Lázár

" Lázár is an exquisite and masterly pronouncement that a gifted young writer walks among us" Patti Smith " A truly great writer steps onto the stage" Daniel Kehlmann " Propulsive, twisting and spell-binding. Lázár is a bold, intricate accomplishment" Lucy Steeds The snow of the dying century still lay on the edge of the dark forest when Lajos von Lázár, the translucent child with water-blue eyes, first glimpsed the man he would believe to be his father for his whole life and beyond. The Lázárs have ruled their Hungarian lands for generations. In their ancient castle by the edge of a forest that compels all who enter it to madness, they succumb to every vice and live only to satiate their desires. But the old order is crumbling, and the days of the Habsburg Monarchy are numbered. When Lajos von Lázár inherits, they at last have a baron who can reignite the old splendours, but not even his abilities are proof against the ravages of war and occupation. It will fall to his children - a boy who talks to shadows and a girl who eschews her blue blood - to find a way to stand against oppression and take the first faltering steps towards freedom. A sweeping epic, taking the reader from the beginning of the twentieth century to the Hungarian National Uprising of 1956, Lázár would be a phenomenal achievement for a writer of any age. With its air of timeless wisdom, it reads like rediscovered classic, making it all the more remarkable that it was written when the author was just twenty-one years old. Translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch

Et stærkt og mesterligt vidnesbyrd om, at en begavet ung forfatter er iblandt os. — Patti SmithEn virkelig stor forfatter træder ind på scenen. — Daniel KehlmannAlting begynder, selv slutningen, da Lajos von Lázár, det næsten gennemsigtige barn med de vandblå øjne, kommer til verden. Baron Sándor von Lázár betragter sin søn med mistro, for han bærer ingen lighed med den øvrige familie, og snart opøver barnets mor, Mária, en ildevarslende evne til at omgå enhver sandhed. Med arvingens fødsel på slottet i Østrig-Ungarn indvarsles det tyvende århundrede. Fra sin afsondrede tilværelse i det blå værelse har onklen, Imre, med vanviddets klarsyn for længst forudset de katastrofer, som venter i det nye århundrede. Først bryder Habsburgerriget sammen, siden lider baronen en tragisk død. Da Lajos træder i sin fars sted, synes den gamle orden at blomstre op på ny, men tidens totalitære regimer kaster uventede lange skygger.Lázár er en kraftpræstation af en slægtsroman om det tyvende århundredes store omvæltninger, et poetisk raritetskabinet fyldt med drømme og hemmeligheder, tragedie og skønhed.

" Lázár is an exquisite and masterly pronouncement that a gifted young writer walks among us" Patti Smith " A truly great writer steps onto the stage" Daniel Kehlmann " Propulsive, twisting and spell-binding. Lázár is a bold, intricate accomplishment" Lucy Steeds The snow of the dying century still lay on the edge of the dark forest when Lajos von Lázár, the translucent child with water-blue eyes, first glimpsed the man he would believe to be his father for his whole life and beyond. The Lázárs have ruled their Hungarian lands for generations. In their ancient castle by the edge of a forest that compels all who enter it to madness, they succumb to every vice and live only to satiate their desires. But the old order is crumbling, and the days of the Habsburg Monarchy are numbered. When Lajos von Lázár inherits, they at last have a baron who can reignite the old splendours, but not even his abilities are proof against the ravages of war and occupation. It will fall to his children - a boy who talks to shadows and a girl who eschews her blue blood - to find a way to stand against oppression and take the first faltering steps towards freedom. A sweeping epic, taking the reader from the beginning of the twentieth century to the Hungarian National Uprising of 1956, Lázár would be a phenomenal achievement for a writer of any age. With its air of timeless wisdom, it reads like rediscovered classic, making it all the more remarkable that it was written when the author was just twenty-one years old. Translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch

" Lázár is an exquisite and masterly pronouncement that a gifted young writer walks among us" Patti Smith " A truly great writer steps onto the stage" Daniel Kehlmann " Propulsive, twisting and spell-binding. Lázár is a bold, intricate accomplishment" Lucy Steeds The snow of the dying century still lay on the edge of the dark forest when Lajos von Lázár, the translucent child with water-blue eyes, first glimpsed the man he would believe to be his father for his whole life and beyond. The Lázárs have ruled their Hungarian lands for generations. In their ancient castle by the edge of a forest that compels all who enter it to madness, they succumb to every vice and live only to satiate their desires. But the old order is crumbling, and the days of the Habsburg Monarchy are numbered. When Lajos von Lázár inherits, they at last have a baron who can reignite the old splendours, but not even his abilities are proof against the ravages of war and occupation. It will fall to his children - a boy who talks to shadows and a girl who eschews her blue blood - to find a way to stand against oppression and take the first faltering steps towards freedom. A sweeping epic, taking the reader from the beginning of the twentieth century to the Hungarian National Uprising of 1956, Lázár would be a phenomenal achievement for a writer of any age. With its air of timeless wisdom, it reads like rediscovered classic, making it all the more remarkable that it was written when the author was just twenty-one years old. Translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch

" Lázár is an exquisite and masterly pronouncement that a gifted young writer walks among us" Patti Smith " A truly great writer steps onto the stage" Daniel Kehlmann " Propulsive, twisting and spell-binding. Lázár is a bold, intricate accomplishment" Lucy Steeds The snow of the dying century still lay on the edge of the dark forest when Lajos von Lázár, the translucent child with water-blue eyes, first glimpsed the man he would believe to be his father for his whole life and beyond. The Lázárs have ruled their Hungarian lands for generations. In their ancient castle by the edge of a forest that compels all who enter it to madness, they succumb to every vice and live only to satiate their desires. But the old order is crumbling, and the days of the Habsburg Monarchy are numbered. When Lajos von Lázár inherits, they at last have a baron who can reignite the old splendours, but not even his abilities are proof against the ravages of war and occupation. It will fall to his children - a boy who talks to shadows and a girl who eschews her blue blood - to find a way to stand against oppression and take the first faltering steps towards freedom. A sweeping epic, taking the reader from the beginning of the twentieth century to the Hungarian National Uprising of 1956, Lázár would be a phenomenal achievement for a writer of any age. With its air of timeless wisdom, it reads like rediscovered classic, making it all the more remarkable that it was written when the author was just twenty-one years old. Translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch

