Liquidation

by Imre Kertesz

Liquidation

published	2005 by Vintage
binding	Paperback
isbn	140007505X (isbn13: 9781400075058)
pages	144
description	Imre Kert?sz’s savagely lyrical and suspenseful new novel traces the continuing echoes the Holocaust and communism in the consciousness of conte...more [close] Imre Kert?sz’s savagely lyrical and suspenseful new novel traces the continuing echoes the Holocaust and communism in the consciousness of contemporary Eastern Europe. Ten years after the fall of communism, a writer named B. commits suicide, devastating his circle and deeply puzzling his friend Kingsbitter. For among B.’s effects, Kingsbitter finds a play that eerily predicts events after his death. Why did B.–who was born at Auschwitz and miraculously survived–take his life? As Kingsbitter searches for the answer –and for the novel he is convinced lies hidden among his friend’s papers–Liquidation becomes an inquest into the deeply compromised inner life of a generation. The result is moving, revelatory and haunting. [close]
date added	03-12-07 edit book

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 98)

Trevor

Trevor rated it:

06/29/08

Read in June, 2008

At the book store I was in the mood to try some Kertesz, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2002. Born in 1929, he was imprisoned in Auschwitz and Buchenwald, old enough to know what was going on. I saw his latest book (2003), written after he won the Prize.

With a title that connotes closing shops, selling assets, and cutting losses accompanied with abstract illustrations of people, none looking at each other, I was very interested. Add to that the fact that it is only a novella, some...more

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David

David rated it:

06/20/08

The characters in Liquidation all suffer from a form of spiritual dislocation resulting from the demise of communism in Eastern Europe. All of them were dissidents of a sort under communism, and their identities were necessarily shaped by their opposition to the old regime, however subtle that resistance might have been—often little more than spiritual and cultural. The demise of communism means the demise of their reason for being alive, and Liquidation is an attempt to dramatize this existen...more The characters in Liquidation all suffer from a form of spiritual dislocation resulting from the demise of communism in Eastern Europe. All of them were dissidents of a sort under communism, and their identities were necessarily shaped by their opposition to the old regime, however subtle that resistance might have been—often little more than spiritual and cultural. The demise of communism means the demise of their reason for being alive, and Liquidation is an attempt to dramatize this existential predicament.

The shadow of the Holocaust also hangs over the characters, and in fact the meaning of the experience of Auschwitz is one of the central preoccupations of the novel. The title, Liquidation, has multiple meanings: The liquidation of Jews at Auschwitz; the liquidation of the publishing company the main character, Kingbitter, works for in post-communist Hungary; the liquidation of communism in Eastern Europe; Sarah’s liquidation (burning) of B.’s novel, Kingbitter’s quest for which is the central force driving the “action” of the novel. The book begins with Kingbitter, reading a play by his deceased friend B., a writer and Auschwitz survivor, that narrates events that have occurred after his suicide, events he could not possibly have witnessed. Liquidation is an experimental novel that deliberately confuses the issue of where the “reality” of the story lies. Also, there’s a theme of peoples lives as stories, stories that they tell themselves and stories that are spun by larger historical forces, and that are told through them.

One train of thought the novel sets in motion is the question of what it means to be a dissident. I suppose one can argue that, in one sense, it was easy to be a dissident in communist Eastern Europe, as it is in, say, Iran today. Of course it was hard in the sense that the penalties for thought-crime could be severe--duh, the sense that matters most--but it was easy in the sense that the thoughts you had to think to cross the line into thought crime were not particularly radical, at least from the point of view of western liberal democrats. AND, in an environment that punishes thought crime, especially in so crude and obvious a manner, just thinking heretical thoughts qualifies you for a dissident status of a sort. In a place like communist Eastern Europe, or contemporary Iran, it was/is possible to be a dissident intellectual in a way that it is difficult to do in the liberal democratic West, since you can be punished simply for thinking the wrong thoughts—and I mean really punished, not just not asked to be on Nightline. It’s enough to think and write and publish them to be considered a political dissident.

In the liberal democratic West, on the other hand, and especially in the US, the right to free speech and the right to dissent is such a fundamental part of the national self-image that it’s possible to say and publish just about anything without much in the way of consequences (although this needs to be qualified somewhat post-9/11). Also, the commodification and co-optation of the idea of rebellion is so far advanced that even genuinely subversive notions simply dissolve into the official marketplace of ideas, or get converted into some kind of marketing effort. There’s so much pseudo-rebellion around that it’s hard to know real dissent when you see it.

One thing people in the US have a hard time imagining, I guess, is what it’s like to have your world turned upside down the way it was in Eastern Europe in the late 80’s or in Iraq since 2003 (Katrina nudged some of us closer to this). Sure 9/11 was a shock to the system, but it’s nothing like the kind of complete psychological and spiritual overhaul that Eastern Europe went through, and that Iraq is going through now.

