Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

May 25, 2011

Geoffrey rated it:

You can take the writer out of the Caribbean, but you can’s take the Caribbean out of him. Even in the second generation. At least that was my impression after I read Valeria’s Last Stand by Marc Fitten.

Set in post-Communist Hungary, Valeria’s Last Stand, is ostensibly a love triangle involving the main character, Valeria, a potter, and the buxom tavern wench, Ibolya Nagy: “She arranged her top right in front of them. Her pillowy breasts shook while she adjusted her blouse. The More...

0 comments like

May 31, 2009

Kimberley rated it:

I must say, I didn't know just what to expect from this book, but overall, I liked it. It reminded me of a farce along the lines of Oscar Wilde. So many misunderstandings, changes of heart,silliness.... I liked the characters and...liked that they were older folks still willing and capable of behaving badly when smitten by cupid's arrow even at their age. It showed that passion still abounds in the geriatric set. Some may find that offensive- I found it wonderfully refreshing- and true.

More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

May 27, 2009

Claudia rated it:

“It was as though she had stepped into her familiar yard when the sun was at a certain angle, and there, right in front of her, at the base of a tree she had looked at countless times, a precious stone that had always been there glinted and caught her eye.”

~ Marc Fitten, Valeria’s Last Stand

The very moment I cracked the spine of Valeria’s Last Stand I knew I was in for something magical. Marc has an uncanny ability to weave words and beguile his More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 06, 2009

Theresa rated it:

Darling book! Great characters, too. Marc Fitten's sense of humor is dry and charming. This is an easy to read book that is delightful amidst all of the deep, dark and overwritten books that are out there. Plain and simple, Valeria's Last Stand is about the people of a quaint village in the plains of Hungary where nobody has bothered the inhabitants for centuries. Damages from the war even bypassed the town.

The story revolves around an old crotchety lady who finds love under strange More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 05, 2010

Tia rated it:

A genuinely funny book. I’ve had a good 2010 when it comes to books so far and this one is adding to my streak. I like to pick up books by new authors because you never know when you’re going to find something new and unexplored. Valeria’s Last Stand is that. It's seriously funny, there were times I actually had to put the book down because I was laughing so hard. Be warned though, it’s not the stupid funny some people enjoy, it’s a comedy for grown ups, which is so rare since most funny books s More...

0 comments like

Mar 03, 2009

Babs rated it:

For the first 20 pages of this book, I thought,"Oh, no, this book is going to be horrible. I can't believe I have to an ARC review on it!" But, the book got much better, and I enjoyed it! The book has some central themes that are presented in an entertaining manner: the transition from a communist/socialist society to a capitalist society; the older generation's feelings about the end of their golden age; corrupt politics - presented in a fable/fairy tale style. Valeria, the crust More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 15, 2009

Avril rated it:

Inauspiciously sitting on my library's book shelf, was a copy of Fitten's "Valeria's Last Stand". I picked it up, read a little and was hooked.

The artwork on the book's cover depicts some major motifs of the book: a black pitcher, turnips, peppers, a bicycle, a milk urn.... In and of themselves, these are not wholly engrossing subjects to read about. However, significant events attach themselves to these common items making them resonate with an appeal that makes you thin More...

0 comments like

May 18, 2009

Christy rated it:

I was so pleased to be chosen to read this book as an advanced copy. However, I would not recommend it to anyone who wanted to read a book of substance, to be provoked into thought, or to learn something. It was funny how, notwithstanding the time the author put into developing the characters, I still never felt a connection with them or found them to be truly interesting or believable. I read another review that said it was basically a love quadrangle about a bunch of old folk, and that much More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 29, 2011

Nesa rated it:

In sixty-eight years, Valeria has never minced her words. Harrumphing through her isolated little village deep in the Hungarian plains, she clutches her shopping basket like a battering ram and leaves nothing uncriticised: flaccid vegetables at the market, idle farmers carousing in Ibolya's Nonstop Tavern, people who whistle.

But one day, her spinster's heart is struck by an unlikely arrow, the village potter, with his decicive hands and solid gaze. Valeria finds herself suddenly dressi More...

0 comments like

Jun 04, 2009

Natalie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

May 30, 2009

Susan rated it:

I received this book through the Goodreads First Reads program. At first, the quirky characters reminded me of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's stories. But then I found that I didn't really like the characters, nor felt much of an attachment to them. The setting was puzzling to me... I know the author wanted to portray a post-Communist rule village, but there were times when I had to wonder what period of time this novel was set. Train stations? Chimney sweeps? Irrigation systems? I know little about E More...

