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Krasznahorkai, Laszlo (Translated by George Szirtes) & Tarr, Bela (Film Director) : Satantango

New Directions, New York City, NY, 2012

ISBN 0811217345

First Edition / Second Printing. As New in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 275 pages. Rare Laszlo Krasznahorkai collectible set. Pristine copies of "Satantango" First American Edition/Second Printing, signed by Laszlo Krasznahorkai, and the film version-adaptation on DVD. The author's masterpiece. One of the greatest novels of the 20th century. The first appearance of the title in English and in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited print run as a hardcover original only. Even this First Edition/Second Printing is now scarce. Presents Laszlo Krasznahorkai's "Satantango" in a felicitous English translation. An apocalyptic Dance of Death like no other. "Spellbinding, bleak, and hauntingly beautiful, the story, spread over a couple of days of endless rain, focuses on the dozen remaining inhabitants of an unnamed isolated hamlet: Failures stuck in the middle of nowhere. Schemes, crimes, infidelities, hopes of escape, and above all trust and its constant betrayal are Krasznahorkai's meat" (Publisher's blurb). "At the center of 'Satantango' is the eponymous dance, referred to sometimes as a tango and sometimes as a csardas. A world that is rough and ready, lost somewhere between The Comic and The Tragic, in one small corner of the cosmos" (George Szirtes). Until recently (that is, 2015, upon winning the MAN Booker International Prize), Krasznahorkai was largely unknown among readers in English. But he has been a revered cult figure among cinephiles for a very long time: He collaborated with Bela Tarr, one of the four or five greatest filmmakers of our time, on the latter's most important films, notably "Werckmeister Harmonies" (2000), which is based upon "The Melancholy of Resistance" (1998), and of course, "Satantango" (1994). There is a reason why the film lasts for seven hours, which is, realistically, nothing less than an eternity: It consists of very long takes that visually approximate Krasznahorkai's very long sentences. The novel as a whole is relatively short at 275 pages, which can be read in one sitting lasting about two hours, the typical length of a film. But with a long sentence on every page, it is not difficult to imagine the equivalent number of takes adding up cumulatively to seven hours, thereby reversing the normal "book-to-film" ratio. Very few among the most dedicated cinephiles have been able to sit through the film without interruption (Sontag was one of them, and she proudly asserted that she planned to do so once a year for the rest of her life). Most people who have seen the film did so on video, with regular interruptions, and should be forgiven for being slack. "The contemporary Hungarian master of the Apocalypse who inspires comparisons with Gogol and Melville" (Susan Sontag). An absolute "must-have" title for Laszlo Krasznahorkai collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed, placed, and dated (in the year of publication) in black ink-pen on the title page by the author: "Laszlo Krasznahorkai NY, 15 December 2012". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. It comes with a pristine copy of the three-disc DVD set of Bela Tarr's "Satantango", whose screenplay was written by the author. This title is a great book. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy of the First American Edition/Second Printing with DVD set available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, pristine beauties. Please note: Krasznahorkai signed the book, NOT the DVD. But the latter commands between $80 and $150 by itself online. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare set thus. Winner of the MAN Booker International Prize in 2015. One of the greatest writers of our time. A fine collectible set. (SEE ALSO OTHER LASZLO KRASZNAHORKAI TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0811217345.

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