László Krasznahorkai’s collection of 21 stories, each about ‘speeding our body toward annihilation, and immersing ourselves in a current of thought’. Translated by Ottilie Muzlet, George Szirtes and John Batki.

An utterly astonishing collection of tales from the master of invention. A Hungarian interpreter obsessed with waterfalls, at the edge of the abyss in his own mind, wanders the chaotic streets of Shanghai. A traveller, reeling from the sights and sounds of Varanasi, encounters a giant of a man on the banks of the Ganges ranting on the nature of a single drop of water. A child labourer in a Portuguese marble quarry wanders off from work one day into a surreal realm alien from his daily toils…

Shortlisted
The Man Booker International Prize 2018
Published by
Tuskar Rock Press, Serpent's Tail
Publication date
László Krasznahorkai

László Krasznahorkai

About the Author

László Krasznahorkai is a Hungarian novelist and screenwriter known for difficult and demanding novels, often labeled postmodern, with dystopian and melancholic themes.
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Ottilie Mulzet

Ottilie Mulzet

About the Translator

Ottilie Mulzet was born in Toronto, Canada, in July 1960.

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George Szirtes

George Szirtes

About the Translator

George Szirtes is a poet, translator and biographer.
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John Batki

John Batki

About the Translator

John Batki was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1942.

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