The Return Of Munchausen

Joanne Turnbull, Sigizmund Krzhizhanovksy

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English

NYRB Classics
15 December 2016

Literature, Poetry & Criticism; Classic fiction (pre c 1945)

First inspired in the eighteenth century by the tall tales of the

real Baron Hieronymus von M nchausen, the legend of Baron M nchausen-as

transmitted and transformed by Rudolf Erich Raspe and Gottfried August

B rger-soon eclipsed the fame of his living counterpart and has

captivated the European imagination ever since. An irrepressible

cavalier and raconteur, the Baron gallivants through battle (in one

episode he climbs aboard an outgoing cannonball only to change his mind

halfway and hop onto another one heading in the opposite direction),

scoffs at death, and inflates his own stature at every turn.

In Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky's update, the Baron returns in the

troubled twentieth century, where he will rediscover the place of

imagination amid the tenuous peace, universal mourning, and political

machinations of the aftermath of World War I. ""To me,"" he claims, ""the

debates of philosophers, grabbing the truth out of each other's hands,

resemble

a fight among beggars over a single coin."" Transcending

truth, the Baron instead revels in smoke and mist. He is a devotee of

the impossible and a worshipper of ""Saint Nobody."" But lost as he is in

the twists of his imagination, can the Baron heal Europe through

diplomacy-or at least hold a mirror up to its absurdities?

By: Joanne Turnbull, Sigizmund Krzhizhanovksy
Imprint: NYRB Classics
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: Main
Dimensions: Height: 204mm, Width: 128mm, Spine: 10mm
Weight: 166g
ISBN: 9781681370286
ISBN 10: 168137028X
Pages: 168
Publication Date: 15 December 2016
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky (1887-1950) studied law and classical philology at Kiev University. His two story collections, Autobiography of a Corpse and Memories of the Future, and his novel, The Letter Killers Club, are available as NYRB Classics. Joanne Turnbull has translated a number of books from the Russian, including Krzhizhanovsky's Autobiography of a Corpse, Memories of the Future, and The Letter Killers Club (all available as NYRB Classics). She lives in Moscow.

Reviews for The Return Of Munchausen

"""Playful and erudite, sprinkled with philosophy and politics, funny in places and melancholy in others, this novella, like most of Krzhizhanovsky's work, remained unpublished during his lifetime; how lucky that we can read it now.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review “For all Krzhizhanovsky’s avant-garde bona fides, few authors speak more honestly about the power great literature can exert on a reader and on its creator.” —Scott Esposito, The National"