What other central european authors do you read?
 

I've personally enjoyed reading Bruno Schulz, Gustav Meyrink, Witold Gombrowicz, Thomas Bernhard and Ernst Jünger. Karel Capek (War with the Newts) and Miodrag Bulatovic (Gullo Gullo) are also among my favourites, as well as quite recently Max Blecher and Ladislav Klima. If it wasn't for TLO I would probably never have discovered Klima - Glorious Nemesis is a great work of art!

Any other recommendations for central european fiction or non-fiction (in the supernatural/weird tradition) would be much appreciated!

Regards,
Magnus

Re: What other central european authors do you read?
 

Leo Perutz.

Re: What other central european authors do you read?
 

The Writer in Her Writing - Selected Short Stories of Adelheid Duvanel. One of the stories is online here.
The Magician’s Garden and Other Stories or Opium and Other Stories (different titles, same book), by Géza Csáth.
Konrad Bayer
Unica Zürn
Georg Trakl

Re: What other central european authors do you read?
 

Hello,

I have to say you need a strong stomach for The Magician’s Garden and Other Stories or Opium and Other Stories (different titles, same book), by Géza Csáth which I reviewed via the link below.

http://siderealpressxtras.blogspot.c...ith-my_27.html

It is certainly not a book I EVER want to read again.

REGARDS!

J

Re: What other central european authors do you read?
 

Leo Perutz sounds exciting, I have to say. I wonder if By Night under the Stone Bridge would be a good place to start? Didn't Ligotti talk about this Geza Csath in an interview not long ago? Anyway, thanks for the recs.

Re: What other central european authors do you read?
 

check out little angel by Leonid Nikolaevich Andreyev

the thief by george heym

and of course stefan grabinski

i loved geza csath (and opium and magicians garden do contain different stories, theyre not the same volumes, at least the copies ive got)

Robert Walser's institute benjamenta is a fine book. the quay bros made a film, but havent seen it yet.

loved malpertuis by jean ray. this is a must-read

Re: What other central european authors do you read?
 

In Ligotti's Weird Fiction Review interview, he says about Csáth, "His stories often feature a similar mix of cruelly demented characters and morbid atmosphere associated with the tales of Edgar Allan Poe."

Terrible animal cruelty in Poe ("The Black Cat") does not horrify me in a bad way because it is so artfully written. I respond in a similar way to Csáth's stories.

The back cover of Opium and Other Stories says, "Originally published under the title The Magician's Garden and Other Stories", but apparently they changed the contents somewhat. Now I'm wondering how much the contents differ.

Re: What other central european authors do you read?
 

Good thread.
I guess Belgium isn't really central Europe, etc., but Malpertuis is excellent and everyone should read it.
Correct me if I'm wrong but it appears the Walser book is Jakob Von Gunten under another title- good news for those of us in the US, where the Serpent's Tail edition is pretty expensive.

Re: What other central european authors do you read?
 

I just ordered that. I very much enjoyed Heym's story in the Vandermeers' The Weird.

Re: What other central european authors do you read?
 

I'd like to know how the contents lists in the two Csath volumes differ, too.

Joseph Roth is somewhat obvious, but he hasn't been mentioned yet. He exists in Danish translation as well, but I have the impression you read in German as well, Magnus?

Hermann Ungar, whom VivaJune was kind enough to mention to me a few years back, is one of my favourites. Especially his The Maimed / Die Verstümmelten is a claustrophic, degrading masterpiece. Other works by him are not as claustrophobic, and not on quite the same level, but almost, and very well worth reading.

I'm currently reading Gregor von Rezzori's The Snows of Yesteryear (originally in German), which is a brilliant memoir about growing up in the former Austro-Hungarian empire, in the outskirts of Romania and in Austria, where the world - and norms - of the past still linger on, exposed in their silliness and brutality. I recommend it highly. I hope the rest of his work is equally captivating.

Norway isn't Central Europe, but Stig Sæterbakken's (he unfortunately hung himself half a year ago or so) Siamese (orig. Siamesisk) published in English by Dalkey Archive Press (and in Danish, should your Norwegian fail you), is a masterpiece, and is well worth picking up for readers of this thread.

While we're in Norway, Tor Ulven should be of high interest to you as well, Magnus, but you probably already know that. I doubt his works are translated into English.

Sandor Marai's Diaries 1984-1989 have not been translated into the English yet, I believe. However, they're available in Danish, and I urge you to seek them out at once. It chronicles his final years, the loss of his life companion, the loss of his stepson, the ails of old age and the loss of his sight, and is heartbreaking. I haven't read any of his novels, but a lot of them seem to in translation, and I think they'll be of interest.

The Penguin series Central European Classics is a fine series too. While not exactly obscure in their choice of books, it's still a very worthwhile effort. I've just started reading the series. Wasn't too captivated by the Mrozek volume, but others might be.
The Central European Classics Collection - 20% off - Penguin Classics UK Book Shop and Online Bookstore - Penguin Books

Slovenian writer Ivan Cankar's Martin Kacur: The Biography of an Idealist is recommendable too. It's not a surprising plot, but still, it's a very good novel: young, idealistic teacher with reform plans on behalf of the people on his mind, is crushed by the weight of the world and the self-same people he wishes to educated, thus ending in personal doom and degradation. I wish more by Cankar was translated into English, but I believe a lot of his works are available in German. The publisher in English of the aforementioned book, Central European University Press, seems to be worth giving a closer look, although I must admit - with regret - that I haven't done that yet.

Of writers I have yet to read, I have high hopes for Hans Henny Jahn and Peter Nadas, but as I haven't read them, I'll refrain from saying very much about them, other than they seem to be worth the effort.