The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk

 

The Empusium

by Olga Tokarczuk

Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

The protagonist of The Empusium—Olga Tokarczuk’s latest novel—is Mieczysław Wojnicz, a student engineer suffering from tuberculosis who seeks a cure at a sanatorium in Görbersdorf, Lower Silesia. It is 1913, and the clouds of war are roiling, yet this remote setting exudes a timeless, otherworldly atmosphere, seemingly detached from the rest of the world. Wojnicz is staying at a guesthouse for gentlemen run by Wilhelm Opitz. His fellow guests and patients spend their days engaged in heated philosophical debates—on politics, art, religion, superstition, the state of the world, and, more often than not, the supposed inferiority of the female sex. These feverish discussions, often fuelled by alcohol and perhaps, the symptoms of their maladies, grow increasingly and alarmingly misogynistic. At times, the views expressed are so extreme they verge on the absurd—only for the reader to discover, in an afterword by the author, that these disturbing opinions paraphrase the writings of several major male intellectuals throughout history.

As the not-so-jolly men of the novel philosophize—between medical visits and brisk walks in the woods—Wojnicz learns of strange happenings in the village, including the mysterious deaths of young men, which are being investigated by one of Opitz’s guests, a police officer in disguise. There are also whispers of vengeful female supernatural beings haunting the surrounding woods and mountains. Most of the men dismiss these tales as local superstition—but as any folk horror enthusiast knows, that may not be the wisest course of action…

I’m always intrigued when an acclaimed author not known for horror —in this case, a Nobel Prize winner —ventures into the genre. Subtitled “A Health Resort Horror Story,” The Empusium seemed like the perfect introduction to Tokarczuk’s work. I must admit, I found the novel challenging and read it in fits and starts. While it employs tropes familiar to lovers of the Gothic, it is, above all, a postmodern philosophical novel, a kaleidoscope cultural references. Even its title is a neologism, blending “symposium” (the ancient Greek term for a philosophical discussion following a banquet, and the title of a Platonic dialogue) with “empusai” (mythological female shape-shifters). The novel is clearly inspired by Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain, to which The Empusium serves as both an intelligent homage and a corrective feminist counterpoint. The Gothic elements build up in the final pages, with Tokarczuk pulling out all the narrative stops to deliver a chilling denouement.

This is a fever dream of a book, and the simmering female rage beneath its surface is powerfully conveyed in Antonia Lloyd-Jones’s translation.

321 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 26, 2024, Fitzcarraldo Editions