Might this be Krasznahorkai's bleakest novel? We know from the outset what future lies ahead of our "hero" Korin, as he tells us bluntly himself he has nothing to live for aside from figuring out the puzzle of this mysterious manuscript of four homeward bound brothers-in-arms. Korin as a result reconciles with the fictional amorphous past of great men that no longer appear in the world and finds himself estranged and alienated not just in a foreign society but a foreign era. Unlike Krasznahorkai's other novels, where there exists a notion that there will be a savior to rescue our downtrodden cast of characters from their destitution, this novel seems uniquely bleak as there was never hope of a savior, Korin routinely worked on his manuscript until it was done.