Gárdonyi egyik legnépszerűbb történelmi regénye, színes, ősi világot elevenít a népvándorlás korának izgalmas, sorsdöntő fejezetét, Attila - hun királynak - mindent elsöprő uralmát és hirtelen halálát. Egy fiatal görög rabszolga, Zéta, Attila közelébe sodródik és krónikási hűséggel meséli el élményeit, tapasztalatait a hunok táborában. Ő maga művelt, nagytudású ifjú, íródeákja Priszkosz rétornak aki a császár követeként indul Konstantinápolyból a Tisza partjára, Attila udvarába. Zéta szerint rettenthetetlen, vad harcosok élnek a hunok földjén, de asszonyaik sem akármilyenek. Van köztük egy, aki különösen kedves neki. Tőle tanulja meg, hogy az embereknek csak az arca ismerhető meg, igazi lényük rejtett, láthatatlan. Zéta nevet, rangot, vagyont remélve indul még a katalaunumi ütközetbe is, hogy méltó lehessen a hun főúr lányához. De Emőke számára csak egy csillag Attila - akit halálakor önként követ a sírba.Gárdonyi hiteles történeti forrásokra támaszkodva, s széles körű történelmi tájékozottsággal írta meg regényét. A mű Függelékében közli az író a tárgykörre vonatkozó jegyzeteit is (Igazítások Attila történetén). Tóth Lászlónak a regény keletkezési körülményeit taglaló utószava egészíti ki a tizenkét éven felülieknek szánt nagy regényt.
Géza Gárdonyi, born Géza Ziegler (August 3, 1863 – October 30, 1922) was a Hungarian writer and journalist. Although he wrote a range of works, he had his greatest success as a historical novelist, particularly with Eclipse of the Crescent Moon and Slave of the Huns.
Gárdonyi was born in Agárdpuszta, Kingdom of Hungary, the son of a machinist on the estate of an aristocrat in Western Hungary. He graduated at a college for teachers and worked for some years as a teacher and Catholic cantor. He married Mária Molnár in 1885, but their marriage was unhappy and they separated in 1892. Gárdonyi's career as a writer started off when he began writing for magazines and newspapers in the mid-1880s. His first successes were the satirical "Göre Gábor" letters on rural life, works which he later repudiated. Around the turn of the century, he started to tackle historical themes in writing, which resulted in a series of fine novels. He moved to Eger (today's northern Hungary) in 1897 with his mother and lived there until his death. He is also buried there, with his tomb bearing the inscription Csak a teste ("Only his body"). The house where he lived and did most of his writing is now preserved as a museum.
Slave of the Huns was one of the first historical fiction/adventure novels I read. Maybe that is why I love historical fiction now - this was a very good book to start with, and it got me hooked on the genre.
Slave of the Huns is about Zeta, a Greek slave during the time of Theodosis, who travels to the land of Attila and falls in love with a Hunnish noble. The plot really drew me in, and I thought the translation from the original version was done quite well. I remember reading this over and over and over... I must have finsihed it at least five or six times.
Oh, and I should mention that this is considered a Hungarian classic (all-round classic really, if it was more known).
The first book to truly inspire me. I read it many times over the years and it can still work its magic, though as a teenaqer it meant the most. Full of history, this is essentially a love story replete with angst and shows the depths to which people will go for the sake of their love, set against the backdrop of Attila the Hun and his fight with the corrupt later Roman Empire. Simply, its brilliant and well worth a read.
Wanna be proud of Hungarian culture, traditions, and a heroic ancestry? This book is perfect for that. Not exactly an accurate ethnography, but much more so a lively, action-packed, historical fiction about the Huns, taken from a sympathetic point of view.
Géza Gárdonyi is my hero when it comes to historical fiction. I read this decades ago as a teen, but I think I now appreciate it even more. Especially the postscript with Gárdonyi's snarky comments on history writers describing and interpreting the famous battle of the Catalaunian plains. Who was the victor, Aetius or Attila (Atilla in the book)? Both armies withdrew after a senseless bloodbath. The Roman Empire was already on its way out, and the Huns' victories ended with Attila's death a year or two later.
The story is told by Zéta, a fictional first person narrator, originally from Constantinople, who is living with the Huns. Attila is described as a shrewd, enigmatic, and very charismatic person who manages to unite tribes and races under himself. Most of those peoples have since been absorbed in other nations or have disappeared altogether. We get great descriptions of their appearances and customs.
I like the Hungarian title: "The invisible man", taken from an observation of the storyteller: "I am that Zéta. And I am convinced: no-one knows me ... One can only know a man's face, but he is not that face. He is behind the face. Invisible."
