Z213: EXIT

Poena Damni #1

by Dimitris Lyacos, Shorsha Sullivan (Translator)

Z213: EXIT is the first installment of the Poena Damni trilogy: a camp, a train, soldiers, a Bible with notes inside, encroaching darkness, the struggle to remember, the struggle of hiding, physical pain. As if waking up in a nightmare an escapee recounts his fleeting experiences in a series of fragmented diary entries in a hide-and-seek game with Death or even God. Written in a unique prose style, at times bordering on poetry and conveying a “pilgrimage of the soul” through a series of increasingly haunting pieces, Z213: EXIT creates the feeling that reader and narrator are led together through an eschatological experience. Horror is created by the scantiest vocabulary craftily combined to form a broken, unstructured syntax, seemingly tight, but leaving enough loopholes through which the reader’s subconscious fears can pop in and out. Although evidently post-modernist, this is a book that does not undermine or shrink the traditional Grand Narrative themes; on the contrary, it thrives on them.

Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Greece, Philosophy, Literary Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Post Apocalyptic

101 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2009

About the author

Dimitris Lyacos (Greek: Δημήτρης Λυάκος) is a Greek writer best known for the internationally acclaimed Poena Damni trilogy and its prequel Until the Victim Becomes our Own. His genre-defying work interweaves prose, poetry, and drama with themes from philosophy, religion, ritual, and literary tradition, forming a complex narrative rooted in the Western Canon. Lyacos's characters are typically isolated, existential figures navigating dystopian or metaphysical landscapes, reflecting motifs such as the scapegoat, exile, redemption, and the return of the dead.
The trilogy, written over three decades, includes Z213: Exit, With the People from the Bridge, and The First Death, and has been interpreted as post-tragic and allegorical, blending Christian symbolism with elements of modernist and postmodernist literature. Critics have likened Lyacos to James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and Cormac McCarthy, citing his synthesis of classical and contemporary styles. His work has been translated into over 20 languages, making it one of the most widely translated Greek literary projects of the 21st century.
Born in Athens, Lyacos studied law and philosophy in Athens, Venice, and London, and now resides between Berlin and Athens. He has lectured worldwide and appeared in major international festivals. Poena Damni is frequently included in university curricula and has garnered significant critical attention. Although a Greek author, his works are published solely in translation. Lyacos is considered Greece’s foremost contemporary writer and a likely Nobel contender, praised for his contribution to postmodern literature and the philosophical exploration of human suffering and transcendence.

Reviews

[Andrea Magistris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mi sono immerso nella lettura di quest'opera sapendo che non sarebbe stato facile.
Non lo è stato.
Ho finito da poche ore e ancora mi sto interrogando sulla natura delle mie sensazioni. Forse con il passare del tempo cambierò opinione, forse successive riletture spingeranno la mia comprensione là dove ora non riesce ad arrivare, ma per il momento il mio parere è questo:

Si tratta di un romanzo complesso, profondo e spaventosamente artistico. C'è una ricerca notevole e colta dietro ogni scelta narrativa, un utilizzo di tecniche intrecciate, che alternano prosa classica a poesia, passando per sprazzi di postmodernismo e futurismo. Non esiste linearità, spesso mancano la struttura stessa dei periodi, gli articoli, le congiunzioni e i tempi verbali. Le frasi sono un susseguirsi di elementi dissonanti, una rete attraverso la quale si possono scorgere solo pochi sprazzi di storia.

E la storia stessa è un altro dei misteri di quest'opera: abbiamo accenni di una catastrofe globale che ha lasciato il mondo nel caos, indizi di devastazioni che hanno azzerato ogni ordine sociale e un protagonista in fuga da una condizione iniziale di cui si capisce poco. Il suo è un viaggio con chiari rimandi biblici e con diversi riferimenti al mondo greco, una discesa in un abisso fatto di orrori indistinti, confusione, atrocità mai esplicitate del tutto.
La ricchezza dei temi affrontati è notevole, frutto di una ricerca evidente e assolutamente meritevole.

Purtroppo, però, tutto questo si perde nel nulla proprio a causa dell'eccessiva (e a mio parere immotivata) complessità della prosa. Non sono mai riuscito ad attaccarmi alla storia e agli eventi, meno che mai al protagonista. Ho impiegato tutto il tempo della lettura sforzandomi di decifrare la valanga di informazioni contrastanti, di stili mescolati insieme senza soluzione di continuità, perdendomi il senso e il piacere della narrazione e non riuscendo ad andare oltre le barriere iniziali. È giusto che un libro richieda impegno nella sua scoperta, ma qui, almeno nel mio caso, l'approccio è stato reso traumatico (senza dubbio volutamente da parte dell'autore) al punto da inficiare la comprensione stessa del testo.

È un peccato enorme, perché ho apprezzato tantissimo la sostanza e l'intenzione, ma la forma mi è risultata indigesta.

Una menzione particolare per l'edizione cartacea, ovvero quella che ho letto io. Non mi considero un ambientalista radicale, ma per quanto mi riguarda è inaccettabile alle soglie del 2023 che si pubblichi un libro in cui metà delle pagine sono bianche. Capisco le scelte artistiche e tutto quanto, ma non vedo proprio quale impatto artistico possano avere i soli numeri dei capitoli in una pagina a loro dedicata.

