Author:Danilo Kiš,Mark Thompson
An entrancing, otherworldly collection of short stories from one of Europe's most accomplished 20th century writers, new to Penguin Modern Classics
A counter-prophet attempts the impossible to prove his power; a girl sees the hideous fate of her sisters and father in a mirror bought from a gypsy; the death of a prostitute causes an unanticipated uprising; and the lives of every ordinary person since 1789 are recreated in the almighty Encyclopedia of the Dead. These stories about love and death, truth and lies, myth and reality range across many epochs and settings. Brilliantly combining fact and fiction, epic and miniature, horror and comedy, this was Danilo Kiš final work, published in Serbo-Croatian in 1983.
Kiš is one of the great European writers of the post-war period - Guardian
Compulsively readable - Daily Telegraph
Fantasy chases reality and reality chases fantasy. Pirandello and Borges are not far away. But these names are intended as approximate references. Kiš is a new, original writer - Times Literary Supplement
Intense and exotic, his mysteries hint at unspeakable secrets that remain forever beyond the story-teller's grasp - Boyd Tonkin
Danilo Kiš was born in the then Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1935. After an unsettled childhood during the Second World War, in which several of his family members were killed, Kiš studied literature at the University of Belgrade where he lived for most of his adult life. He wrote novels, short stories and poetry and went on to receive the prestigious NIN Award for his novel Pešcanik. He died in Paris in 1989.
Mark Thompson is a British historian. His published work includes Birth Certificate: The Story of Danilo Kiš.
I urge you to read this reissued collection from a writer who reinvented and invigorated the short story...[The title story] is one of the most moving I have ever read, a testament to both the power and the weakness of literature and human memory... He is one of those writers you feel is on your side. In short, I cannot recommend this book highly enough, or urge it on you more strongly
—— Nicholas Lezard , GuardianKis is woefully undervalued. He belongs at the centre of European literature, not on its fringes. . .It is past time for Kis's rediscovery.
—— New StatesmanCompulsively readable
—— Daily TelegraphKiš is one of the great European writers of the post-war period
—— GuardianFantasy chases reality and reality chases fantasy. Pirandello and Borges are not far away. But these names are intended as approximate references. Kiš is a new, original writer
—— Leonardo Sciascia , Times Literary SupplementIn The Encyclopedia of the Dead, Danilo Kiš offers a vision that expands the domain of life at the expense of that of death. These stories present that vision with a journalist's precision, with a taxidermist's tactile knowledge of era and realm, with the tenacity of a true son of the century
—— Joseph BrodskyIntense and exotic, his mysteries hint at unspeakable secrets that remain forever beyond the story-teller's grasp
—— Boyd TonkinThis translation, by Michael Henry Heim, is superb
—— IndependentThe Encyclopedia of the Dead is a book of wonders, product of a vivid imagination that is yet a model of narrative restraint
—— RTEThis ambitious and magical novel is made all the more remarkable by its muscular prose redolent with atmosphere.
—— Daily MailSara Taylor has a completely natural, unforced feel for language and voice: a remarkable debut.
—— Adam ThorpeA precocious talent.
—— Irish ExaminerAmbiguous gender roles, grotesque situations and the whiff of decay hanging over The Shore – brilliantly imagined through the stench of chicken factories – lend a southern Gothic feel to the writing. There are sections of brutal realism, magic realism and speculative fiction. Other dystopias come to mind, notably David Mitchell’s time-hopping epic Cloud Atlas, but also Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and its themes of sexually transmitted plagues and subjugation of women.
—— Irish TimesA haunting and staggering debut novel, this is a multi-layered exploration of redneck Virginia through the eyes of its women.
—— Evening Standard magazineAn impressive debut novel
—— Sunday TimesAn original new voice in fiction
—— Big IssueLyrical writing and quietly tragic storytelling
—— Huffington PostA really promising debut . . . the beauty of it is astounding . . . enchanting.
—— Tiffany Jenkins[A] savage yet hyper-readable debut … [a] harrowing, high-octane novel.
—— Observer, 'Paperback of the Week'This is not a novel for the faint-hearted but dare to read it for the sinuous fluency of the writing.
—— Maureen DuffyThis is an outstanding book, one that makes the reader pause and take stock. It is unsettling, challenging and yet beautiful – made all the more so by the author’s pared back language and careful evocation of the land, marshes, oyster beds and crabs, and the miseries and small joys of island life … this is an extraordinary beginning to a literary career.
—— The Literary ShedA superb first novel . . . [it is] a significant achievement to produce a book of this quality . . . [there is] a wonderful sense of place.
—— Graham FarmeloReminiscent of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas and just as ambitious
—— StylistAn impressive debut.
—— The Writes of WomenAlready on the longlist for the Baileys Prize, this is an island story told in daisy-chain sequence, a series of succinct vignettes that come together as a vivid portrait of the Shore itself, until you can almost smell the salt air and the stench of slaughtered chicken.
—— For Books SakeSome extraordinary images . . . a wonderful first novel.
—— Michael ArdittiTaylor’s prose is dreamy and surprisingly playful.
—— S magazine (Sunday Express)A wonderful read.
—— InterzoneExuberant, magical and incredibly ambitious, but Sara Taylor pulls it off with style.
—— The BookbagTaylor shows a special affinity with the lives of women that makes for a powerful debut