" Lázár is an exquisite and masterly pronouncement that a gifted young writer walks among us" Patti Smith " A truly great writer steps onto the stage" Daniel Kehlmann " Propulsive, twisting and spell-binding. Lázár is a bold, intricate accomplishment" Lucy Steeds The snow of the dying century still lay on the edge of the dark forest when Lajos von Lázár, the translucent child with water-blue eyes, first glimpsed the man he would believe to be his father for his whole life and beyond. The Lázárs have ruled their Hungarian lands for generations. In their ancient castle by the edge of a forest that compels all who enter it to madness, they succumb to every vice and live only to satiate their desires. But the old order is crumbling, and the days of the Habsburg Monarchy are numbered. When Lajos von Lázár inherits, they at last have a baron who can reignite the old splendours, but not even his abilities are proof against the ravages of war and occupation. It will fall to his children - a boy who talks to shadows and a girl who eschews her blue blood - to find a way to stand against oppression and take the first faltering steps towards freedom. A sweeping epic, taking the reader from the beginning of the twentieth century to the Hungarian National Uprising of 1956, Lázár would be a phenomenal achievement for a writer of any age. With its air of timeless wisdom, it reads like rediscovered classic, making it all the more remarkable that it was written when the author was just twenty-one years old. Translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch

22-årige Nelio Biedermann har skrevet en episk perle inspireret af sin egen families historie. På et slot i det habsburgske Ungarn i begyndelsen af 1900-tallet vokser den skrøbelige Lajos von Lázár op som arving til en adelsslægt i forfald. Moren bærer på en ødelæggende hemmelighed, faren holder krampagtigt fast i en smuldrende orden, og onklen forsvinder ind i galskaben – bedsteforældrene har den omkringliggende skov allerede fortæret. Over årtier følger vi adelsfamilien Lázárs langsomme opløsning, mens de gradvist bliver frarøvet deres privilegier, og det gamle Europa omkring dem forvitrer. Første Verdenskrig leder til Habsburgerrigets sammenbrud, og i kølvandet følger en ny verdenskrig, antisemitisme og kommunismens nådesløse indmarch. Lázár er en imponerende og ambitiøs fortælling om de voldsomme forandringer, Europa undergik i det 20. århundrede, og om den psykologiske formørkelse, som fulgte med. Samtidig er romanen en sanselig og rørende slægtshistorie og en hyldest til den europæiske litteraturhistorie.

" L?z?r is an exquisite and masterly pronouncement that a gifted young writer walks among us." --Patti Smith An "astonishing...disturbingly dreamlike" (Daniel Kehlmann, The Director ) debut, inspired by the author's own family story--a gothic, inter-generational family saga capturing the rise and fall of an aristocratic Hungarian family against the backdrop of the two world wars. At the turn of the 20th century, the L?z?rs welcome their newest member in their rural summer estate, surrounded by a menacingly dark, enchanting forest. Lajos von L?z?r is a baby boy with translucent skin and light-blue eyes who looks nothing like the rest of his family. S?ndor, the imposing patriarch, is ashamed of his son's peculiarity. Ilona finds her baby brother quite ugly. M?ria is terrified that her son's uncanny resemblance to the stagehand who died a couple weeks earlier might spell disaster. While Imre, S?ndor's brother whose otherworldly foresight is often confused for insanity, is struck by visions of a great catastrophe. Lajos's birth is emblematic of the many secrets, affairs, and peculiar otherworldly happenings that plague the L?z?rs. As the decades go by, they will continue to fall prey to their desires, leading grand lives, and experiencing even greater tragedies as they're swept by the tides of war and revolution that befall their country. But time and again, in the lighter years, extraordinary love and hope shine through. Masterfully written and deeply haunting, L?z?r is a magisterial novel that presents the sweeping history of a nation through the lives of one extraordinary family.

" L?z?r is an exquisite and masterly pronouncement that a gifted young writer walks among us." --Patti Smith An "astonishing...disturbingly dreamlike" (Daniel Kehlmann, The Director ) debut, inspired by the author's own family story--a gothic, inter-generational family saga capturing the rise and fall of an aristocratic Hungarian family against the backdrop of the two world wars. At the turn of the 20th century, the L?z?rs welcome their newest member in their rural summer estate, surrounded by a menacingly dark, enchanting forest. Lajos von L?z?r is a baby boy with translucent skin and light-blue eyes who looks nothing like the rest of his family. S?ndor, the imposing patriarch, is ashamed of his son's peculiarity. Ilona finds her baby brother quite ugly. M?ria is terrified that her son's uncanny resemblance to the stagehand who died a couple weeks earlier might spell disaster. While Imre, S?ndor's brother whose otherworldly foresight is often confused for insanity, is struck by visions of a great catastrophe. Lajos's birth is emblematic of the many secrets, affairs, and peculiar otherworldly happenings that plague the L?z?rs. As the decades go by, they will continue to fall prey to their desires, leading grand lives, and experiencing even greater tragedies as they're swept by the tides of war and revolution that befall their country. But time and again, in the lighter years, extraordinary love and hope shine through. Masterfully written and deeply haunting, L?z?r is a magisterial novel that presents the sweeping history of a nation through the lives of one extraordinary family.