In an interview with BosNewsLife from his residence in Berlin, the 72-year old author told BosNewsLife that he wants the $1 million dollar Prize to “encourage Hungary” to recognize its controversial role in World War Two.
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Farmotel Stefania is on the way to Slovenian and Croatian Adriatic sea coast.
INTERVIEW:
BosNewsLife: “Most of your publications were inspired by your own horrific experiences during the Second World War, when as a Jew you suffered in the German-run concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. When you look back to more than half a century of writings, what was your best novel?”
Imre Kertesz: “I believe that all my books are connected. My most popular roman is Fateless, which was first published in 1975. Critics always talked about this book. It became a best seller and most copies were printed of Fateless.”
BosNewsLife: “Fateless and other novels describe a war when Hungary was for the most part a close ally of Nazi-Germany. Does the fact that you have been specifically awarded for these works also send a message to Hungary?
Kertesz: “Hungary has still not dealt with the Holocaust in a proper way. I hope that through my Nobel Prize, the Hungarian society will finally recognize the trauma that 600-thousand Hungarians Jews were massacred in the gas chambers.”
BosNewsLife: “Yet, despite your sadness over those who died, is there as sense of happiness that you have finally been recognized with a Nobel Prize?
Kertesz: “These are of course beautiful days.”
BosNewsLife: “How did your wife react when she heard the news that you won the Prize?
Kertesz laughs: “I told her that she should go pick up the Prize in Oslo, in December. She was so happy…Of course it was a joke.”
BosNewsLife: Did you expect to receive the award?
Kertesz: “To be honest…no. I read (in the news papers) that I am a candidate, but I never expected it. So the surprise is even bigger. However I did not have much time to celebrate, because journalists immediately wanted to talk to me.”
BosNewsLife: “The Hungarian Government wants to change tax laws that would otherwise have forced you to hand over nearly half of $1 million Prize money to the state. But you refuse to stop working and enjoy your life as a wealthy retired man. What are your plans for the near future?
Kertesz: “It is important to me that I will be also known in America. I mean not my name, but my books. They never really became best sellers in the United States because of bad translations. There are now two books scheduled to be published there, but we have to work on the translation first. ”
BosNewsLife: Hungarian Government leaders want to make your books compulsory in high schools. They have also said that your Prize shows that there is once again a reason to be proud to be Hungarian. Do you agree?
Kertesz: “Well, when they see it that way, that is good. Because it means that they will be also proud to face up to Hungary’s controversial past regarding the Holocaust.”
BosNewsLife: “The Swedish Nobel Academy said it awarded the Nobel Prize to you to honour your “writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history.”
Kertesz: ”I have not had much time to read the Academy’s commentary. But if they say this, I think I fully agree…”
