I have been scanning NetGalley hoping to see an ARC of this since the English translation was announced, and now I’ve only gone and read it in 2 days when I’d actually wanted to savour it! Like the heady, savoury liquor the patients at this sanitarium imbibe.
I enjoyed Tokarczuk’s Drive the Plow over the Bones of the Dead, and I enjoyed Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain. So I knew that I’d enjoy this! Having read The Magic Mountain definitely adds to the enjoyment of The Empusium, as it’s not just Easter eggs you’ll miss out on - it’s also the moments of sly humour and feminist riffing off Mann’s original.
Now planning to visit the site of the Guesthouse for Gentlemen in real life!