Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Destruction and Sorrow beneath the Heavens | 2004 | László Krasznahorkai | Buy |
Destruction and Sorrow beneath the Heavens is Krasznahorkai’s only non-fiction book, published in English in 2004. It documents his travels through China as he looks for the remnants of classical Chinese culture, visiting temples, gardens, scholars, and artists. What he finds instead is a country racing toward modernity, with ancient traditions surviving only in fragments.
The book reflects the same preoccupations that run through his fiction: the tension between preservation and decay, and the difficulty of holding onto beauty or meaning in a world that has moved on. Readers familiar with Seiobo There Below will recognize the author’s deep interest in East Asian aesthetics, which began with these travels.