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Liquidation Review. . . a tragedy to those who feel. Horace Walpole.Liquidation is the fourth in a series of books by Imre Kertesz, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 2002. Three, "Fateless", "Kaddish for a Child not Born", and "Liquidation" have been published in English. The fourth, "Fiasco" awaits translation. Although each is related to the other, the recurring characters and their life's story tends to change, the common thread in all is that monstrous thing known as Auschwitz. Kertesz himself is an Auschwitz survivor, and all his books have put Auschwitz, something that defies explanations or answers, on center stage.
Liquidation contains a story within a story. The protagonist, the aptly named Kingbitter, is a book editor in Budapest. It is the turn of the new century, 2000, and company that employs him is in serious economic trouble. The book opens with Kingbitter and his small circle of `friends' discussing "B". "B", an author, committed suicide in 1990 by means of an overdose of morphine, the morphine provided by his ex-wife. The friends are discussing "B" last known work, a play entitled "Liquidation". Oddly enough, the play, which discusses Kingbitter and that circle of friends, has foretold their personal course of events in the ten years since his suicide. Additionally, references in the play to a book supposedly written by "B" have caused Kingbitter to spend ten years in search of the manuscript. The manuscript is never found and doubts arise as to whether it ever existed.
Although Kingbitter is the principal `living' person in the book, the story does focus on "B" and his life and death. "B" was one of those few children born at Auschwitz. The story of his birth and survival is one of life's small miracles, a small drop of water in a sea of evil and death. As the story progresses, and as the play within the play progresses, Kertesz exposes us to "B", his ex-wife, his mistress, and Kingbitter and company. Each has their own take on "B's" life and each provides the reader with some insight into "B"s life. As one friend notes, "B" once said that "Man, when reduced to nothing, or in other words a survivor, is not tragic but comic, because he has no fate." Taking the quote from Walpole, above, as a reference, it is clear that "B" is one given to thought and not to feeling. In fact, I had the distinct imperssioin that feeling was an emotion that "B" avoided, perhaps understandably, at all costs. Ultimately, as with his other books, neither Kertesz nor his characters can answer the question that is Auschwitz and the meaning of survival. For "B", his survival has rendered him fateless as the fact of his surviving deprived fate of an intended victim.
Kertesz' writing is sparse and to the point. He does not provide the reader with emotional content. He provides text and a description of his characters, their actions, and their thoughts. As was the case in Fateless, any emotions to be gained from reading Liquidation will come from your own sense of the text. Kertesz does not provide you with an emotional road map.
Although Liquidation is one of a series, each book stands on its own and may be enjoyed on its own merits. However, for anyone interested in reading Kertesz, I suggest they start with Fateless. Although Kaddish comes next chronologically, I suggest reading Liquidation next. The only reason for this order is the assertion by some devotees of Kertesz that the book "Kaddish for a Child not Born" may represent the manuscript not found by Kingbitter in Liquidation. That may or may not be the case but it may enhance the reader's enjoyment if it is viewed as the lost manuscript of "B". The reader should also be aware that although each book is related to the other and there is an overlap in characters at times, this is not a trilogy. Kertesz shifts the story line around quite a bit. The Auschwitz survivor in Fateless, for example, was taken to the camps as a teenager, unlike "B" who was born there. The stories are connected by theme, not by plot line.
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