László Krasznahorkai: Északról hegy, Délről tó, Nyugatról utak, Keletről folyó (A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East)

The latest addition to my website is László Krasznahorkai‘s Északról hegy, Délről tó, Nyugatról utak, Keletről folyó (A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East). This tells the story of the grandson of Prince Genji who seems to live in the present day, in the past and outside time. He travels by train to a suburb of Kyoto and then climbs up a hill to a Buddhist monastery. The monastery is seemingly deserted but clearly is inhabited as there evidence of people living there. Moreover, it seems to be out of any time period. He is looking for a hidden garden he had read about in an old book and he has been told it might be here. He finds the climb hard work and struggles to find either the garden or any person to guide him. Meanwhile his retainers (in modern clothing) are looking for him but he is probably out of their time.

Leave a comment