Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming

Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming (Hungarian: Báró Wenckheim hazatér) is a 2016 novel by László Krasznahorkai. Originally published in Hungarian by Magvető, it was later translated to English by Ottilie Mulzet and published in 2019 by New Directions Publishing. The novel employs an experimental structure, with pages-long sentences and unbroken paragraphs.

Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming
First edition cover (Hungary)
AuthorLászló Krasznahorkai
Original titleBáró Wenckheim hazatér
TranslatorOttilie Mulzet
CountryHungary
LanguageHungarian
GenreExperimental
Set inHungary
PublisherMagvető
Publication date
September 2016[1]
Published in English
24 September 2019
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages512[1]
Awards
ISBN978-963-14-3415-6 [1]
894/.51134
LC ClassPH3281.K8866 B37 2016

Mulzet's translation won the 2019 National Book Award for Translated Literature.[2][3] The novel also won the 2017 Aegon Prize.[4]

Background

In an interview with Asymptote, Krasznahorkai described the novel as a "cadenza" for his previous novels.[5] In an interview with The Paris Review, Krasznahorkai explained:[6]

I've said it a thousand times that I always wanted to write just one book. I wasn't satisfied with the first, and that's why I wrote the second. I wasn’t satisfied with the second, so I wrote the third, and so on. Now, with Baron, I can close this story. With this novel I can prove that I really wrote just one book in my life. This is the book—Satantango, Melancholy, War and War, and Baron. This is my one book.

As with Sátántangó, The Melancholy of Resistance, and War and War, Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming features a small Hungarian town which mirrors Krasznahorkai's hometown Gyula.[7]

Plot

Baron Béla Wenckheim, a 64-year-old Hungarian man, returns to his hometown after collecting a large gambling debt in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he was living in exile. He hopes to reunite with his childhood sweetheart Marika. However, upon hearing of his coming arrival the townspeople believe Baron Wenckheim possesses great wealth which he will bequeath to the town.[7][8]

Style

The novel employs an experimental structure, with pages-long sentences and unbroken paragraphs.[9]

Publication

The novel was published in Hungarian by Magvető in September 2016.[1] It was translated into English by Ottilie Mulzet and published on 24 September 2019 by New Directions Publishing.[10]

Reception

Publishers Weekly gave the novel a rave review, comparing it to Krasznahorkai's Sátántangó and writing, "This vortex of a novel compares neatly with Dostoevsky and shows Krasznahorkai at the absolute summit of his decades-long project."[11]

Kirkus Reviews gave the novel a positive review, writing, "A challenge for readers unused to endless sentences and unbroken paragraphs but worth the slog for its wealth of ideas."[9]

Writing for The Paris Review, Dustin Illingworth praised the novel, writing, "Baron Wenkcheim's Homecoming is a fitting capstone to Krasznahorkai's tetralogy, one of the supreme achievements of contemporary literature. Now seems as good a time as any to name him among our greatest living novelists."[6]

Andrew Singer of Trafika Europe, published in World Literature Today, gave the novel a mixed review, criticizing its prose structure and concluding, "there are even startlingly wise lessons hiding in this work—yet the overall execution feels lazy, like a draft."[12]

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References
  1. "Báró Wenckheim hazatér". Magvető Kiadó. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  2. "Susan Choi, Sarah M. Broom win National Book Awards". Associated Press. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  3. Dwyer, Colin (20 November 2019). "National Book Awards Handed To Susan Choi, Arthur Sze And More". NPR. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  4. "László Krasznahorkai is the winner of the Aegon Prize". Litera.hu. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  5. Szegő, János (October 2016). Krakkó, Eszter (ed.). "An interview with László Krasznahorkai". Asymptote. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  6. Illingworth, Dustin (18 September 2019). "The Obsessive Fictions of László Krasznahorkai". The Paris Review. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  7. Auerbach, David (26 September 2019). "László Krasznahorkai's Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming". Music & Literature. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  8. Perets, Ethan (25 October 2019). "The Magyar Monarch of Modern Literature Looks Home". Yale Daily News. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  9. "Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming by László Krasznahorkai ; translated by Ottilie Mulzet". Kirkus Reviews. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  10. "Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming". New Directions Publishing. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  11. "Fiction Book Review: Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming by László Krasznahorkai, trans. from the Hungarian by Ottilie Mulzet". Publishers Weekly. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  12. Singer, Andrew. "Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming by László Krasznahorkai". Trafika Europe. World Literature Today. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
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