The Melancholy of Resistance
1989 novel by László Krasznahorkai
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The Melancholy of Resistance (Hungarian: Az ellenállás melankóliája) is a 1989 novel by the Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai. The narrative is set in a restless town where a mysterious circus, which exhibits a stuffed whale and nothing else, contributes to an apocalyptic atmosphere.
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First edition cover (Hungary) | |
| Author | László Krasznahorkai |
|---|---|
| Original title | Az ellenállás melankóliája |
| Translator | George Szirtes |
| Language | Hungarian |
| Publisher | Magvető |
Publication date | 1989 |
| Publication place | Hungary |
Published in English | 2000 |
| Pages | 385 |
| ISBN | 9788009000689 |
Reception
James Wood of The New Yorker wrote in 2011: "The Melancholy of Resistance is a comedy of apocalypse, a book about a God that not only failed but didn't even turn up for the exam. Less manic, less entrapped than War and War, it has elements of a traditional social novel." Wood continued: "The Melancholy of Resistance is a demanding book, and a pessimistic one, too, since it seems to take repeated ironic shots at the possibility of revolution. ... The pleasure of the book, and a kind of resistance, as well, flows from its extraordinary, stretched, self-recoiling sentences, which are marvels of a loosely punctuated stream of consciousness."[1]
Adaptations
Krasznahorkai adapted the novel into a screenplay for the 2000 film Werckmeister Harmonies, directed by Béla Tarr.[2]
The novel was adapted for Péter Eötvös's 2023 opera, Valuska, commissioned by Hungarian State Opera.[3] Marc-André Dalbavie's eponymous opera based on the novel premiered at the Berlin State Opera in 2024.[4]
