Home | Books By Year | Books from 2016
Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming
Buy Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the book. And once you've experienced the book, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming' is a 2016 novel by Lszl Krasznahorkai. Originally published in Hungarian by Magvet, 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.
Mulzet's translation won the 2019 National Book Award for Translated Literature. The novel also won the 2017 Aegon Prize.
Plot
Baron Bla 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.
Background
In an interview with 'Asymptote', Krasznahorkai described the novel as a "cadenza" for his previous novels. In an interview with 'The Paris Review', Krasznahorkai explained:
As with 'Stntang', 'The Melancholy of Resistance', and 'War and War', 'Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming' features a small Hungarian town which mirrors Krasznahorkai's hometown Gyula.
Style
The novel employs an experimental structure, with pages-long sentences and unbroken paragraphs.
Publication
The novel was published in Hungarian by Magvet in September 2016. It was translated into English by Ottilie Mulzet and published on 24 September 2019 by New Directions Publishing.
Reception
'Publishers Weekly' gave the novel a rave review, comparing it to Krasznahorkai's 'Stntang' and writing, "This vortex of a novel compares neatly with Dostoevsky and shows Krasznahorkai at the absolute summit of his decades-long project."
'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."
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."
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 workyet the overall execution feels lazy, like a draft."
References
Category:2016 novels
Category:Hungarian novels
Category:Works by Lszl Krasznahorkai
Category:Novels set in Hungary
Category:Postmodern novels
Category:National Book Award for Translated Literature winning works
Category:2016 in Hungary
Category:Magvet books
Buy Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming now from Amazon
<-- Return to books from 2016