Herscht opens as Gentle Giant in a Harsh World fable, then morphs into a checklist killfest revenge tale a la Death Rides a Horse, in a transition so sleek you’re tricked into feeling at peace in the heart of its violent outcome. Krasznahorkai books read like laminar flow, daunting and seemingly unreal until you set eye to sentence and the world explodes in all directions. But all in all, it’s just gravity and friction doing their thang. All the Krasznahorkai ingredients are here: heroes are comical despicables, villains risible despisables, a has-been town rundown and endbound, unnurtured nature in retaliature, and a long long sentence to rule them all.
Herscht 07769 by László Krasznahorkai, (List Price: $18.95, New Directions, 9780811231534, September 2024)
Reviewed by Ian McCord, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia