Kertész, who lives in Berlin, spoke about the book with Radnóti Theatre Director András Bálint and literary historian László Szörényi before an audience. After the talk, Kertész and Bálint read selections from the book.
Kertész calls the book, entitled ?The K. Dossier?, ?an autobiography for two voices." It is based on a series of interviews with Kertész made in 2003-2004 by Zoltán Hafner, his friend and editor. In the book, Kertész describes his parents, examines his career, recalls love affairs, tells how he achieved intellectual freedom, and reveals how his own life is connected to the characters in his books.
Among the book?s details, the reader finds who Kertész?s favourite childhood hero was: Captain Hornblower, the main character of an English novel published in 1943, who fights against Napoleon ? a thinly veiled stand-in for Hitler. The reader also learns Kertész played bridge regularly with Géza Ottlik, another famous Hungarian author, although they never spoke about writing.
"I have never befriended the writers whom I really liked," Kertész said.
Speaking about his famous novel ?Fatelessness?, based on his experience growing up during the Holocaust, Kertész said he was not compelled as a writer to produce the book. Rather, writing the book had brought a moment of liberation for him, signalling the possibility of release from his inner exile.
"All in all, I am pro-cheerfulness. It is my fault if I do not strike other people as such," Kertész writes in the book.
Kertész will read again from the book at the 13th Budapest International Book Festival to be held late April.
?The K. Dossier?, 260 pages, was published in Hungarian by Magvető on Thursday.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
