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Hideg napok
1964-ben jelent meg először Cseres Tibor Hideg napok című regénye, amelyből nagy sikerű film és dráma is készült. A több kiadást is megért könyv harminc évvel ezelőtti utolsó megjelenése óta a beszerezhetetlen regények közé tartozik. A regény két időben, két színtéren játszódó, keretes cselekménye az 1942-es újvidéki vérengzés hátborzongató napjait idézi. Cseres Tibor a legnehezebb írói megoldást választva, negatív hőseinek belső monológjaiban, párbeszédeiben az önleleplezés akaratlan, de kegyetlen következetességű módszerével eleveníti fel a hírhedt megtorlás történetét. Az országos méretűvé táguló, megrázó dráma hátterében a legmagasabb rangú szereplő – Büky őrnagy – személyes jellegű tragédiája bontakozik ki: egy véletlen következtében felesége, aki titokban látogat Újvidékre, szintén a megtorlás áldozata lesz. A József Attila-díjas szerző műve a közelmúlt irodalmának egyik kiemelkedő, jeles alkotása, mely a mai napig nem veszített értékeiből.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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About the author
Cseres Tibor
7 books2 followersTibor Cseres, writer: born Gyergyoremete 1 April 1915; married 1944 Nora Ulkei (one daughter); died Budapest 24 May 1993.
TIBOR CSERES was a distinguished novelist who in 1986 was elected President of the Hungarian Writers' Association - in the first relatively free election of that body since 1956. He was also President of the Hungarian Writers' Guild (Irokamara).
Cseres made his debut as a poet in 1937 when he published a collection under the pseudonym 'Tibor Palos'. His first book of short stories, devoted to the life of the peasantry, came out in 1945. In his early prose he followed in the footsteps of such masters of realistic fiction as Zsigmond Moricz, though his criticism was directed against the enemies and detractors of the new socialist regime rather than its followers. After 1956 his stories began to show more interest in the psychological and moral conflicts of individuals than in social and political conflicts.
His first memorable novel, Hideg napok ('Cold Days', 1964), although short, played an important part in the process of national self-reckoning of the 1960s. It evoked the massacre of Serbs, Jews and politically 'suspect' Hungarians which took place in 1942 at Novi Sad in Yugoslavia, an atrocity for which the responsibility fell not only on the commanding officers with Fascist leanings, but on those Hungarian soldiers and gendarmes who 'just carried out orders' and, by implication, on the passivity and the moral inertia of Hungarian society. Cseres uses an interesting technique in this book: the events of 1942 unfold from the conversations and memories of four Hungarian soldiers waiting to be tried by the People's Court in 1945. A tight structure and restrained objective style characterise the novel, which was later on turned into a successful film with the outstanding actor Zoltan Latinovits in one of the leading roles.
Cseres was attacked by some critics for his 'biased' stance, for what was perceived as one-sidedness in highlighting Hungarian crimes and keeping silent about the crimes against Hungarians. He made up for this omission in 1991 when he published Verbosszu Bacskaban ('Vendetta in the Bachka Region'), a horrifying story based on eyewitness accounts relating the revenge killings by Tito's partisans and Serb nationalists who executed nearly 40,000 Hungarians in the twilight days of the Second World War.
Recent history was a favourite fishing-ground for Cseres. His novel Parazna szobrok ('Lewd Statues', 1979) is mainly devoted to the tragedy of the ill-equipped Hungarian Army sent to the Russian front in the Second World War. He also wrote several novels dealing with the fate of a Transylvanian family in the 19th and early 20th centuries against the background of Hungarian-Romanian conflicts and a biographical documentary novel on Hungarian statesman and exile Lajos Kossuth (En, Kossuth Lajos, 1981).
Tibor Cseres was born in the Sekler village of Gyergyoremete (today in Romania) in 1915, at a time when Transylvania still belonged to Hungary. He went to grammar school at Budapest and for a while was on the staff of a provincial newspaper at Bekescsaba.
During the Second World War he served in the Hungarian Army, but also found time to complete his education at the Hungarian University of Cluj (then Kolozsvar), where he obtained a degree in economics. From 1945 to 1947 he edited a daily newspaper at Bekescsaba and in 1947 he moved to Budapest.
Between 1951 and 1956 he was on the staff of the literary weekly Irodalmi Ujsag, a paper which led the writers' rebellion against the Stalinist party leadership in 1955-56, and thereafter wrote as a freelance. He was President of the Hungarian Writers' Association from 1956 until 1989.
Cseres received several literary awards, among them the Attila Jozsef Prize (three times) and, in 1975, the prestigious Kossuth Prize.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/peo...
TIBOR CSERES was a distinguished novelist who in 1986 was elected President of the Hungarian Writers' Association - in the first relatively free election of that body since 1956. He was also President of the Hungarian Writers' Guild (Irokamara).
