Debts of Honor

by Mór Jókai, Arthur Battishill Yolland (Translator)

Excerpt from Debts of Honor

It is true, we never had any sorrow; it seemed as if our whole family had contracted some secret bond of unity, whereby each member thereof bound himself to cause as much joy and as little sorrow as possible to the others.

I never heard any quarrelling in our family. I never saw a passionate face, never an anger that lasted till the morrow, never a look at all reproachful. My mother, grandmother, father, my brother and I, lived like those who understand each other's thoughts, and only strive to excel one another in the expression of their love.

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

425 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1865

About the author

Mór Jókai, born Móric Jókay de Ásva, outside Hungary also known as Maurus Jokai or Moriz Jokai, was a Hungarian dramatist and novelist. He was born in Komárom, the Kingdom of Hungary (today Komárno, Slovakia, southern part remains in Hungary).

Reviews

[Márta Péterffy]

Jókai egyik leginkább keserű regénye, megnéztem az évszámokat, a Bach korszaknak vége, de a kiegyezés még nem jött el. Érdekes az is, hogy Az új földesúr előbb jelent meg, abban humor és szarkazmus is lelhető-nekem jobban is tetszett. Talán ezt korábban írta, csak 1865-ben adták ki.
A kihívásra két olyan könyvet választottam, amit nem olvastam korábban, így végül is érdekes volt.
A történet itt komorabb, mint Jókainál megszoktam, ugyanakkor még inkább patetikus, a szereplők ábrázolása viszont jól eltalált. Mindemellett elég izgalmas, fordulatos a regény, főleg a közepétől válik azzá, tévésorozatot is forgattak belőle.
A „passzív rezisztencia” is eszembe jutott erről a korszakról, természetesen érthető Jókai keserűsége 1849 után-ahhoz még idő kell, hogy őt a bécsi udvarba hívja „Sisi”.

[Erich C]

Book 1 in the Lineal Challenge (one book per year of publication, 1865-2000)! This book is available to read online at archive.org and Project Gutenberg.

The main plot was very strong, as Desi and Lorand resist secret enemies and the pull of a family curse. The book explores juxtapositions among life, honor, love, belief, and family. Should a promise be kept even at the expense of one's life? What is the difference between public and private honor?

The last quarter of the book gets operatic, and Jokai inserts some convenient deus-ex-machina deaths to resolve plot points. I still don't understand how exactly Samuel Topandy died. Did someone poison him with sealing wax?

All in all, this was a very good book. Mor Jokai is a great writer, and I look forward to reading more of his work.

[Stephen]

Turn of the 20th century fiction about the cultural, spiritual and political life in Hungary. There is honor at the expense of reason, courage at the expense of wisdom, beauty at the expense of prudence. Many virtues can be found in Hungary's society at the time but they were all detached from one another which makes for confusion and less than stable environment. Family was key to survival then. At times there were hints of Romeo and Juliet...at other times Macbeth...and still other times I was humming "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" by Cher. Suspenseful and in my humble opinion, would make a great movie.

[Katalin Tarjan]

Debts of Honor is a captivating story of two brothers – a story of love, alternation of joy and sorrow and the shadow of a family tragedy.

See my full review at http://blabbingworldaffairs.tumblr.co...