Schauergeschichten

Péter Nádas' new novel is an unexpected gift. With powerful language and multiple voices, it tells the story of a riverside village and all its inhabitants: there are the wealthy farmers and day laborers, the priest and the Protestant pastor, a mentally disabled girl, a young mother, the village shepherd, the teacher, a woman who was irrevocably shamed decades ago, a baker possessed by the devil, as well as uprooted aristocrats and grandes dames on a country outing. A panopticon of characters driven by envy and malice. And surrounding the villagers: ghosts.

In the course of just a few days, we encounter nameless misery, weakness, dependence, and violence, in a world reminiscent of Céline and Chekhov, where language transforms into its opposite, the inability to speak. Raw greed and sudden generosity alternate, while demonic forces chaotically steer the lives of the people. Meanwhile, the narrative flows calmly, arcs, gathers more and more places and actors, and carries us towards an all-encompassing disaster with no hope of salvation.