A new addition to my libraries in fiction collection:
“Up in Nino’s attic in Gorizia they would read Homer, the tragedians, the Pre-Socratics, Plato, and the New Testament in the original Greek; the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Sermon of Benares and the other teachings of Buddha; Ibsen, Leopardi, and Tolstoy.”
Claudio Magris, A Different Sea, trans. M. S. Spurr
I’ve only just started but hard to go wrong with Magris, assuming a decent translation.
i’ve always liked magris a lot, bit like calasso, but different. he’s great on joseph roth… very generous stuff. although the microcosmi fizzle out a bit, sort of not as good as his other work…
I read Danube years ago, and didn’t read anything else. My recent trip to Prague brought Danube to mind again, so I must also reread that.