0 comments like

Aug 19, 2011

Lindsay rated it:

Okay, I admit it, I'm a sucker for a debut novel. And when I saw the international praise heaped onto "Valeria's Last Stand," it was a done deal. I was reading this book, period. I have to say that Fitten has an original concept: the romantic life and times of a small Hungarian town at the brink of obsolescence. In prime focus is a group well past their prime and at the apex is a busybody spinster named Valeria, who sets the town aflutter when she falls in love at first sight with More...

0 comments like

Apr 09, 2009

BookRambler rated it:

Fitten's book is a 'Marmite' book - you either love it or hate it. I happen to love it. The protagonist is a wonderfully imagined character. She is completely unlikeable at first: grumpy, fat, bullish, self-centred. Yet we come to love her through the actions of the book.
The lives of the characters unfold through the gossipy village-folk while the story gradually builds to a climactic battle (or scrap in the dirt) between the potter and the chimney-sweep on the steep slopes of the Hungaria More...

0 comments like

Jun 10, 2010

Doreen rated it:

This book is a charming, almost fable-like look at life in a post-communist Eastern European village that is being overtaken by capitalism. It's kinda nice that the main characters are older, though it makes sense considering the author's attempt to extrapolate a metaphor from the villagers' personal struggles, though in my opinion, that attempt, while never trying too heavy-handedly, never quite succeeds either.

Personally, this is my ideal summer beach read: a big-hearted, horizon-e More...

0 comments like

Jul 05, 2009

Ellen rated it:

The story is set in a tiny Hungarian village during the present age, with quirky characters and a lot of subtle humor. How refreshing to read a love story involving older characters for a change! This book held my attention from the first few pages...the author drops you right into the village without any preamble, and away you go! A very satisfying ending was the icing on the cake. This is a book I would recommend to anyone with a love for unusual characters, descriptive writing, and humor. Val More...

0 comments like

Jun 07, 2009

Emily rated it:

I received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway. Having now finished it, the best rating I can give it is average. The story overall largely reads as a crazy love square/quadrangle of aging Hungarians. The tale spares no details in their sexual escapades, nor does it have a shortage of other "colorful" language. The main character Valeria is an entertaining one who undergoes an intense personality change through the course of the book.

However, what kept me interested was t More...

0 comments like

Apr 23, 2009

Kasia marked it as to-read

Have read an article about the book and the author in Paste Magazine. It sounds really fascinating, especially because the story takes place in Europe (Hungary, specifically) during the transition period from communism to capitalism. Should be an interesting read for me because my country, Poland, went through the same transition period. Also, the author expects it to be a trilogy, so is it is really good I will have something to look forward to :)

MARC FITTEN
Hometown: Atlanta, More...

0 comments like

Jun 01, 2011

Tracey rated it:

This was an impulse buy at a library sale - gorgeous jacket, a story that sounded fun, worth a shot. And it was fun. Mostly.

The Valeria of the title is a woman in her 60's who one day, while pursuing her usual self-imposed quality-control patrol in the village market, falls in love at not-exactly-first sight. She has long been renowned as the village's bitterest, crankiest soul, and now love - or at least lust - brings an unexpected softening. But love's path is not smooth: the More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 15, 2012

Cheryl in CC NV rated it:

The transition from communist Hungary to a modern, global democracy is difficult. Especially for the older people in the rural villages. This story is mostly friendly and funny and sunny - but sometimes it bites. Comparisons of its spirit to Oscar Wilde's plays are apt. I'd also compare it just a bit to Zorba the Greek, but it's much lighter and more accessible.

(I enjoyed an ARC that seems complete & finished.) More...

0 comments like

Apr 30, 2011

Chrissie rated it:

This book disappointed me! I thought I would get something similar to A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, but it totally lacked the charm and humor of the latter. The humor in this book is slapstick. This isn't the type of humor that amuses me.

The story is about a love affair, actually several love affairs, between people in their 50s and 60s. These people should have learned something from their life experiences. They act worse than silly, immature young adults. Older people More...

4 comments like

Nov 28, 2010

Terence rated it:

Interlocking love triangles among aging peasants in a hamlet on the Hungarian plain just after the Iron Curtain rolled up.

Sounds dismal, right?

