Kosztolányi was part of “the first generation of Nyugat”, a group of poets and writers that gathered around the Hungarian literary journal Nyugat (Hungarian for “West”) in the first decades of the 20th century. He wrote critiques, poems and prosaic works as well as translations (also from English). My favourite works of his are mostly poems.
There are several things that I like about his writings. Firstly, he wrote with extreme ease and his lines are pleasant to read as they effortlessly flow into one another without even the slightest disruption. His language is full of playfulness and wit, making reading his works an experience.
Something else about Kosztolányi that makes me like him even more is that he did not attribute social role to poetry or art itself. He wrote because he enjoyed doing so (see his ‘doodles’ and funny rhymes) and I think this can be felt when reading his works. In his poetry he considered aesthetics crucial but this does not mean that his poems would be shallow or they lack meaning and are only to be enjoyed because of their great aesthetic qualities. I think that in his art Kosztolányi found the right proportions and did not sacrifice aesthetics in favour of meaning or vice versa.
In his poetry he captured little peculiar moments of life that make it what it is. In my opinion his love of life is clearly perceptible in his poems and this is part of the reason why I can sit down and read from him again and again.
There are several things that I like about his writings. Firstly, he wrote with extreme ease and his lines are pleasant to read as they effortlessly flow into one another without even the slightest disruption. His language is full of playfulness and wit, making reading his works an experience.
Something else about Kosztolányi that makes me like him even more is that he did not attribute social role to poetry or art itself. He wrote because he enjoyed doing so (see his ‘doodles’ and funny rhymes) and I think this can be felt when reading his works. In his poetry he considered aesthetics crucial but this does not mean that his poems would be shallow or they lack meaning and are only to be enjoyed because of their great aesthetic qualities. I think that in his art Kosztolányi found the right proportions and did not sacrifice aesthetics in favour of meaning or vice versa.
In his poetry he captured little peculiar moments of life that make it what it is. In my opinion his love of life is clearly perceptible in his poems and this is part of the reason why I can sit down and read from him again and again.
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