The Last Wolf / Herman (The Game Warden & The Death of a Craft) by László Krasznahorkai

It's been awhile since I tore through all of the  László Krasznahorkai books that I could find--starting with Seiobo There Below, then War & War, "The Bill," The Melancholy of Resistance, Satantango, and "Animalinside." I loved all of those books, and I wanted more. But when Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens came out, I didn't buy it. (In fact, I'd only bought the two short "books"--because there was no other way to read them--and Seiobo There Below because I loved it soooooo much.) It wasn't that I didn't want to spend the money. It was because I am in the process of divesting myself of books these days, and I am really hesitant to add more books while I am trying to do this. And I had obtained all four of the other big books from the library, so I thought it was a no-brainer that they would get Destruction and Sorrow. It came out on February 15th, 2016. I checked the library inventory regularly for months. Nada. About a month ago I went to the library web site and suggested that it would be a good book to purchase. Nada. Until today. When Destruction and Sorrow appeared in my holds list. (This has never happened before when I've suggested a purchase, so I guess someone is really looking out for me. Or maybe they've never purchased any of my previous suggestions.) So that will happen soon.

But meanwhile, another Krasznahorkai book has come out (September 27th, 2016), and (1) the library must have ordered it immediately, and (2) I was again on the lookout, so (3) I was first on the list to receive it. 

It is an odd little book. On the outside, it looks like this:

And on the inside, as you would probably guess, it looks like this:

Which is very cool to me. Like one of those old Ace Doubles, if you go back that far.

And I've just finished reading the three stories this little (4.8 x 0.6 x 7.3 inches) book, and I have to say that it is well worth $12.02 price tag (Amazon book . . . $9.99 on Kindle), but I probably am not going to buy it. Though I will read it at least one more time. (Which probably won't even require me to renew it; I'm sad to say, though, that at present that wouldn't be a problem, as no one else has requested the book. Isn't there ANYbody else in Louisville who reads László Krasznahorkai? If you do, please check his books out of the library so that they won't be winnowed, thus eliminating the possibility of someone stumbling upon him--as I did. It was a complete accident that I found him. I've told the story before, so I'll just squeeze it down to a Nabokovian parenthetical: (cover, likedit).

Anyway. "Herman" is divided into two sections ("The Game Warden" & "The Death of a Craft") because they are two "versions" of the same story (which is, at you have guessed, about Herman). Both are very strange stories, but they are told in a pretty conventional way--with periods and everything. "The Game Warden" is 25 pages long, and "The Death of a Craft" is 20 pages long. "The Last Wolf" --which is 70 pages long--is more typically Krasznahorkain . . . it's one sentence long. But you know how that goes. It doesn't really feel like one sentence, but the lack of punctuation encourages you to keep reading, and it really should be a one-sitting read.

There seem to be several connections between the two (three) stories, but I don't want to do any spoilers, so let's just leave it at this: it's a slim volume, but I wouldn't have felt cheated if I'd paid full price for it.

However . . . after I finished reading it . . . and I am very gentle with books . . . it looked like this:

I don't think that's the sign of fine craftsmanship there. Come on, New Directions Books. This is László Krasznahorkai we're talking about here.