|
|
Article: The dangerous life and enigmatic death of Arthur Koestler: waiting for the new biography.(Biography)
- Article from:
- Quadrant
- Article date:
- December 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Quadrant Magazine Company, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
NEXT YEAR is the centenary of Arthur Koestler's birth and will be the occasion for a calmer reassessment of his oeuvre than has been possible during the bitter controversies of the past twenty years. In his native Budapest, where his books were all banned, the liberal Michael Polanyi Society will devote a special issue of its journal Polanyiana to him. It sees him as one of the last of the great Central European Jewish intellectuals--before, as George Steiner put it, "the annihilation of the breed".
Michael Scammell's biography should also at last appear and, judging from published excerpts, will help restore a reputation so badly damaged by David Cesarani's ...