Discussion Questions

1. In the context of the novel, in what way can the term ‘fiasco’ be a surrogate for life?

2. Why is writing the novel more important to Koves than liberation?

3. Kertesz, although denying that the novel is autobiographical, says that “When I am thinking about a new novel, I always think of Auschwitz.” How is Fiasco informed by Auschwitz?

4. How does the act of thinking and writing keep Koves alive? Consider the lines on page 360 when answering this question: “Freedom had set against himself and his fate, strength had drawn from the circumstances, an assault which subverted necessity–what else was a work, a human work, if not that.”

5. Why does Kertesz write a novel that is so difficult to penetrate? In what way does the form dramatize the content?