Cseres made his debut as a poet in 1937 when he published a collection under the pseudonym 'Tibor Palos'. His first book of short stories, devoted to the life of the peasantry, came out in 1945. In his early prose he followed in the footsteps of such masters of realistic fiction as Zsigmond Moricz, though his criticism was directed against the enemies and detractors of the new socialist regime rather than its followers. After 1956 his stories began to show more interest in the psychological and moral conflicts of individuals than in social and political conflicts.
His first memorable novel, Hideg napok ('Cold Days', 1964), although short, played an important part in the process of national self-reckoning of the 1960s. It evoked the massacre of Serbs, Jews and politically 'suspect' Hungarians which took place in 1942 at Novi Sad in Yugoslavia, an atrocity for which the responsibility fell not only on the commanding officers with Fascist leanings, but on those Hungarian soldiers and gendarmes who 'just carried out orders' and, by implication, on the passivity and the moral inertia of Hungarian society. Cseres uses an interesting technique in this book: the events of 1942 unfold from the conversations and memories of four Hungarian soldiers waiting to be tried by the People's Court in 1945. A tight structure and restrained objective style characterise the novel, which was later on turned into a successful film with the outstanding actor Zoltan Latinovits in one of the leading roles.
Cseres was attacked by some critics for his 'biased' stance, for what was perceived as one-sidedness in highlighting Hungarian crimes and keeping silent about the crimes against Hungarians. He made up for this omission in 1991 when he published Verbosszu Bacskaban ('Vendetta in the Bachka Region'), a horrifying story based on eyewitness accounts relating the revenge killings by Tito's partisans and Serb nationalists who executed nearly 40,000 Hungarians in the twilight days of the Second World War.
Recent history was a favourite fishing-ground for Cseres. His novel Parazna szobrok ('Lewd Statues', 1979) is mainly devoted to the tragedy of the ill-equipped Hungarian Army sent to the Russian front in the Second World War. He also wrote several novels dealing with the fate of a Transylvanian family in the 19th and early 20th centuries against the background of Hungarian-Romanian conflicts and a biographical documentary novel on Hungarian statesman and exile Lajos Kossuth (En, Kossuth Lajos, 1981).
Tibor Cseres was born in the Sekler village of Gyergyoremete (today in Romania) in 1915, at a time when Transylvania still belonged to Hungary. He went to grammar school at Budapest and for a while was on the staff of a provincial newspaper at Bekescsaba.
During the Second World War he served in the Hungarian Army, but also found time to complete his education at the Hungarian University of Cluj (then Kolozsvar), where he obtained a degree in economics. From 1945 to 1947 he edited a daily newspaper at Bekescsaba and in 1947 he moved to Budapest.
Between 1951 and 1956 he was on the staff of the literary weekly Irodalmi Ujsag, a paper which led the writers' rebellion against the Stalinist party leadership in 1955-56, and thereafter wrote as a freelance. He was President of the Hungarian Writers' Association from 1956 until 1989.
Cseres received several literary awards, among them the Attila Jozsef Prize (three times) and, in 1975, the prestigious Kossuth Prize.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/peo...
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 31, 2019
Zostało mi ledwo kilkanaście stron, a nie jest to lektura na taki poranek, jak dzisiejszy.
Chociaż ... czy jest to lektura na jakąkolwiek porę?
Z początku nieco raziła mnie to poszatkowana narracja, te różne przeplatające się głosy. Myślałem: wielka literatura to raczej nie jest. Ale ... Im bardziej te wszystkie głosy - niczym w skręcającej się do środka spirali - zbliżały się kulminacji - tym większe budziły przerażenie. To jest Wielka Literatura.
Stylizacja - mistrzowsko wiarygodna. Wszystkie te armie świata są takie same, mówią tym samym językiem. Wie każdy, kto choć trochę w jednej z nich był.
I ta myśl: a gdyby spełniło się marzenie tych Ziemkiewiczów i Zychowiczów? gdyby - jak węgierscy "bratankowie" - Polacy wsparli Hitlera i ruszyli z nim na Wschód? Czy czołgiści Maczka mordowali ukraińskich Żydów w Babim Jarze a ułani Kleeberga topili litewskich w Wilejce? Znalazłby się polski pisarz, który by o tym napisał?
Jeszcze jedno! W poprzednio czytanej nowej powieści Andruchowycza niebagatelna rola przypadła wspomnieniom Tadeusza Olszańskiego ... który "Zimne dni" na polski przetłumaczył ...
Przypadek (???).
Chociaż ... czy jest to lektura na jakąkolwiek porę?
Z początku nieco raziła mnie to poszatkowana narracja, te różne przeplatające się głosy. Myślałem: wielka literatura to raczej nie jest. Ale ... Im bardziej te wszystkie głosy - niczym w skręcającej się do środka spirali - zbliżały się kulminacji - tym większe budziły przerażenie. To jest Wielka Literatura.
Stylizacja - mistrzowsko wiarygodna. Wszystkie te armie świata są takie same, mówią tym samym językiem. Wie każdy, kto choć trochę w jednej z nich był.
