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donate Summary of Zeszyty Literackie 96 (2006)
Issue 96 of Zeszyty Literackie focuses on Sandor Marai. It contains a selection of his writings and a series of articles and essays on him. Born in Kassa (Koszyce) to a German father, Marai was a child of the empire, and of the empire at a time when it seemed powerful. "Fifty million people found their security in the feeling that their emperor was in bed every night before midnight and up again before five, sitting by candlelight at his desk in an American rush-bottomed chair, while everyone else who had pledged their loyalty to him was obeying the customs and the laws" (Land, Land: A Memoir).
Marai spent his childhood and early youth in the city where he was born, and though the rest of his later life was spent far from that home, his feeling of initial rootedness in place and in history was strong. He always looked over his shoulder at the past. He believed in civilization. However, he constantly reminds his readers that the social fabric is fragile and we must be watchful. He was an observer of the movements of twentieth-century European life.
In his controversial essay on Marai, J.M. Coetzee writes that it may be the flow in Marai's prose that makes it so dominated by general blight. "In 'Embers' nothing much happens [...] The novella is really a vehicle for Henrik to ponder aloud the mutations of jealousy and to speak his thoughts on life; it reads like a sometimes clumsy description of a stage play."
"Under water", an essay by Adam Zagajewski, has a fundamental quality of dynamism. Commenting on Miquel Barcello's art, Zagajewski notices that it has a vivid life of its own. This quality is rare in modern art.
The quarterly also dedicates a section to Stanislaw Baranczak. The distinguished poet was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Jagiellonian and, due to health reasons, his award celebrations were held at Harvard University.
Also to look out for: Roberto Salvadori, Andrzej Stasiuk, and Mariusz Wilk on Marai; Tomasz Cyz on Mozart; and Krzysztof Michalski on Nietzsche's philosophy.
Published 2007-04-11
Original in English
Contributed by Zeszyty Literackie
© Zeszyty Literackie
© Eurozine
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