Danube
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Vintage Publishing
Published:3rd Nov '16
Should be back in stock very soon
'Neither a travel book, nor a vast prose poem, nor a history, nor philosophy, nor voyage of discovery, but often all at once.' Independent on Sunday
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY RICHARD FLANAGAN
In this fascinating journey Claudio Magris, whose knowledge is encyclopaedic and whose curiosity limitless, guides his reader from the source of the Danube in the Bavarian hills through Austro-Hungary and the Balkans to the Black Sea.
'Neither a travel book, nor a vast prose poem, nor a history, nor philosophy, nor voyage of discovery, but often all at once' Independent on Sunday
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY RICHARD FLANAGAN
In this fascinating journey Claudio Magris, whose knowledge is encyclopaedic and whose curiosity limitless, guides his reader from the source of the Danube in the Bavarian hills through Austro-Hungary and the Balkans to the Black Sea. Along the way he raises the ghosts that inhabit the houses and monuments - from Ovid to Kafka and Canetti - and in so doing sets his finger on the pulse of Central Europe, the vital crucible of a culture that draws on influences of East and West, of Christendom and Islam.
Impeccable... Magris, a guide of enormous modesty, has not only read everything: he has been everywhere, met everybody -- Nicholas Shakespeare * Arts and Books Review *
There is so much to praise about this extraordinary book... Irresistably enjoyable -- Mark Thompson * Literary Review *
Not simply a masterpiece of travel; it is an odyssey... A splendid book, beautifully translated * Independent *
A uniquely stimulating and individual portrait of the heart of Europe -- Colin Thubron * Sunday Telegraph *
This book is full of wonder and delights...Magris writes beautifully; he seems to have read everything. His reading has not made just clever but wise. On almost every page there are passages that make the heart life... Danube is a masterpiece -- John Banville
This is the best introduction to the culture of central Europe, its genius and its tragedy...a work of great originality, which builds up to a mosaic of spectacle, incident and reflection from which the personalities of the narrator and the Danubian lands emerge * Daily Telegraph *
Erudite and original * New York Review of Books *
Magris proves a gracious, erudite, engaging and fair-minded companion on a journey no reader will forget * Irish Times *
His forte is a wealth of literary and historical allusions from Austrian, French, Italian and German sources, which makes this book not only a treasure chest but also a profoundly perceptive study of central European history... wonderfully stimulating and constantly surprising * The Times *
Like the river itself, Magris carries all along with him. Philosophy, war, natural history and politics are blended together with a mixture of curiosity, stylishness and all-encompassing knowledge * Observer *
ISBN: 9781784871314
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 26mm
Weight: 298g
432 pages