'Alfabeti' by Claudio Magris

Alfabeti. Saggi di letteratura by Claudio Magris
Garzanti, 2008

"Claudio Magris is one of the world’s major voices in contemporary literature and today’s cultural debate. Magris has won numerous awards and honorary degrees and is often named as a favourite for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Since the publication of the worldwide bestseller Danube (1986), a voyage of discovery through the Central European civilization and the crisis of our times, Magris is an outstanding example of a person who transcends borders: between past and present, between different cultures and between diverse literary genres. “With his rich and elegant prose, Claudio Magris shows the effect of borders and divides on our perception of the world, forcing us to view the world from different perspectives” (Erasmus Prize jury, 2001). For many years now, Magris has demonstrated himself to be an independent thinker and original observer of contemporary society – not only in his novels, essays and short stories, but also as a leading columnist for various European newspapers and magazines." (uu.nl)

* article by Raffaele La Capria (Corriere della Sera)