Hungarian Literature Club discussion
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Harry wrote: "The role of Turkey in Transylvania is ambiguous. Also, it seems that 'Hungarian' refers to ethnic Hungarian natives of Transylvania as well as to folks visiting Transylvania from Hungary (who seem,..."Ethnic Hungarian natives of Transylvania are not always called Hungarians in the classics, not even by themselves. (I'm not talking about today; that's even more complicated.) They call themselves "Székely", which counted as a separate group with a separate identity, even speaking a special dialect.
Yes, I also think "the emperor" means Austria, who ruled over a third of the country at the time, and Hungarians were not always happy about it.
Mod
I hope everyone is doing well with the virus, etc. There's a hurricane coming to my area.
Harry wrote: "Right, the Székely people. They actually don't come off very well in the book. I hope everyone is doing well with the virus, etc. There's a hurricane coming to my area."
Stay safe...
Mod
Please keep your suggestions coming. I will be reading The Tale of Genji for a while but will return to Hungary soon.
Harry wrote: "I finally finished Midst the Wild Carpathians, having gone through it twice. It was worth it!Please keep your suggestions coming. I will be reading The Tale of Genji for a while b..."
Wow! :) You make me want to reread it. :) I hope I'll have the time later, because now I'll have to begin rereading The Man with the Golden Touch. I'm teaching it in a month.
Harry wrote: "I finally finished Midst the Wild Carpathians, having gone through it twice. It was worth it!Please keep your suggestions coming. I will be reading The Tale of Genji for a while b..."
Good luck with Genji. I liked the book, but hated Genji quite much. :)
Mod
Harry wrote: "Is anyone familiar with Embers by Sándor Márai? I found it an an estate sale."I haven't read it, but it's probably his most famous book, and it's on the international list of "1001 books you must read before you die". I've seen the film version, I didn't like it very much, but it's just my taste, nothing objective. I can understand why others appreciate it.
Mod
I’ve read it and I’m still here! Didn’t leave much of an impression on me. I prefer his autobiographical Memories of Hungary.
Harry wrote: "Is anyone familiar with Embers by Sándor Márai? I found it an an estate sale."I've read it but don't recall a single thing, thought or impression about it.
Good to know I’m not the only person who ploughs through a novel and is then unable to remember anything about it.
Harry wrote: "Well, I'll be sure to read it before I die, hopefully not immediately before."Well, I've read less than 300 books from the list, so I presume I still have a lot of time to live and get to the end. :) I'm barely past forty, so let's hope I'll get 120 years more to read them all. :)
As to the other points: shall we say this book is definitely NOT what I'd choose to put on that list? :) There are a few other Hungarian books on it, though. "The Eclipse of the Crescent Moon", "Fateless", "The Melancholy of Resistance", "Harmonia Cælestis" and "The Case Worker".
Stephen wrote: "Good to know I’m not the only person who ploughs through a novel and is then unable to remember anything about it."Definitely not. :D
Harry wrote: "Right, the Székely people. They actually don't come off very well in the book. I hope everyone is doing well with the virus, etc. There's a hurricane coming to my area."
However Székelys arent/werent the only Hungarians in Transylvania. They make up around half of the population today and before even more. For example Miklos Banffy was transylvanian but not Szekely.
Speaking of which have you read Miklòs Bànffy’s trilogy Harry? Not only a mighty fine book but the back story as to how it was “rescued from obscurity” is also fascinating..https://writersnoonereads.tumblr.com/...
I can only second that, Stephen. really good book.
Stephen wrote: "Speaking of which have you read Miklòs Bànffy’s trilogy Harry? Not only a mighty fine book but the back story as to how it was “rescued from obscurity” is also fascinating..https://writersnoonere..."
Indeed, everybody should. The Radetzky March became quite a revival hit some years ago. However the triology is superior in every way I would say. However I would recomend that everybody who tries also puts some effort into reading some lines in wikipedia about the political scene when it comes up in the book (for example the people mentioned or events such as the ''handkerchif vote''). It's a great book, and in my opinion the most vivid potrait of pre war Austria-Hungary and gives very much a deeper understanding about the Hungarian mindset and history.
Mod
I have never been able to pinpoint what appealed to me about the Transylvanian Trilogy, but I thought it was exquisite.
I've been reading short stories from the turn of the 19th and 20th century for a few months. Let me recommend Sándor Bródy to you, the only author from among the ones I've just read whose stories have been translated into English. If you can find his Rembrandt-stories, remember they're his best.
(I'm sorry I can't recommend the others... not as if they didn't deserve it...)
Mod
After many months, I've finally finished The Tale of Genji. Today, I borrowed Journey by Moonlight, by Antal Szerb, from the library (which I've read before in another translation, but I want to read the Len Rix translation), but I also borrowed The Master & Margarita, and I'm probably going to read that first.
