Danube: Claudio Magris - Softcover

Magris, Claudio

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1784871311 ISBN 13: 9781784871314

Publisher: Vintage Classics, 2016

Synopsis

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY RICHARD FLANAGAN

In this fascinating journey Claudio Magris, whose knowledge is encyclopaedic and whose curiosity limitless, guides his reader from the source of the Danube in the Bavarian hills through Austro-Hungary and the Balkans to the Black Sea. Along the way he raises the ghosts that inhabit the houses and monuments - from Ovid to Kafka and Canetti - and in so doing sets his finger on the pulse of Central Europe, the vital crucible of a culture that draws on influences of East and West, of Christendom and Islam.

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:

"Impeccable... Magris, a guide of enormous modesty, has not only read everything: he has been everywhere, met everybody" (Nicholas Shakespeare Arts and Books Review)

"There is so much to praise about this extraordinary book... Irresistably enjoyable" (Mark Thompson Literary Review)

"Not simply a masterpiece of travel; it is an odyssey... A splendid book, beautifully translated" (Independent)

"A uniquely stimulating and individual portrait of the heart of Europe" (Colin Thubron Sunday Telegraph)

"This book is full of wonder and delights...Magris writes beautifully; he seems to have read everything. His reading has not made just clever but wise. On almost every page there are passages that make the heart life... Danube is a masterpiece" (John Banville)

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage Classics
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1784871311
• ISBN 13: 9781784871314
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 432