About 5 years ago, my friend Joel recommended Laszlo Krasznahorkai's long-winded but effectively effulgent The Melancholy of Resistance (New Directions, 2000), originally published in 1989 Hungary. I also picked up his War and War (New Directions, 2006), from 1999. And I'm happy that New Directions is publishing this new book, AnimalInside (2011), in part a collaboration with artist Max Neumann, which will be limited to 2000 copies.
Above links to Krasznahorkai's and Neumann's websites.
Some people may be more familiar with Bela Tarr's films based on Krasznahorkai's writings:
Damnation (1987), co-written
The Last Boat (1989)
Satantango (1994), based on the novel of same name
Journey on the Plain (1995)
Werckmeister Harmonies (2000), based on The Melancholy of Resistance
The Man from London (2007), collaboration based on Georges Simenon's novel of same name
The Turin Horse (2011), co-written
Damnation is one of my all-time faves. It's also one of my favorite black-and-white films within the past 25 years. I can only think of Ildiko Enyedi's My 20th Century (1989), also Hungarian, which has as much intriguing narrative and visuality. Some of the better or more interesting recent attempts: Peter Watkins' La Commune (Paris, 1871) (2000), Guy Maddin's The Saddest Music in the World (2003), Esteban Sapir's La Antena (2007).
