4.11 AVERAGE


найбільше в цій книжці дощу. здається, він нескінченний, холодний і здатний проникати в будь-який куточок, як не намагайся законопатити кожну щілину.
опиратися цій стіні дощу, яка притлумлює, спиняє і сковує, майже неможливо – принаймні персонажам "сатантанго" погано вдається, допоки не з'являється герой, чия сила переконання перевершує могутність зливи. а що він, схоже, фальшивий месія... яка різниця, поки його методи працюють?
dark mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Satantango follows a once-prosperous agricultural estate that has now been long abandoned. The residents who remain are ‘stuck’, both physically and mentally, and spend their days in squalor, drinking, cheating, and commiting petty crimes. Decay is omnipotent, it's rare to not see a chapter where wood isn’t rotting, cobwebs aren’t being spun, foliage overgrowing, mud and rain not reclaiming the earth. But there is suddenly hope, the great figure of Irimias, a former resident once presumed dead, has seemingly been resurrected, and is returning to the estate to offer ‘salvation.’

I will say first that this is not an easy read. You will instantly notice there are no line breaks in this novel. Every chapter is one continuous paragraph written in a constantly head hopping third-person omniscient perspective; description, dialogue and thought all mixes into one long delerious stream-of-consciousness. It is not a book I would recommend if you're not into that kind of thing or find that difficult. 

If you're sick like me though and you love “To The Lighthouse” and kind of lives for this modernist style, Satantango has some of the most incredible prose writing I've ever read. Sentences don't drag on but they sing, and they're intoxicating in a way that isn't pretentuous, largely due to the prose being mixed with this crude, lowbrow, Eastern Bloc humour where pretty much every character is completely farcical and Krasznahorkai has no pretensions of making characters relatable or empathetic.

I don't think I've ever smiled and laughed out loud more in reading any other book. It's a kind of slapstick comedy you barely find in writing and so much better than any book that pens itself to be ‘comedic.’

Writing an omniscient narrator is, of course, no easy task, and I was extremely impressed with Krasznahorkai’s ability to embody dozens of different ‘heads’ in a way where each perspective felt it had a distinct voice. The best example of this was the characters of The Doctor, who inhabits a terrifying alcoholic obsessive compulsive world in which everything is meticulously recorded; and Esti, a young girl who is shocked into a constant passive panic reatly due to the abusive of her family. Just two of many diametrically opposing characters who Krasznahorkai offers up with complete empathy and nonjudgment.

The beauty of the novel is that alongside the style and humour there is a large philosophical undertow regarding fate and determinism—questioning whether being ‘stuck’ is any worse than blindly binding yourself to a movement, being constantly in its whims; and a sociological dimension regarding poverty, tragedy, and its relation to one’s willingness to give oneself up to a cultish, charismatic strongman. Satantango is not polemical but still presents an important message.

Highly recommended. I will definitely be reading more of his books.

Most if not all reviews agree that this book is bleak, so I'm not sure why everyone loved it so much. The bleakness was just not enjoyable for me, I didn't fall in love with any of the characters, hardly any were even sympathetic. Beautiful cover design, but I would not recommend this book or read it again.
challenging dark tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Others complain of the nonexistent punctuation, but once getting used to it, I enjoyed the written style. It flowed nicely between internal dialogue, and third party observations of the environment, characters, and body language. 
I don't know much at all of Hungary's fall from Communism (Soviet control), but I did thoroughly enjoy the themes. Human nature in the face of economic collapse can't really be argued. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

What an absolute treat. Marvelously bleak, and dumbfoundingly hilarious. An unexpectedly perfect duo. Such a distinct style. Passages that took my breath away. The mobius-like structure, paired with the cobweb of interwined perspectives. A small community that conforms a hydra-protagonist. I could not stop reading this book. On further inquiry, it seems that this es but a first piece of a whole, mad up of another three novels. God help me have the restraint to not consume these instantly :)
challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

1. Satantango by Laszlo Krasznahorkai 

First book of the year, finally done. It shouldn’t have taken a week to read this fairly short book. But it did. Because I didn’t connect with it like I wanted to. Everything about it is something I love on paper. It’s bleak? It’s funny? It’s “profoundly unsettling”? It’s about a possible devil coming to town and screwing everyone over? A *checks notes* tango?? With Satan?? Say less bro 

But I must have expected *more* bleakness and profound unsettlement. Or maybe I had too much distraction going on in real life. That’s the only reason I can think of for not vibing with this like I thought I would or wanted to. Even when I think about it, I rationally think “this book’s rad” but I emotionally think “….meh.” 

I learned after reading this that there’s a six or seven hour long classic movie of this. Have you watched it? Is it worth it? That’s a long time to be dragged by the nose through the mud by Irimias, which perhaps is the exact point of the movie’s length. 

I’ll still read all the other Lasz Kraz on my TBR but maybe won’t rush out to get them. I have so many other valued books to read, already in my grubby little hands, unless Irimias talks me into giving them all to him. #2025books

Moeilijk, maar schitterend. Onbegrijpelijk wel.
challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes