Van de Schoonheid en de Troost — Season 1, Episode 24: Scoundrel: Györgi Konrád

Episode synopsis

Interview with György Konrád, Hungarian writer (standing in a room of a canal house on the Zeedijk and looking out over the Oudezijds Voorburgwal in Amsterdam). Konrád talks about his interpretation of the concept of beauty, the human desire for eternity and the role that historiography plays in this, the reason why he writes, memories from his youth, his war experiences including his flight to Budapest at the age of eleven and his feelings of guilt about it, the persecution of the Jews, the limits of comfort, the realization of how transient life is and his advice not to take life too seriously.

About Van de Schoonheid en de Troost

To his guests – artists, scientists, writers, philosophers and musicians – Wim Kayzer in Of Beauty and Consolation asks the philosophical question: What makes this life worth living?

More episodes from Season 1

• E1Fathers Roses: Wole Soyinka
• E2Homecoming: Roger Scruton
• E3Alone on the mountain: Jane Goodall
• E4The Code of Pasternak: George Steiner
• E5The End of the Thirteenth: Vladimir Ashkenazy
• E6Thor, Newton, Einstein: Steven Weinberg
• E7Guilt: Martha Nussbaum
• E8You Are There and You Are Not: Karel Appel
• E9The Greatest Mystery Is Not the Universe: Edward Witten
• E10Dear Mother: Elizabeth Loftus
• E11When My Father Was Still Big: Rutger Kopland
• E12What's Mary Doing in the Cave: Gary Lynch