Ovo je bila prva knjiga sa istorijskom tematikom koju sam procitao kao dete 5 razred mozda sam i zbog nje zavolio da citam romansiranu istoriju. U svakom slucaju roman je fantastican i vrlo zivo opisuje tadasnji svet i dogadjaje vezane za Atilu hunskog vladara iz ociju roba koji je u njihovom zarobljenistvu
The version I read was much shorter than the original and written in simplified Hungarian, so I didn’t get an impression of the style of the author and the inner life of the characters got lost, but I still liked the story. Considering this, I can’t give it a rating
A lot of morals are written into this story. The story kept me engaged. It was a very interesting depiction of the Hun society in the 5th century. However, I could have done without the descriptions of the many tribes that fought in the war between the Romans and Huns because I couldn’t keep track of them all. Also, too many characters to keep track of.
Általános iskolás korom óta nem olvastam Gárdonyit, és fogalmam sem volt, hogy ennyire tetszeni fog. Az elején megijedtem az E/1-es elbeszélő miatt, mert több E/1-es regényt olvastam az utóbbi időben, és nem mind szolgált örömömre, itt azonban kellemes csalódás ért: Gárdonyi zseniálisan használja ki az elbeszélésmódban rejlő lehetőségeket. A történet is nagyon lekötött, mert szerettem az Attilás filmet, és érdekes volt nagyjából ugyanazt az érát egy gyökeresen más nézőpontból megtapasztalni. A mondatok pedig egyszerűen gyönyörűek. Fog még Gárdonyi kerülni a polcra.
I just came across this book that I read as a YA on a foreign friends page and its shocking to me to realize this isn't a popular YA book- its AMAZING! it wasn't published in English the first time which I guess is why no one has ever hear of it, but its so exciting and moving... I'm going to find it on my bookshelf right now and read it again. There are very few books on my "keeper shelf" from childhood- Watership down, The good earth, The black pearl, Lion/Witch/Wardrobe, Lord of the Flies- and this one. I'm gonna read it again, starting tonight, and will report back as an adult! I can't wait!
Kvázi-történelmi regény Atilla hun vezér idejéből. A romantikus szál vezet és különösen az első 100 oldal (a 260-ból) kínszenvedés. De ha azon átküzdi magát az ember, a cselekmény izgalamasabb, a csatajelenetek látványosak. A régies nyelvezet kicsit zavaró.
Érdekes, hogy milyen sokan nem értik ezt a könyvet. Olvassák, de minek...? Várólistacsökkentés? Ezzel a módszerrel igazán butuskának lehet maradni rengeteg olvasmánnyal a hátunk mögött is.
The version of the book I have is the Mandarin Chinese version which was rewritten as part of a childrens history classics collection. I wasn't used to reading Mandarin Chinese books so reading it was a little strange. The fact that my Mandarin Chinese is not as good as my English also meant that I may have missed some subtle things in the book. And therefore, the rating I give is probably mostly due to my poor reading skills.
I enjoyed learning about the history that the story was inspired by. Yet I was not impressed with the protagonist's constant infatuation which took up a major chunk of the plot, that was really annoying to read. I was also not that into the battle that happened in the book - but hey, that's most of the bloody history. I thought that the book ended well, in that the ending gave it a shock impact that I did not expect.
Hungarian classic, about the times of Attila the Hun. A Greek slave Zeta falls in love with a hun girl and begins to obsess about the lives and ways of the Huns. Attila is portrayed as a powerful, rugged yet intelligent man who is simply carrying out God’s will in destroying and conquering others. He’s much admired by his own people and by the girl that Zeta is in love with. Zeta goes to battle to have a chance of winning Emôke over and after much blood and destruction he manages to get home only to realise he is still no more than a slave.
Gyermekkorom meghatározó olvasmánya! Fordulatos, érzelmes, érthetetlen és misztikus, ami egy birodalomban, egy uralkodó fejében és egy ember szívében zajlik! Érdekes volt majd 30 év múltán újraolvasni, az emlék-vázlatból újra felidézni a teljes történetet, más árnyalatokat előhúzni, rég elfeledett színekkel színezni… Szeretném még egyszer eljátszani ezt ezzel a történettel! Megérdemelné, de nekem azt még ki kell érdemelnem! ,-)
Az Egri csillagok rossz emlékei után ez könyv teljesen megváltoztatta a véleményemet Gárdonyi munkásságáról. A nyelvezet néhol elgyönyörködtetett, máshol meg fejtörést okozott a mára már nem használt szavak miatt. Aki szereti a történelmi regényeket, annak mindenképpen kötelező darab.
A really interesting historical fiction depicting a slave's life in the camp of Attila the Hun. Aside from a few plot holes and unresolved story lines it is quite entertaining. I really liked the detailed descriptions of the peoples and places.
Nem tudom miert kezdtem el olvasni. Az egri csillagok anno gyerekfejjel kellett (!), hogy a kezembe keruljon, es mivel hosszu volt, nem olvastam el. Ez most fiatal kozepkorukent elvarazsolt. Nagyon jo a hangulata, az erzes, amit araszt, a tortenet....szuper! Orulok, hogy eolvastam.