When in 1705 Kornell Csillag's grandfather returns destitute to his native Hungary from exile, he happens across a gold fob-watch gleaming in the m...
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Nov 17, 2010
Julie
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I was disappointed that I struggled so much with this book. Following twelve generations through three centuries is no easy feat, especially when dealing with Hungarian vernacular. While it was a well-rendered story, I found my lack of sympathy for the characters led to confusion when referencing prior patriarchs, though the family tree provided some guidance in keeping the first born sons straight. There seemed to me to be a disconnect between generations, typically because the fathers were
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Dec 17, 2010
Susan
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This Hungarian family saga, which starts around the end of the seventeenth century, tells the unlikely story, both personally and politically, through the nightmare of Hungarian history of a sort of Jewish family. The events recorded, rape, pillaging, fire, execution, kicking to death, abandonment, maiming, suicide, wasting away, are so hideous that survival, even to the age of 45 of so, is a grotesquely funny accomplishment. In fact, the guggle to zatch quality of the saga reminds me of Thurb
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Aug 09, 2010
Alan
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I don't read much translated contemporary literature, but this was a treat. I'm not sure what I was expecting, perhaps some kind of science fiction-like story line where the ability of the first-born in the family line is able to use their unusual gift to pull off amazing and unexplanable feats...? Anyway, what I got was an extremely interesting guided tour through the family history of a mostly unremarkable clan.
The ebb and flow of the writing was refreshing and not at all Hollywoo More...
The ebb and flow of the writing was refreshing and not at all Hollywoo More...
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Aug 06, 2010
lynne
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It took me a long time make it through this book. Partly because of the subject matter (see next paragraph), partly because there was so much food for thought I couldn't just plow through everything, I needed some time off after each chapter or so just to let things sink in.
History and me go together like oil and water: this is a result of lessons in school that were nothing more than exercises in memorization of dates and events. It is only through some form of historical fiction (Edward Rutherfurd More...
History and me go together like oil and water: this is a result of lessons in school that were nothing more than exercises in memorization of dates and events. It is only through some form of historical fiction (Edward Rutherfurd More...
Aug 08, 2010
Greg
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How was this book?
The book was fine.
The book was nice. It was ok. The book was inoffensive, which is a strange thing to say about a book that deals with the topics included in it.
The Book of Fathers tells the stories of twelve generations of sons in a Hungarian family. The scope of the book is about four hundred years. The book itself is 460 pages. Some math tells me that the average number of pages for each sons' story is 38.33. Not very long.
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The book was fine.
The book was nice. It was ok. The book was inoffensive, which is a strange thing to say about a book that deals with the topics included in it.
The Book of Fathers tells the stories of twelve generations of sons in a Hungarian family. The scope of the book is about four hundred years. The book itself is 460 pages. Some math tells me that the average number of pages for each sons' story is 38.33. Not very long.
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Dec 26, 2011
Julie
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I love generational sagas because no matter how bad things are you get to see things passing, changing. The longterm view is comforting.
Things certainly get bad for the family in the Book of Fathers. Massacre, imprisonment, neglectful parents, rebellious sons, death camps, family estrangement, marital strife.
The concept is a book that is passed from father to first-born son down through 12 generations. However since not every one is a faithful writer, it is the mystical w More...
Things certainly get bad for the family in the Book of Fathers. Massacre, imprisonment, neglectful parents, rebellious sons, death camps, family estrangement, marital strife.
The concept is a book that is passed from father to first-born son down through 12 generations. However since not every one is a faithful writer, it is the mystical w More...
Aug 04, 2010
Rita
rated it:
I am interested in reading authors from other countries and this is a translation from a Hungarian author who appears to be quite admired in his country. Read a review several years ago and found the book by chance at the library. It is an intriguing "imagination" of the life
of the author's forefathers and by that I do mean fathers, from the 1700s to the present who all live magical if short lives. Despite my ignorance of Hungarian history the book somehow provides enough deta More...
of the author's forefathers and by that I do mean fathers, from the 1700s to the present who all live magical if short lives. Despite my ignorance of Hungarian history the book somehow provides enough deta More...
Jan 08, 2010
Paul
rated it:
This book, which spans twelve generations of first born sons in Hungary, took a while for me to get into. Because it goes through so many generations so quickly, those looking for in-depth character development will be disappointed. However, when I got to the end I almost started right over.
I would recommend reading the epilogue before the book. It might spoil a couple small things, but it tells of how Miklos Vamos came to write the book, how it connects to his life, and how he struc More...
I would recommend reading the epilogue before the book. It might spoil a couple small things, but it tells of how Miklos Vamos came to write the book, how it connects to his life, and how he struc More...
