Seiobo There Below

Winner of the 2015 Man Booker International Prize. Beauty, in Laszlo Krasznahorkai's new novel, reflects, however fleeting, the sacred - even if we are mostly unable to bear it. In Seiobo There Below we see the Japanese goddess Seiobo returning to mortal realms in search of perfection. An ancient Buddha being restored; the Italian renaissance painter Perugino managing his workshop; a Japanese Noh actor rehearsing; a fanatic of Baroque music lecturing to a handful of old villagers; tourists intruding into the rituals of Japan's most sacred shrine; a heron as it gracefully hunts its prey. Told in chapters that sweep us across the world and through time, covering the furthest reaches of human experience, Krasznahorkai demands that we pause and ask ourselves these questions: What is sacred? How do we define beauty? What makes great art endure? Melancholic and mesmerisingly beautiful, this latest novel by the author of Satantango shows us how to glimpse the divine through extraordinary art and human endeavour. Winner of Best Translated Book of the Year Award 2014. Translated by Ottilie Mulzet

Review: The universality of Krasznahorkai's vision rivals that of Gogol's Dead Souls and far surpasses all the lesser concerns of contemporary writing. -- W.G. Sebald
The contemporary Hungarian master of apocalypse who inspires comparison with Gogol and Melville. -- Susan Sontag
Laszlo Krasznahorkai writes prose of breathtaking energy and beauty. He manages to combine our most earthly concerns with large cosmic questions. His tones and textures are filled with both risk and certainty. He has elevated the novel form and is to be ranked among the great European novelists -- Colm Toibin
Krasznahorkai is a visionary writer. -- Theo Tait * Guardian *
Krasznahorkai is the kind of writer who at least once on every page finds a way of expressing something one has always sensed but never known, let alone been able to describe. -- Nicole Krauss
As the worthy winner of this year's Man Booker International prize, Krasznahorkai throws down a challenge: raise your game or get your coat... the intensity of his commitment to the art of fiction is indisputable...exhilarating, even euphoric. -- Hari Kunzru * The Guardian *
As always with Mr Krasznahorkai, real understanding remains beyond grasp, though a sense of illumination is pervasive. As a novelist he is a one-off, even if his work-as this book so finely shows-is universal. * The Economist *
The latest and most luminous book to appear in English by the Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai... a devastatingly thoughtful, austere and contemplative book, written with a deep knowledge of artistic technique and human affairs that is rare among novelists. -- Tim Martin * Daily Telegraph *
These captivating pages. -- Jane Shilling * New Statesman *