On May 21, the audience sat spellbound as darkness-shrouded reflections, an inwardly pulsing urge to escape, and the restless rhythm of live drums unfolded in a joint performance by Nobel Prize-winning writer László Krasznahorkai and musician Szilveszter Miklós. Chasing Homer, Krasznahorkai’s novel brought to life in the Congress Hall of the University of Szeged’s József Attila Study and Information Center (TIK), was presented by the author himself. Returning to his alma mater at the invitation of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Krasznahorkai read excerpts from the work accompanied by live percussion.
“No one can truly read Krasznahorkai except László Krasznahorkai himself,” declared Zsófia Júlia Szilágyi during a virtual exhibition event held ahead of the staged reading. Szilágyi is the curator of Minduntalan. Krasznahorkai prózavilága (Again and Again: The Prose World of Krasznahorkai), an exhibition currently on view at ArtMill in Szentendre, the historic riverside town near Budapest. And indeed, in the Congress Hall of TIK, Chasing Homer, brought to life in the Nobel Prize-winning author’s own voice, seemed to take on a life of its own: it breathed, surged forward, and refused to let go. It overwhelmed the audience and swept them into an unending flight, offering only brief moments of relief – much like it does for the story’s nameless protagonist. Before long, listeners themselves seemed absorbed into that faceless, silent mass, carried onward by every sentence and every beat, searching all the while for a harmony that may remain forever out of reach.
László Krasznahorkai. Photo: István Kuklis
Previously presented to Hungarian audiences only once – at the Margó Literary Festival, one of the country’s leading contemporary literary events – the literary-musical performance brought Krasznahorkai’s reading and Szilveszter Miklós’s percussion virtuosity into remarkable harmony. Two distinct art forms merged into a seamless whole, their interplay unfolding with the precision of finely tuned gears. The restless dialogue between text and rhythm was intensified by the fact that the TIK Congress Hall remained in complete darkness throughout the performance, broken only by a spotlight illuminating whichever performer held the stage at a given moment. Out of that near-total darkness emerged a uniquely charged atmosphere that kept the audience on edge, every nerve alert, waiting for the next sentence, the next beat, the next sudden burst of sound – or silence.
Szilveszter Miklós. Photo: István Kuklis
As Zsófia Júlia Szilágyi observed, the facelessness and anonymity that permeate the work are not merely recurring features of Krasznahorkai’s writing, but expressions of a broader artistic vision. In his works, it is never the creator who matters most, but the creation itself. That idea found powerful expression in Chasing Homer: Krasznahorkai entered the stage solely in service of the text, offered no commentary, and read without explanation. Then, when the final words had faded, he left as quietly as he had arrived, disappearing once more into the darkness.
László Krasznahorkai and Szilveszter Miklós. Photo: István Kuklis
The Nobel Prize-winning writer left a profound impression on the nearly 700 people who packed the Congress Hall to capacity. As the final notes faded and the darkness lifted, the audience responded with prolonged, unbroken applause – a tribute not only to Krasznahorkai himself, but also to the extraordinary intensity of an artistic experience that continued to resonate long after the performance had ended.
Original Hungarian article by Tímea Fülöp
Feature photo: László Krasznahorkai reading from his novel Chasing Homer in the Congress Hall of József Attila Study and Information Center. Photo: István Kuklis
