false 3349113 1 A linguist flying to a conference in Helsinki has landed in a strange city where he can't understand a word anyone says. As one claustrophobic day follows another, he wonders why no one has found him yet, whether his wife has given him up for dead, and how he'll get by in this society that looks so familiar, yet is so strange. In a vision of hell unlike any previously imagined, Budai must learn to survive in a world where words and meaning are unconnected. A suspenseful and haunting Hungarian classic. 3387521 1 10 2008 Metropole total:71|5:17|4:25|3:23|2:4|1:2| 71 264 483 24 1 2 false false Tue Sep 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 16 10:26:28 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 10:54:00 -0700 2009
Okay so, this seemed like a no-brainer, a book starred for inclusion...more...]]> 2 1 false false Thu Apr 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 20 10:39:17 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 02 05:16:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Mon May 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon May 26 04:31:01 -0700 2008 Mon May 26 10:17:04 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false true Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 07 04:52:08 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 07 07:18:28 -0700 2009
This is an odd book, one picked up on a whim in Borders when it caught my eye. The obvious comparison is with Kafka, but I don't think that is quite right. Anyway...

Budai is a linguist, heading to a conference in Helsinki. Something goes wrong in the journey though (perhaps h...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jul 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 11 17:17:19 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 11 18:01:41 -0700 2009
Metropole, by Hungarian Ferenc Karinthy, is a secular retelling of Genesis 11.

The protagonist, Budai, is a linguist who awakens in an unidentifiable metropolis where all language is unintelligible. The society does not require communication from a populace th...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Mar 02 10:32:12 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 05 07:47:25 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 02 10:32:12 -0800 2009 Metropole, by Ferenc Karinthy, was published in Hungarian in 1970. This translation, by George Szirtes, was published last year. The blurb on the back from G.O. Châteaureynaud says

With time, Metropole will find its due place in the twentieth-century library, on the same shelf as The Tri...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Mar 07 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 09 18:36:08 -0800 2009 Sat Mar 07 15:28:13 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jul 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 23 09:27:22 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 22 07:10:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 29 23:17:36 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 07 10:50:22 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Feb 27 08:58:56 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 27 09:01:39 -0800 2009 more...]]> 1 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 09:46:28 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 09:52:10 -0700 2009 3 0 false true Mon Jul 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 18 09:17:48 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 06 16:04:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jul 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun May 24 18:15:21 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 27 17:33:09 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 15 15:19:25 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 15 15:19:50 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Jun 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jan 13 14:52:33 -0800 2009 Tue Jun 16 06:43:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false false Wed Jun 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 07 12:07:24 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 25 09:41:55 -0700 2009
For me, when they say the book is Kafka-esque, I don't think that's really a good thing. At first the ever present feeling of rising panic and irritation was novel an...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Jun 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 04 07:12:17 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 19 09:20:48 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Jan 08 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 17 20:11:24 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 08 21:34:39 -0800 2009 Anyone who's traveled internationally will recognize the t...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jun 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 29 07:04:20 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 29 07:07:29 -0700 2008
Budai's attempts to navigate the city were reminiscent, to me, of K's struggles in "The Trial".]]> 0 0 false false Fri Sep 26 07:58:31 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 26 07:59:42 -0700 2008 http://www.bookslut.com/blog/archives/20...]]>