I ta myśl: a gdyby spełniło się marzenie tych Ziemkiewiczów i Zychowiczów? gdyby - jak węgierscy "bratankowie" - Polacy wsparli Hitlera i ruszyli z nim na Wschód? Czy czołgiści Maczka mordowali ukraińskich Żydów w Babim Jarze a ułani Kleeberga topili litewskich w Wilejce? Znalazłby się polski pisarz, który by o tym napisał?
Jeszcze jedno! W poprzednio czytanej nowej powieści Andruchowycza niebagatelna rola przypadła wspomnieniom Tadeusza Olszańskiego ... który "Zimne dni" na polski przetłumaczył ...
Przypadek (???).
February 12, 2011
Ordinary people following ordinary orders, doing ordinary things, not even doing - rather just unwillingly taking part in something they don't want to name - until someone comes and makes everyone realize, against their will, what really was going on. This is another rare book which makes you think if *you* posses enough integrity or wisdom to recognize what sometimes lies behind 'ordinary'.
April 17, 2024
This is a powerful story recounting the under-reported massacre of residents of Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Jews and others, by Hungarian occupiers
February 7, 2017
During the Second World War, there was a massacre conducted by the Hungarian military in the Yugoslavian town now called Novi Sad (known as Újvidék under the Hungarians.) The operation was meant to be a cleanup of Yugoslavian partisans, but the casualties were primarily innocent civilians. The novel is called “Cold Days” (i.e. literally translated from the Hungarian “Hideg Napok”) because the killings took place during a cold snap in January of 1942. Cseres bases his novel on this real world event, but he tells the story through the lens of four fictional military men who are sharing a cell for their respective actions in Novi Sad.
The novel weaves five narrative lines into an overall arc. Four of these are the personal stories of each of the four soldiers during the massacre and the time leading up to it, and the fifth takes place later when they are all together in the cell. The four characters have no connection before being placed in the same cell—or so it seems. At most, the officers know of each other. The five lines come together in the end and the reader sees how the four lives are no longer in strict isolation, but are connected by the events of that day—in some cases more severely than others.
Captain Büky is the highest ranking of the prisoners and is a straight-laced military man except that he takes issue with the order than keeps married men from bringing their families to station at Novi Sad. Prior to the massacre and some killings that instigated it, it’d been a routine assignment. Lieutenant Tarpataki is a new assignee, and his principal trouble is that he arrives to find that he hasn’t been assigned housing or a billet. Lieutenant Pozdor gets his men taken from his control by the police chain of command and is left hiding out trying to avoid being assigned some remedial task. Corporal Szabo is both the only enlisted man in the group and the only one who is directly involved with the violence, though a Cpl. Dorner takes the lead and Szabo is a follower.
If that cast doesn’t seem like the kind of villainous blackguards one expects of a massacre crew, I think that that is part of what the author is trying to convey. Run-of-the-mill men stumble down slippery slopes into treachery during times of war. Sometimes the worst go unpunished, while others take the fall. The author also shows that sides can matter little when it comes to such events. Anyone can suffer loss when events tumble out of control as they did in January of 1942 on frigid day in Novi Sad.
This book is translated from Hungarian. It’s sparse and simple writing, and readability is high. It’s a short book of only about 120 pages.
I’d recommend this book for those interested in tales of the horrors of war. It may have interest to history as well as fiction readers.
The novel weaves five narrative lines into an overall arc. Four of these are the personal stories of each of the four soldiers during the massacre and the time leading up to it, and the fifth takes place later when they are all together in the cell. The four characters have no connection before being placed in the same cell—or so it seems. At most, the officers know of each other. The five lines come together in the end and the reader sees how the four lives are no longer in strict isolation, but are connected by the events of that day—in some cases more severely than others.
Captain Büky is the highest ranking of the prisoners and is a straight-laced military man except that he takes issue with the order than keeps married men from bringing their families to station at Novi Sad. Prior to the massacre and some killings that instigated it, it’d been a routine assignment. Lieutenant Tarpataki is a new assignee, and his principal trouble is that he arrives to find that he hasn’t been assigned housing or a billet. Lieutenant Pozdor gets his men taken from his control by the police chain of command and is left hiding out trying to avoid being assigned some remedial task. Corporal Szabo is both the only enlisted man in the group and the only one who is directly involved with the violence, though a Cpl. Dorner takes the lead and Szabo is a follower.
If that cast doesn’t seem like the kind of villainous blackguards one expects of a massacre crew, I think that that is part of what the author is trying to convey. Run-of-the-mill men stumble down slippery slopes into treachery during times of war. Sometimes the worst go unpunished, while others take the fall. The author also shows that sides can matter little when it comes to such events. Anyone can suffer loss when events tumble out of control as they did in January of 1942 on frigid day in Novi Sad.
This book is translated from Hungarian. It’s sparse and simple writing, and readability is high. It’s a short book of only about 120 pages.
I’d recommend this book for those interested in tales of the horrors of war. It may have interest to history as well as fiction readers.
February 21, 2017
The history was interesting; unfortunately, this book is 90% random, often misogynistic anecdotes and 10% history.
March 27, 2017
It was sad, important but above all quite messy and chaotic in narration unfortunately.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews