Z213: Exit

Z213: EXIT
Z213: EXIT, Front Cover of Second Edition
AuthorDimitris Lyacos
Original titleΖ213: ΕΞΟΔΟΣ
TranslatorShorsha Sullivan
Cover artistDominik Ziller
LanguageGreek
SeriesPoena Damni
GenreWorld Literature, Postmodernism
PublisherShoestring Press
Publication date
2009-2018 (2009 First Edition, Greek)
Publication placeGreece
Published in English
2010 (First Edition)
Pages101 (First Edition)/152 (Second Edition)
ISBN9781910323625
Preceded byUntil the Victim Becomes our Own 
Followed byWith the People from the Bridge 

Z213: Exit is a 2009-2018 novel by Greek author Dimitris Lyacos. It is the first installment of the Poena Damni trilogy. Despite being the first of the trilogy in narrative order, the book was the third to be published in the series.[1] The work develops as a sequence of fragmented diary entries[2] recording the solitary experiences of an unnamed, Ulysses-like persona[3] in the course of a train voyage gradually transformed into an inner exploration of the boundaries between self and reality. The voyage is also akin to the experience of a religious quest with a variety of biblical references, mostly from the Old Testament,[4] being embedded into the text which is often fractured and foregoing punctuation.[5][3] Most critics place Z213: Exit in a postmodern context exploring correlations with such writers as Samuel Beckett[6] and Cormac McCarthy[6][3][7] while others underline its modernist affinities[8] and the work's firm foundation on classical and religious texts.[9]

Z213: Exit is difficult to classify by genre, and is simultaneously a novella, a poem, and a journal. In contradistinction to "factual report" works such as If This Is a Man by Primo Levi, the work adopts a mode of oneiric realism whereby horror is forced beneath the surface of consciousness only to emerge again in new and increasingly nightmarish forms. Oblique references to tragedies of recent human history are apparent,[10] although, ample Biblical and mythical motives suggest a far broader project. The book can be read as the first volume of a postmodern epic.[11] It is considered as one of the most important anti-utopian works of the 21st century[12]as well as one of the greatest works of Greek literature of all time.[13]

  1. ^ Lyakos, Dēmētrēs (2016). Z213: Exit. Shorsha Sullivan (2 ed.). Nottingham. ISBN 978-1-910323-62-5. OCLC 958085869.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ Hayes, Nicholas Alexander (21 February 2017). "Review: Z213: Exit (Poena Damni) by Dimitris Lyacos". Your Impossible Voice. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Goodman, Justin (22 December 2015). "Poena Damni Trilogy by Dimitris Lyacos". Cleaver Magazine. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  4. ^ Sullivan, Shorsha. "The art of translating". In Lukather, C.E. (ed.). The Writing Disorder Anthology. Vol. 2. p. 82.
  5. ^ "'Poena Damni – Z213: Exit' by Dimitris Lyacos (Review)". Tony's Reading List. 13 June 2019.
  6. ^ a b O'Sullivan, Michael (October 2011). "A Philosophy of Exits and Entrances: Dimitris Lyacos's Poena Damni, Z213: Exit". Cha: An Asian Literary Journal. Hong Kong. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  7. ^ Philip, Elliott. A (August 2017). "A review of Z213: Exit by Dimitris Lyacos". Compulsive Reader. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  8. ^ Labernik, Joseph (2015). "From the Ruins of Europe: Lyacos's Debt-Riddled Greece". Tikkun Magazine Archive 1994 - 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  9. ^ "With the People from the Bridge". Sein und Werden. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  10. ^ King, Mark (April 2017). "A review of Z213: Exit". The Literary Nest. Vol. 3, no. 1.
  11. ^ "Review of Z213: Exit by Jacob Silkstone". The Missing Slate. March 2017. Archived from the original on 11 June 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  12. ^ Widdicombe, Toby; Morris, James M.; Kross, Andrea L. (2017). Historical Dictionary of Utopianism (2 ed.). Lanham, Maryland. p. xxxi. ISBN 978-1-5381-0217-6. OCLC 983786598.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ^ https://www.editoreric.com/greatlit/greatest-Greek-literature.html