I think they have a very fandom type relationship to European history without a stake in it. That's why they love Erpenbeck too. Because those are basically European history fanfiction. Light, often formally interesting, good to read, ironic etc
Somewhere in his stories he writes: "Memory is the art of forgetting" - and this seeming paradox demonstrates the way Krasznahorkai deals with history: often by engaging its underbelly, underlying emotions and connections.
Congratulations to László Krasznahorkai. A frequently great, sometimes excellent novelist who is absolutely deserving of the award. His most recent translated novel isn't his best but that's par for the course for Nobel winners. In his best writing he deals with fears and terrors embedded in history
I really deeply hope Christian Kracht doesn't win the #NobelPrize today. Not because he is a bad writer. Because what anglophone critics consider playful engagement with German history reads very different to Germans where he's become one of the new neo-Nazi Intelligentsia's favorite novelists.
Sometimes people have such appalling aesthetic opinions you feel like maybe you should stage an intervention. I mean of course taste is subjective but DEAR lord.
a heartwarming story of how being an unethical and talentless hack is no barrier to success when you are willing to endlessly flatter the wretched views of rich dipshits
For anyone talking about how the American right believes in honoring deaths: the memorial that marks the spot where Emmett Till's body was found had to be replaced with bulletproof steel, because white people kept shooting it.
