The Door in Never too Late to Read Classics

Oct 12, 2010 Chrissie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: hungary, relationships, hf, philo-psychol

NO SPOILERS!!!

Through page 20: I picked this book up for two reasons – Daisy highly recommended it and it is written by a Hungarian writer that is very highly acclaimed. You know from the start that this book is about the relationship between two women, an authoress and her cleaning lady, Emmerence. You understand immediately that this cleaning lady is no ordinary person. You are intrigued to find out why she is the way she is – very hard to deal with and yet a very good person…….

Here follows NO SPOILERS!!!

Through page 20: I picked this book up for two reasons – Daisy highly recommended it and it is written by a Hungarian writer that is very highly acclaimed. You know from the start that this book is about the relationship between two women, an authoress and her cleaning lady, Emmerence. You understand immediately that this cleaning lady is no ordinary person. You are intrigued to find out why she is the way she is – very hard to deal with and yet a very good person…….

Here follows a glimpse from pages 18-19:

"Why she refused to accept presents was beyond me. The old women was only interested in giving, and if anyone tried to surprise her with something, she never smiled, she flew into a rage. …..if I had to have a deeply meaningful relationship with everyone I met, well that was my problem. It wasn't easy for me to accept that, as with everyone else at that time, Emmerence was determined to keep us too at arm's length."

Through page 72: I do think I will like this book. The lines are just marvellous. Here are a few examples.

The following, from page 59, is about their male dog, Viola: "It was difficult to get use to the fact that he understood everything."

These people really need some help with dog obedience training……..

Emmerence is a kindred spirit to me. She says on page 60: "Anyway, you know I can't stand doctors."

Or this from the same page: "Let me be. I don't like it when you lecture me. If I ask for something and you give it, do it without preaching a sermon, otherwise there is no point…… I didn't like my own secrets. I liked other people's even less."

Through page 97: I am not just enjoying reading this book, I am LOVING it!!! The authoress must be a psychologist in disguise. She knows people and dogs too. She knows what motivates us and saddens us and drives us insane, and then she uses this knowledge to put funny, cutting and heart-wrenching words in the characters' mouths so that the message is cleverly delivered! I rarely read novels b/c I rarely encounter novels such as this. WONDERFUL – and I still have almost 2/3 left to suck on. Thank you, Daisy.

On completion: I cannot give this novel five stars, only four. Don't forget, a four star book is for me a VERY good book!!! All that I said before IS till valid but I felt the ending was overworked. What had to be said WAS already said. The ending seemed to really spell it out clearly so nobody could miss the point! By the end of the novel, my feelings toward Emmerence were very mixed. Some of the characters were depicted more negatively than they needed to be. I preferred seeing them drawn in a nuanced, sometimes even ambiguous manner. Some of the decisions made REALLY surprised me! Some actions felt so foreign to what I would do, that I was flabbergasted. I KNEW trouble was coming. Perhaps others would make such decisions, even though I wouldn't or couldn't. This would definitely be a good book for a group discussion. I DID enjoy reading the book and it covers a lot of territory – truth and lies, religion and the church, how we look at death and FRIENDSHIP, what it demands and what it gives! It gives a marvellous portrayal of dogs. But I have a question – did Sutu get the job? Should she get the job?
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Sep 21, 2018 Laura rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2018, fiction, mtbr-challenge-2018, e-books, nyrb-classics, hungarian-literature

This book deserves a full 5 stars rating.

The is the story of the friendship between two woman, Emerence - a domestic servant, and Magda, a young Hungarian writer.

An unforgettable book, no matter what.

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Aug 09, 2015 Karen rated it really liked it

Shelves: travel-the-world

Set in Budapest, Hungary. I read this aboard our Danube river cruise last week and thought it was wonderful that some of the places mentioned in the book we were seeing on our tour. Although I didn't exactly relate to the characters, I did find the book engaging and with enough tension to keep me reading. Not to mention that I want to read more about this wonderful country (I loved Budapest, pronounced Budapesht). I loved the grandeur of this city. ...more

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