Seiobo There Below

Hello Gentle Reader

Countless times while reading Krasznahorkai’s newest book “Seiobo There Below,” people continually asked me: “Is that in English?” It goes to show, how small the world is – for a piece of a foreign land, by a foreign author sits in my hands, for my reading amusements; and yet it shows still how small minded our world is. For many, to experience China all they need to do is travel to Chinatown; or travel too little Italy and eat ‘authentic,’ Italian food; this is what experiencing culture beyond our own doorstep, has come down to. It is a cheap caricature. It is readily available and never too far from our own homes. The same could be said about buying sushi at the grocery store. It is proudly advertised:“made fresh daily”. It’s a quick shot or experience, in which one can dabble into the exotic, and then continue with daily life. It is to my own disappointment that many people had continually asked about the language of the book – it had originated in Hungarian; but was translated into English. Why should it have mattered if it were in any other language – then again if I were to look at the surroundings of what kind of place I do live in; the best way to describe it would be: “redneck.” These are the kinds of people who, it appears could not – or cannot; fathom a world outside their own backyard. For outside there is a world; a world where a multitude of languages are spoken. Yet these people feel that their own little patch of grass is theirs and theirs alone. What lies beyond it, is neither their concern or of any interest. But they become slightly agitated or hostile, when the greater world in some form or another impedes or enters their small backyard – their patch of grass.

László Krasznahorkai is not impudent when it comes to the wider world. He is not ignorant or frightened of what will await him. Krasznahorkai in fact has travelled wildly, as a writer. While writing his novel “War & War,” Krasznahorkai had traveled throughout Europe; and it is with the assistance of the American poet Allen Ginsberg, and his hospitality – for whom Krasznahorkai stayed with; that “War & War,” came to life. It was during the nineteen-ninety’s that the author was able to spend greater time in East Asia. At which point the author, travelled extensively throughout Japan and China. With his works “The Prisoner of Ugra,” and “Ruin and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens,” (both novels have yet to be translated), Krasznahorkai discussed his experiences, in Mongolia and China. “Seiobo There Below,” shows Krasznahorkai’s increased influences from Eastern Asia countries – specifically Japan with this work; hence Seiobo. Japanese mythology Seiobo is often referred to as “Queen Mother of the West,” and it is said that in her garden she cultivates peach trees. These tree’s only blossom every thousand years; and when the fruit of these ten century old fruits are consumed, one is granted immortality.

Throughout the novel – or collected interconnected short stories; an alien narrator often makes an appearance; who one can eventually see is Seiobo. A transcendent goddess, who has come down from the heavens, and observes, the protagonists or subjects of the stories, who appreciate the aesthetic sublime; some of which has been created; and other times is in their power or craft to create, an object or piece of creation that is beautiful. At times, though this alien narrator is not explicit, in revealing who it is. In the beginning, at times with passages, that appear dry and dull, that as a reader, it would appear that this alien narrator is none other than László Krasznahorkai himself, discussing the subject matter in which he repeatedly turns to again and again throughout the novel – the aesthetic sublime, and human kinds need to appreciate the aesthetic beauty, that is apparent to them. However it became dry and difficult to sit though, as the discussion, appeared to be more essayistic and less novelistic in its writing. It became academic, and felt directionless. However once the baring’s of the novel were understood and grasped more tightly, the novel began to take a more apparent shape.

