Danube - Hardcover

Magris, Claudio

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374134650 ISBN 13: 9780374134655

Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1989

Synopsis

An Italian critic of culture recounts both his personal adventures and ancient lore and literature surrounding the Danube River and Middle European civilization, including references to Kafka, Freud, Marcus Aurelius, and Ovid

About this title

Review:

This is a very Italian book, reminiscent of Italo Calvino or Roberto Calasso. Part history, part philosophy, part travelogue and literature in the richest, most amply rewarding sense. Writing with tremendous exuberance, Claudio Magris has produced a paean to what Hölderlin called "the river of melody"--the Danube, Europe's main artery, and the heart of that elusive but fascinating zone known as Mitteleuropa. Magris is certainly erudite, and not afraid of displaying his erudition, but he also has a fine sense of humour and an eye for the absurd. According to one eminent sedimentologist, he tells us, the source of the Danube is a leaky tap in a remote mountain farmhouse. And of course, the one colour it isn't, ever, is blue. The Hungarians call it blond, apparently. "Muddy yellow" might be more accurate, says the author. His greatest passion, however, is people: poets, singers, murderers, emperors, Dracula, Kafka, Wittgenstein, Josef Mengele--all human life is here. And it makes doubly fascinating reading for having been written back in 1986, when brutes like Ceaucescu were still in power and the iron curtain was still in place, though beginning to tremble slightly now in the wind of history. -- Christopher Hart

Review:

"A work of originality . . . This is the best introduction to the culture of Central Europe, its genius and its tragedy." --"The Daily Telegraph"

“A work of originality . . . This is the best introduction to the culture of Central Europe, its genius and its tragedy.” —"The Daily Telegraph"

A work of originality . . . This is the best introduction to the culture of Central Europe, its genius and its tragedy. The Daily Telegraph"

"A work of originality . . . This is the best introduction to the culture of Central Europe, its genius and its tragedy." --The Daily Telegraph

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0374134650
• ISBN 13: 9780374134655
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416