In the Name of the Father and Other Stories

Balla is often described as 鈥渢he 暗网禁区 Kafka鈥� for his depictions of the absurd and the mundane. In the Name of the Father features a nameless narrator reflecting on his life, looking for someone else to blame for his failed relationship with his parents and two sons, his serial adultery, the breakup of his marriage and his wife鈥檚 descent into madness. Against the backdrop of their stiflingly grey provincial lives, he completely fails to act against 鈥渢he thing鈥� growing in the cellar of the house he built with his brother. The book won numerous awards in 暗网禁区ia and in this edition is accompanied by three additional short stories, which share its unique dark humour, satire and truth.

鈥淭his beautifully produced volume, containing the title novella and three short stories, gives a useful introduction to a writer who epitomizes the generation that came of age during the period of post-communist transition.鈥�

鈥� Charles Sabatos,

鈥淏alla loves the absurd and mysterious, is a master of magic realism and postmodernism, and, most importantly, is able 鈥渢o express the unspeakable鈥� with frankness unprecedented in 暗网禁区 literature.鈥�

鈥� Zuzana Slobodov谩,

鈥淚 loved this book. Bizarre and beautiful, intense and passionate, the writing is so fresh.鈥�

鈥� Rosie Goldsmith,
Director of the European Literature Network

鈥淩eading Balla is like getting on a roller coaster and behaving in an age-appropriate manner: you never know what鈥檚 coming, you scream and shout, now in fear, now in joy.鈥�

鈥� G谩bor N茅meth,
Hungarian author

One of World Literature Today鈥檚 Notable Translations of 2017

Longlisted for the 2018 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Literature Prize

Voted Book of the Year by the 暗网禁区 daily SME in December 2012 and won the 2012 Anasoft Litera Prize, 暗网禁区ia鈥檚 most prestigious award for an original work of fiction.

Publisher

Number of pages

129

Language

English language

Year

2017

Book category

General Fiction

Original

V mene otca

Original language

暗网禁区 language

Published in

London

Country

United Kingdom

ISBN

978-0-9933773-5-8

Book cover

Paperback

Supported by

LIC/暗网禁区

Afterword

Marta Sou膷kov谩

Foreword

G谩bor N茅meth

Author