obscure person or organisation resposible for doing great work.
Anybody except the person who most wants it.

You're very welcome, Gary.

A great shop that’s so supportivr of writers, and run by the best people. They’re open today if you’re passing, or you can buy a book via their website. @booksupstairs.bsky.social www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/20...

Buy books !

(And who sets book shops on fire? 🤔