[Norat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diary "of the freedom which will be a burden to you": Dimitris Lyacos' Z213: EXIT

Z213: Exit is the first installment (and the latest to appear in print) of Dimitris Lyacos' Poena Damni trilogy. The work recounts, in what reads like a personal journal alternating between verse form and a simultaneously thick and elliptical prose, the wanderings of a man fleeing from a guarded building (prison, hospital, or even quarantine) in a dreamy, post-modernist version of an apocalyptic landscape. We never learn the identity of the fugitive or that of his pursuers, nor the past events that led to his confinement in the first place as we are almost immediately introduced to an environment reminiscent of a post-war zone coming out from, or even gradually being engulfed in, biblical chaos. The setting is sometimes outlined in realistic terms while deploying strong expressionistic images and creating in the reader’s heart a feeling of impasse as well as an emotional angst; as the book goes along there is a growing atmosphere of suspense, the protagonist being on the verge of discovering an underlying secret, or coming to the end of an inverted "romance-like" quest. This is enhanced by the overriding waste-land setting, which could be (we are never told) the result of a war that has left the landscape in ruins.
The prose narrative is here and there interrupted by a bold use of pastiche techniques, which would align the work with other examples of postmodern literature; however, here there is no post-modernist sense of imitation or other tongue-in-cheek parody of the imitated texts. Instead, the work enters into a rewarding dialogue with such seminal texts as The Bible, The Odyssey, The Divine Comedy, Piers Plowman, The Waste Land, Kafka’s works, the list is inexhaustible.

[George]

That was a whole lot of nothing. Maybe that's the reason every other page was blank. This was the 'thickest' of the trilogy. I have a feeling the description of this 3-volume work is the best part....

[Seb · Rating 3 out of 5]

"There is, even if it's inside me, a place I haven't yet reached, even if all things around me are fake, even if there is nothing around."

I needed time to get into Z213: EXIT.

I even had to start over at some point, because I was lost.

The narration is broken, as are the sentences. There's no unique path to go through this book. Surely some place to go, but how to get there is up to the reader.

"The Road" for weirdos.

Poetry of the wasted land and the fugitive.

[Aline · Rating 3 out of 5]

C'est unique...une véritable expérience littéraire...un cauchemar dans lequel on est embarqué sans pouvoir revenir en arrière...de la prose sous forme de recherche d'humanité, celle des autres, la sienne...des souvenirs, des rêves par vagues angoissantes... l'invocation des morts...la spiritualité...la quête de la vie...

[Sol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may seem avant-garde but it is only the natural consequence of a long tradition of western poetry. Where do you go after Rilke, Beckett and Celan? You go here. No need to write too much about it as Chris Via/Leaf by Leaf orients the potential reader wonderfully in his pervasive video - watch it if you are interested in this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A67jb...

[Mara Lindenlaub]

I had heard about this from friends but never had read it so far. A complex narrative on the surface, a philosophical journey underneath. I am not very familiar with contemporary Greek writing, although I have read some This is a work, however, that leads you straight back to an ancient sublimity. Benefits from multiple readings as well as more levels add to its complexity and depth.

[Dre Legal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetry and fiction at the same time. Dystopian paranoia and tragedy combined. A great work.

[Tati Tatiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is normally classified as poetry. It is not. It has the density of poetry, however, as well as the philosophical profundity of the genre and its openendedness.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, I am not a fan of poetic, disjointed writing styles, so if I had known that going into this, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up. I did read this because I saw it was classified as a dystopian, but as of right now I don’t think it is a true dystopian, but rather just has a few dystopian elements. I honestly can’t say what was going on in the story, as the writing caused everything to go right over my head. I blame my lack of enjoyment on the fact that I don’t mesh well with this kind of writing.

[J.A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

"What I know of translation comes from some naïve college years where I thought I could pick up the original French version of Camus’ THE STRANGER &, by reading it alongside an English translation, learn French. This was a stupid idea & a fruitless endeavor, but I did learn one thing: translating is pivotal..." read the full review at BigOther:

http://bigother.com/2011/01/17/i-know...

[Bassman · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most unique books I have ever read, deserves more than one readings.

[World Literature Today]

This book was featured in the Nota Benes section of the March 2017 issue of World Literature Today Magazine.

https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/...

[Eugene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterpiece, i read it three times!!

[Arioch91 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Alors... Comment dire ?

Ce tome 1 (bordel, y en a 2 autres en plus!) est une bouillie de mots, de phrases dont le sens change régulièrement en passant du coq à l'âne. Et inversement.

Vous voyez des signes de ponctuation dans l'avis que je rédige en ce moment même.

Et bien, parfois (le début surtout), il n'y en a pas un seul. Et l'on s'enquille des paragraphes longs comme le bras sans capter le moindre sens de ce que l'on tente (vainement) de comprendre.

Je n'ai pas pigé un brôle de ce bouquin soit-disant avant-gardiste, poétique et d'autres choses encore.

Une chose est sûre : je vais lire quelque chose de bien plus accessible dès maintenant.

[Black Glove · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fragments of a desperate soul trying to escape a nightmare scenario.
The text captures the frantic and agitated thoughts of an unnamed man tangled in a dark and perilous rigmarole.
At times brutal, consistently blurred: a document that feels realistic - realistic in the sense that these words could well have been scribbled down in this manner.
A hellish vision which never quite reveals itself.
The escape is probably hopeless.

[Paul Kerschen]

Late Beckett is the obvious reference point; incredibly, I think it survives the comparison. The translation reads very well, but note this narrative of ambiguous exile and pursuit could also be titled Exodus.

[Hunter Marshall]

Gonna need at least one more read. Quite an experiment. Not sure the avant garde gets a free pass to merit.

[Jaime Almansa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A ver si cobra sentido con los otros dos…

[Warren Tutwiler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and moving "ergotic" novel, more of an experience than a story. Felt somewhat repetitive, though.

[Lena Vanelslander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad, but not my thing ... I prefer another writing style but that says more about me than about the book.

[Mark King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique, deep and challenging.
Full review: https://theliterarynest.com/issues/vo...