The shift in worldview resulting from the demise of communism is illustrated by passages that frame the novel. At the beginning and the end we find Kingbitter standing at his window observing an encampment of homeless people. He speculates at the end of the novel about what this says about his changed relation to politics in post-communist Hungary, and consequently his changed spiritual/existential state. Under communism he used to see them as evidence of the corruption and failure of the governing regime, and as a problem that demanded amelioration. Now he’s, on the one hand, more detached. He aestheticizes them. Sees them as part of an ongoing human comedy. And also has the sneaking suspicion that, if circumstances were to alter slightly, he could find himself out there with them......less

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Aly

Aly rated it:

05/28/08

I read this book as part of my series of reading books by Nobel prize winning authors. I chose Liquidation because of the title's reference to the Nazi liquidation of Jewish towns and ghettos.

Inevitably, I feel that this may be one of the most post-modern books I've ever read. It begins by describing a play which, through the amazing foresight of the already-deceased central character, is a series of events faithfully recorded before they occur. Although the playwright was himself a ...more

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Matthew

Matthew rated it:

09/20/07

Read in August, 2007

recommends it for: 8 select people, whose names i wont say

it's a little heavy handed for a commuter who has to jump from the 7 to the N/W to the 4/5 every morning, but i handled it during the summer, which ended up being a blessing in disguise. it needed to be thought about and put down to rest at a few points, though overall it was more then readable. the back of the book tries to scare you off with talk of metaphysical goings-on, but honestly, the book was quite personal and easily relatable to anyone.

i was debating whether to give it a weak 4...more

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Allen Wilcox

Allen rated it:

06/17/08

bookshelves: existential-canon

Read in June, 2008

It is as facile as it would be expedient to insert author X or author Y as the moral and stylistic reference to Imre Kertesz in his book 'Liquidation' - and yet the temptation to do so is immense.

An authentic existential narrative such as 'Liquidation' wraps an entire body of knowledge around its finger...and then it flicks that finger...

The book centers and finishes on the question of how to live - "am I or am I not?" - and what is the nature of my reality, this so-called rea...more

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Becky

Becky rated it:

03/03/08

Read in February, 2008

I read this Kertez novel first as I couldn't find a copy of the updated translation of 'Fateless' without a Hollywood cover. This one is a fast read and I enjoyed it, although the first half was more interesting. It peeters into too a strong narrative drive in the second half if I remember rightly. Will certainly read 'Fateless' this year and definitely not see the movie.

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Al rated it:

08/14/07

Read in March, 2005

recommends it for: the well-medicated

Speaking of suicide...

Calling this pretentious is sorta missing the point, no?

That's like saying Tadeus Borowski is pretentious; or Jean Amery... to take two examples specifically invoked, here.

The Periodic Table: pessimistic!
Werner Herzog: self-important!
Mr. Death: depressing!

CNN exclusive: Sy Hersh not confirmed by White House!

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Joya

Joya rated it:

10/20/07

Read in October, 2007

there were things I liked a lot . . .like the study of how one lives after surviving the Holocaust ("it is not permissable to want anything"). . .and the way Kertesz intertwines B's play with the novel.. . .and the relationships were interesting (though very briefly developed--it is a short novel of 121 pages.)

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Vic

Vic is currently reading it

05/06/08

bookshelves: currently-reading

Read in January, 2005

So far, am not thrilled with this book. It's by a Nobel Prize for Literature winner, so I guess that's all me. But it's one of those books where people don't have names, just initials, and that bugs me.

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furies

furies marked it as to-read

07/22/08

bookshelves: to-read

oh, my fellow countryman! must support hungarians where you can . . . and i adored Fateless (or "fatelessness" dependingon your version) so i really should get this.

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Bryanb

Bryanb rated it:

11/19/07

recommends it for: everyone

This book has changed my life. I am still affected by it's haunting and beautiful prose. It is brilliant.

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kasia

kasia rated it:

04/03/07

Read in April, 2007

Pretentious and rather dull, but maybe I'm just fed up with Eastern European metaphysics.

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Francine

Francine rated it:

06/02/08

Thanks to Mary Boscarino for bringing this book to my attention via her thesis!

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Claire

Claire marked it as to-read

01/16/08

bookshelves: to-read

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Meghan

Meghan rated it:

06/08/07

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Hannahlyn

Hannahlyn rated it:

10/28/07

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Arjun

Arjun rated it:

03/20/07

bookshelves: fiction

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Douglas

Douglas rated it:

08/27/07

bookshelves: elite-ass-bastard-books

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Rini

Rini added it

03/23/08

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Marissa

Marissa rated it:

05/26/08

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book data (includes all editions)

avg rating (all editions): 3.80 (70 ratings)
avg rating (this edition): 3.78 (68 ratings)
number of reviews: 13

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