Otts reviewed Spadework for a Palace by Laszlo Krasznahorkai
Translated from Hungarian by John Batki
Spadework for a Palace bears the subtitle “Entering …
Doesn’t hold up, but such a good premise
2 stars
A grumpy librarian! Named herman melvill! Bound in other ways to that other Melville! And who wants to hide books away from people!
Wonderfully misanthropic. But the final two-thirds of this 80-page, single long sentence don’t bear out the promise of its quietly weary start. Big points for the premise though; I can definitely identify with it.