The
latest information states that book industry in Romania hit a new low since
1990, it seems that 2/3 of the publishers closed doors, while other signs of
health from the book market are not encouraging. In this light, my constant
bickering and raised questions about the horror genre in Romania, a niche with
a tiny span, seems pointless. I repeat, the Romanian folklore, legends and traditions,
plus nearly 50 years of an oppressive regime and 25 years more of an unstable
society offer a fertile ground for genre fiction and yet it remains mostly unsown.
Even so, I do believe that there is hope and a better future can be built, in
the end we do have young writers and bold publishers to prove that. Without
them we cannot talk of any kind of future. It is tough, from my experience the
school programs force only the classics on the students and every other book
outside that is labeled as unimportant, therefore plenty of teachers chase away
pupils from reading in the process. It is just one part of a wider picture, but
I prefer not going into detail, I wish to keep a more optimistic tone here.
Because in the end change starts with each of us and efforts are made to turn
things around. Keeping it to the Romanian horror genre I am happy I can point out
a couple of examples, Mircea Pricăjan
does one hell of a job with his editing, writing and running of the Suspense Magazine, a genre periodical, Herg Benet is a new publishing house
with strong attitude, welcoming and publishing new and interesting Romanian
writers. There are several more and that is the reason for me believing that
our genre fiction can become memorable. For instance, Radu Găvan, who launches today his debut novel, “Exorcizat” (Exorcized), through the already mentioned Herg Benet. I had the
chance to read a couple of Radu Găvan’s short stories and those made an impact,
thus I am quite curious about his novel. I have a little restrain towards it, I
understand “Exorcizat” (Exorcized) contains sex and violence and these two in
the same sentence are not a point of attraction, but there are other things
that make me give this novel a chance. A young writer, a daring publisher, an
intriguing concept, a hope for the future of the genre. Oh, and more thing, we
can promote such novels with the help of a book trailer too, despite me not finding
those extremely efficient it is a step forward.
“… we
are the hyenas that chase away the lion from the prey, the cockroaches that
invade your home, the rats that put you on the run. We are fighting for food,
so we are prepared…”
In the middle of a strangled
city, a young real estate agent, alone and penniless, fights with desperation
for survival. Born from the darkness of
his mind, as well as from the moral filth of the corrupt society that surrounds
him, the demons of the past meet those of the present. Thus, the battle for keeping
his own humanity can begin. Alive and brutal, overwhelming from the
psychological point of view, Exorcized is
a rollercoaster that strolls mercilessly the shadows of the human mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment