Satantango
1985 • 274 pages

Ratings11

Average rating4.5

15

Something was in the water in 85 to generate both Blood Meridian and this novel... Both vivid depictions of the apocalypse of human morality. “Autumnal horseflies were buzzing around the cracked lampshade, describing drowsy figures of eight in its weak light, time and again colliding with the filthy porcelain, so that after each dull little thud their bodies fell back into the magnetic paths they themselves had woven, to continue this endless cycle, albeit on a tight closed circuit until the light went out...” While fiercely negative in its view of humanity, its a gripping read, the relentless narrative is masterfully executed/translated, to where the book becomes a vision beamed directly to the reader. I can't think of a more unsettling or deeply depressing chapter than “Unraveling”. It was curious to me Mrs. Halics was so obsessed with Revelation when Ecclesiastes better describes the events of the novel: “ also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead”

August 11, 2022Report this review