Library of Lost Books

How did Hemingway's wife have all of the author's manuscripts stolen? Why did Balzac get angry with his publisher and destroy the second volume of his novel The Village Doctor? Why did James Joyce throw the two thousand page manuscript titled Stephen Hero into the fire? Is it possible to re-read the history of literature based on works that were not published and did not have the chance to meet the reader? Alexander Pechmann does exactly this with the Library of Lost Books, which he built as if he were a literary detective: This library does not contain masterpieces that have shaped the literary universe with their permanent traces; Here, the lost manuscripts of Kafka, Joyce, Byron, Shelley, Mérimée, Puskin, E. Howard and many other great writers are traced. They are "destroyed, defeated by the power of nature, by chance or accident, in a fit of delirium and rage, or by reckless willfulness, by writers, publishers, heirs, lawyers, clergy, educators, tyrants, soldiers, censors, and readers." "They are books hidden somewhere or written in incomprehensible languages and indecipherable scripts and cannot be read by anyone."

As Pechmann takes his reader through the shelves of the Lost Books Library, guided by his humorous narration, he reveals works that continue to exist "like a faint dream, a memory, a possibility, or a slowly fading dream"...
(From the Promotional Bulletin)



Number of Pages: 192

Year of Printing: 2015


Language: Turkish
Publisher: Can Publications

First Publication Year: 2015

Number of Pages: 192

Language: Turkish