For someone who had been called: “the contemporary Hungarian master of the apocalypse,” “Seiobo There Below,” appeared more melancholic in the beginning and softer around the edges then his other novels – especially the only other one that I have had the chance to read: “Satantango.” However over time one begins to see the old characteristics of Krasznahorkai coming back into play. Each story or chapter begins to come to come to gravitate in its own right. Each one is a self-contained world that drifts aimlessly through the abysmal void of space. They barely validate the works that have come before it or after its conception and eventual publication. They are far flung, in their geographies and times; from ancient Persia, to Kyoto, to Venice. Yet their subject matter is what keeps them in constant contact; and what sends them spinning across the void at each other, knocking into each other, pushing them out of their orbit. For their quick and intense contact is all that they have, with each other. Yet over time, one begins to sense the dread. That unbearable and uncertain existential dread that appears to well up, from the pages, in such an, intensity; that one finally feels that they have discovered that ‘classic,’ Krasznahorkai. Such as a man being chased through Venice; or another who finds himself, in an apartment building that, houses Old Russian iconographic art. There is that constant feeling, of breaking and entering. That aching suspicion that one should not be there. That inclination that they are trespassing, and that at any moment the ground from beneath our feet will shatter or creak to give away our own presence. Yet we remain. We watch as a restoration team, begins to restore a Buddha. We observe a heron, hunting, in its perfect solitary contemplation, only to quickly spear the prey. As a reader, we are introduced into the small world of a Noh mask creator – who creates a demonic shaped mask, that he realizes will eventually do harm. Throughout it all though, Krasznahorkai contemplates the artistic and the act of creation in its utmost pure sense of the word. The novel becomes a rant after a while. It is a rant on the necessary patronage of art in life. It is the light that destroys the constant humdrum of life; the bleak commute to work, in which one needs to work, in order to pay off their car, that they used to get to work, only to go home to a house they work to pay off, and which the spend little time in; only to go on vacation later, to get away from the stress of work. In this sense, Krasznahorkai praises the beauty we overlook, or that we miss in a constant in motion world.

Art – or rather the concept of art, which is discussed in “Seiobo There Below,” is that it is divinely inspired, and at the same time humanely possible. It is that part of existence that can no longer be contained. It is that part of our body and our souls, which must come forth, through some other intervention. It takes shape in some other aspect. Through painting, carving, designing, music, literature – in Krasznahorkai’s world it is the only, aspect of the human psyche and mind, that makes existence, and life itself, worth living and bearable. Without it, without the appreciation of what can be achieved – that is both necessary and unnecessary; life falls into a grey stasis; a state of stagnation. How else can, the human race, move forward, without thoughts and understandings of the possibilities the future can hold; and what better way than attempt perfecting and crafting an art of some sort?

“Seiobo There Below,” in the beginning struck me as a ‘lighter,’ novel in its tone and subject matter; more so then “Satantango.” However over time one begins to see that is not entirely true. Once one begins to understand the beauty on the surface, they begin to understand lies beneath a surface without the proper instruction in beauty and understanding and appreciating it. Each story or scene or chapter, ends with its finality – its absolute certainty that it will end. At times its much appreciated; as some of the works appear more drawn out then necessary. The structural issues of this book itself – its labyrinth maze of long winding sentences, that appear to have lost their beginning, never reached the middle, and an ending is out of the question – often leave the reader confused and searching for a understanding or a grasp of where they were before. However in Krasznahorkai defense, that is his writing style, and one should certainly expect nothing less then, when cracking open this book. At times the constant lecture and rants, that László Krasznahorkai goes on about, throughout the entire book, becomes a bit much. However, Krasznahorkai is an author of redeeming qualities. Where he becomes dry or lack lustered, one can find his, classic self, taking shape later on. Where there is an overwhelming intensity of hatred, that one character experiences, as a homeless man wandering through Barcelona – or a man fleeing, as he is pursued by another man – or a man who chides himself on being an idiot on going to see the acropolis in the blazing Mediterranean summer, that makes it impossible for him to enjoy the site. Then there comes the times when Krasznahorkai sums everything up, in a quick worded ending – it is then that one understands what the fuss was about. The author may make the road difficult, long and challenging, but there is ones fair share in the rewards. Personally I am on the edge with “Seiobo There Below.” I cannot say that I overtly enjoyed it, and not entirely upset by it either. It’s one of those books, which one mulls over, for a bit before making any decision on whether or not they liked it. For now “Seiobo There Below,” reminds me more of an art lecture, rather than a novel – yet compels me to keep it in perspective in its moments of great achievement, which is where neutrality is met. Perhaps in the long run it will need another read through at a different point in time.

Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
*And Remember: Downloading Books Illegally is Thievery and Wrong.*

M. Mary

[ Again congratulations are in order to László Krasznahorkai, for winning for wining twice now in a row The Best Translated Book Award. ]