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Sep 19, 2011
Darshan Elena
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Vamos' novel examines time and fate, history and culture, offering a stunning historical portrait of Hungary over the last three hundred years. The Book of Fathers helped me to better understand the national narrative of loss, invasion, and revolution as well as the routine political violence against Jews over several centuries. I read this novel after returning from a week's stay in Budapest, Hungary, and I'd recommend it to anyone visit Hungary or wishing to explore that nation's past and pr
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Sep 07, 2010
Gary
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After a urgent press to finish I found myself oddly unsettled. This had been the thick summer read I'd wanted and satisfied me in so many ways. There's a realism that supersedes the magic realism of mystically-powered paternity. Towards the end it becomes evident that there will be no deus ex machina; just the opposite. Something like a dissolution occurs, instead. And after repeatedly becoming attached to characters only to lose them, my view of Vamos's Hungary was dire, but not dire enough to
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Mar 24, 2011
Caroline
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This about twelve generations in the Csillag family through 300 years of Hungarian history. I don't even know what prompted me to pick it up, but I'm glad I did. I found it fascinating reading, about a country and a time I know so little of. I have to admit, the blurb on the back cover isn't really all that accurate about what the book's actually about, but I didn't mind in the slightest.
May 26, 2010
Csatlose
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This book was a Christmas gift to me, and the story fascinated me from the very beginning, not only because I'm Hungarian, but also because each chapter dedicated to one of the Csillags reflects some sort of struggle that any contemporary family may have experienced. The writer managed to depict each first born child with a skill that continued to arrest my attention through each chapter.
Sep 13, 2010
Ink Muncher
rated it:
Here lies the the inexorable wheel returning again and again to discovery, hope, failure, despair, discovery. I liked the structured conceit on a number of levels; it is magical, it teases my love of history and genealogy, and stopped me from slashing my wrists when the time of the pograms and holocoaust rolled around. In the scheme of things lives are such brief, frail things, poof!
Jan 08, 2010
Andrew
rated it: 
I bought this book after hearing a review on NPR. Normally, I agree with these reviews, but not in this case. I found the book to be depressingly formulaic. In the afterword the author discusses the structure of the book. Knowing why he wrote the book the way he did only made it seem less, in my opinion. He seems to have chosen an arbitrary structure having to do with the Zodiac signs. Each chapter is written with the same overall structure and the stories seem forced to me. The book follow
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Feb 01, 2008
Michael
rated it:
A really epic book, one of those family-history saga, telling the story of a Hungarian family and their Book of Fathers, which bestows the eldest son in each successive generation with the knowledge of everything his fathers did and of what was to come. Reminded me of the sweeping family-history magic realist novels of Latin America, though, like those, sometimes the transportation through the ages left me feeling dizzy and wanting to hold to one character for a while. (Though perhaps this is wa
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Jan 27, 2009
Eleanor
rated it:
Like a Hungarian Gabriel Garcia Marquez, this author follows one family through centuries of turmoil in Hungary. Knowing absolutely nothing about Hungarian history, I was fascinated by the names, places and events. The family saga was at its best, bittersweet, and at its worst, tortuous. Well written and well translated!
Mar 01, 2010
Bobbi
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A good read for someone interested in Hungarian history. Got a bit old after a while going through 12 or more generations.
Dec 08, 2011
Anne
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THE best book I have read in 2011
Highly recommended!! Translated from the Hungarian
Highly recommended!! Translated from the Hungarian
Nov 07, 2010
Wendy
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My brother in law recommended this and I loved it. Great story line and very engaging.
Apr 05, 2010
Clifford
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I enjoyed this 460-page, 400-year family saga quite a lot, but in the end its point escapes me. The device of the Book of Fathers was, I think, wasted, even though the last generation in effect digitizes his contributions to the book. An interesting way to learn a little something about Hungary . . .
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Jul 20, 2010
Julianne
rated it:
Meh. Apparently it was a big hit in Europe. I'm just not European enough to love it. It was an interesting concept and a look at history - especially a history of Hungary. Really, who learns about Hungary? Exactly. So that was cool.
May 30, 2010
Nomi
rated it: 
Not my thing but a very close friend loves it. Too much going on for me plus I don't do well with translated works.
Sep 15, 2011
Gabriela
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A marvelous family saga spread through the ages, a story of hardships and philosophical learnings. I did like every bit of this book, though somehow I would have liked each generation told in more detail.
Mar 13, 2011
Linda
rated it:
An interesting way to tell the story of many generations of a family. The flow is not so great though-it was a bit confusing for the first couple hundred pages.....perhaps something was lost in translation.
Feb 08, 2012
Feb 07, 2012