Wrong.

In this stunning debut novel Marc Fitten does for the Magyar village what Isaac Bashevis Singer did for the Polish shtetl, but funny. He brilliantly evokes a time come and gone but a place that's always been there, a gossipy middle of nowhere always trying to find its footing in a changing world. In the village of Z More...

0 comments like

Sep 05, 2010

Siria rated it:

This is a charming little book—there's nothing ground-breaking about it, but it was still an enjoyable read. Set in a forgotten village in Hungary just after the fall of Communism, Valeria's Last Stand is a story about a bawdy, light-hearted love rectangle between four older people. For those of you UK/Irish out there, it reminded me quite a bit of Last of the Summer Wine, except with more explicit sexual references. Largely forgettable (though I did like the fact that the women in this book all More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 24, 2010

Diane rated it:

I was one of the fortunate readers to win a copy of "Valeria's Last Stand" from the Goodreads giveaway. "Valeria's Last Stand" by Marc Fitten is a story about the Hungarian village of Zivatar. The book has the feel of a fable where the colorful characters are known as "the potter", "the apprentice" and the chimney sweep". The story is about Valeria, a 68 year old woman who comes across as being grouchy, set in her ways and having a multitude of disli More...

0 comments like

Sep 19, 2010

Christy rated it:

I entered to win a giveaway Goodreads First Reads copy of Valeria's Last Stand based primarily on the book's setting in post-Communist Hungary. The premise promised a book fresh and different from other new books out there.

Certainly, the book is a departure from my usual fare as I do not frequently read comic novels. Valeria's Last Stand is also slightly unusual in its focus: it's all about the older characters who are rediscovering lust and love and carrying on with bawdy affairs. More...

0 comments like

Nov 23, 2010

Anne rated it:

This is a really odd, quirky fable of a story and is Marc Fitten's first novel. Set in a tiny village in post-communist Hungary it is filled with wonderful characters who spend much of lives fighting, drinking and loving.

Valeria, the main character, is a spinster in her late sixties - she hates and is hated, she doesnt mince her words and puts the fear of God into most of the villagers with her sharp tongue and her constant put-downs. However, Valeria's heart begins to melt when More...

0 comments like

Dec 13, 2010

Daisy rated it:

Like a slapstick fable. Almost cartoonish. But the language is sweet and there's plenty to quote (see below!) that's humorous and makes you ponder. It's sweet and hopeful. The moral of the story? I'm still summing it up.

Ibolya had even found a teacup. A porcelain teacup. Not made in a small village studio but from one of the big porcelain houses in the country. She wiped the dust off of it and set it in front of him.
"Where did you get that?" one of the men ask More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 07, 2009

Marie rated it:

Set in a small village in Hungary, this is the story of the locals; their socializing and their meager way of life. And it is not a story that is only central to Valeria, it is about these villagers of Zivatar which is a tiny town that time and technology has left alone, save for the mayor's meager efforts. The characters we meet are interesting to read about, though not many are instantly likable. There are some female characters with names while the men simply go by their profession: the potte More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 22, 2009

Liz (Consumed by Books) rated it:

I gave this book two stars because I honestly found it okay. I thought that it could have done more of some things and less of others.

The author's writing style was, for the most part, pretty good. There were a couple of parts which I thought could have been better, but it was otherwise okay. Sometimes there would be a paragraph that was phrased really well and struck an emotional chord, but there were so few of these.

I found the plot of this novel imbalanced. The lov More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 08, 2009

Erica rated it:

This book was getting a lot of buzz from other booksellers but I didn't really enjoy it. On the surface it is a love triangle between three old people in a Hungarian village. Frankly, I found it quite gross in that respect. I think the whole tale is supposed to be a metaphor for communism, capitalism, democracy, etc and each of the characters is supposed to represent one of these aspects but I didn't care enough to try to puzzle the whole thing out. And I could see where it was supposed to be fu More...

0 comments like

Apr 24, 2009

Lisa rated it:

At first glance, Marc Fitten’s novel "Valeria’s Last Stand" is a love quadrangle. But between the layers of love sought and passion denied is a deeper truth reminding us that unrequited love does not belong solely to the individual—love not returned from community or government can wound the heart as well.

In a Hungarian village, “deep in the steppes, in the middle of nowhere,” sixty-eight year old Valeria spends her days cleaning, judging her neighbors and criticizing the More...

0 comments like

reviews