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Superb writer, indeed. As an Eastern European, all I can add is there’s a truthfulness to his writing, a deeper understanding of what this part of the world has been through and seems headed towards yet again that I haven’t encountered anywhere else. Truly a cut above.
I’m an Eastern European leftie whose peasant ancestors (not all of them, obviously) suffered through famine, unspeakable state-sanctioned violence and extended prison terms during Stalinism and through decades of opression afterwards. The intergenerational trauma is something we’re all still struggling with. I cannot bear to hear the “Well, you need to break some eggs in order to make omelette”-type of negationist twaddle and each day is a reminder of how the authoritarian postwar regimes have made it damn near impossible to resurrect the Left in the region. Don’t just fuck tankies, feed them rancid cum only.
I got plenty of gripes with Signal (acting like a de facto proprietary app, backing up horrendously difficult, gimping the Android options in order to get to “feature parity” with the less developed iOS app, serious UI/UX missteps - the bubbles colouring debacle, no AMOLED mode etc.). Having said that, I let everybody know it IS my main messaging app - if they want to reach me, that’s where I’ll be. I do still use WhatsApp (barf!) and Slack, but exclusively for work-related stuff and I force close them the minute I walk out the office (if something blows up, a good, old-fashioned call will do). People who really want to keep in touch will eventually use an encrypted app, even if begrudgingly.
Apologies for taking so long to reply. I rate Sátántango, War&War and The Melancholy… as equals, and they’re all near-perfect novels, as far as I’m concerned. Baron Wenkheim’s Homecoming could pass for his most traditional/accessible work. In the right frame of mind, Seiobo there below could absolutely be an enchanting entry point for a patient reader. But you really cannot go wrong with any of them.