I hope you are all well.
Harry wrote: "Dear Friends,After many months, I've finally finished The Tale of Genji. Today, I borrowed Journey by Moonlight, by Antal Szerb, from the library (which I've read before in another translation, b..."
Excellent choices, I read both in my late teens, then received both as wedding presents (asked for the guests' favourite books - they turned out to be around longer than the marriage :P). Journey by Moonlight was an important book in my family, I hope you'll like this version. We tend to underestimate the power of translation, but we absolutely shouldn't. I hope you are well, take care.
Mod
After many months, I've finally finished The Tale of Genji. Today, I borrowed Journey by Moonlight, by Antal Szerb, from the library (which I've read before in another ..."
Dear Blue,
I'm sorry to report that I've already shelved The Master and Margarita. I didn't hate it, but it just seemed unserious to me, in the way that a lot of Czech literature also does. I understand that M&M probably had to be written in a certain abstracted way, given the realities that it was trying to satirize, but unfortunately I'm not prepared to appreciate it in my current frame of mind.
As to "my current frame of mind," I think I am experiencing a typical "book panic," perhaps as a result of sudden decompression after finishing Genji. The chief characteristic of a book panic is a perfectionism in choosing my next book, which sometimes even compels me to assemble a list of books to read in order, say, one American, followed by a Hungarian, followed by a Japanese, by which point I might be ready for something French, etc.
So I decided I needed something closer to home to balance the Genji experience, and thus I have determined to try The Last Gentleman by Walker Percy. I hope I can stick with it, before I decide that I "should" be reading something else.
Maybe some of you experience book panics too?
Best wishes.
H
I don’t know about a ‘book panic’ but yes I also experience some of these feelings. I’ve just read ‘The Radetzky March’ again. I’m not sure if it’s a great novel but it is still one of my favourites. So choosing something worthy to follow it is challenging. At some point you have to take it down a notch but after enjoying something so much it is tempting to try and sustain the euphoria. Another Austro-Hungarian classic (perhaps Zweig) would be too obvious and in the case of Zweig maybe even a disappointment.
My options are mainly Czech, a kind of Balkan melange, Hungarian, American, Jewish & English. I haven’t decided yet and I’m also jumping speculatively in and quickly out of a few alternatives.
Mod
I’ve just read ‘The Radetzky March’ again. I’m not sure if it’s a great novel but it is still one of my favourit..."
Dear Stephen,
Hmm, maybe you're right. Perhaps "follow-up syndrome" is a better term than "book panic."
Hope you find a worthy follow-up to Radetzky and that you're well.
best,
Harry
Your remark about Czech literature being unserious left me feeling a bit non-plussed until I remembered that Capek’s ‘War With The Newts’ was the last one I read. An unserious book if ever there was one. I’ve gone with ‘Seven Years In Tibet’.
Best wishes
Mod
Dear Stephen,
I meant no disrespect to Czech literature, and I have enjoyed Closely Watched Trains, Too Loud a Solitude, and I Served the King of England, but....well, but nothing. I guess I was going off on something I hadn't thought enough about.
I'll try to figure out what I meant.
best,
Harry
I think you’re right though! People becoming insects is hardly serious! Undoubtedly good but..
Stephen wrote: "I think you’re right though! People becoming insects is hardly serious! Undoubtedly good but..":D
I've been head over heels into Taika Waititi's worlds lately (not books, I know, but art) and this unserious question reminds me of some things he said about not being able to do a full drama but having to include some comedy to lighten the weight a bit (have you seen Jojo Rabbit?), and pure comedy gold it is. I like when 'serious' subjects are taken less seriously, not treated with a blind respect but sometimes actively disrespected in a way that is still morally right somehow. Anyone not taking themselves too seriously is also my kind of person.
I'm not sure you have anything against unseriousness, Harry, maybe you just don't feel like reading anything that falls into that category for you, right now. But I'll let you figure out yourself :)
Mod
Dear Stephen (and Blue),
Well, I've given it a few hours of thought, so:
First, I think it's high time I stop with the sweeping categorizations of national literatures.
Second, the Hungarian stuff I've liked the most (Jokai, Banffy, Szerb) was written a bit before the Czech stuff I've also liked though perhaps not as much (all Hrabal), and something about the stylistic and tonal differences between the decades might account for my different feelings toward them. I tend to prefer the earlier stuff, apparently.
But of course the major difference between these two classes of works is that the later group (and this would go for Master and Margarita too) consists of satire written under tight censorship. When I was younger, satire appealed to me very much, but nowadays, it seems that I prefer wistful nostalgia to satire.
Of course, Szerb wrote under the worst circumstances, but his neo-frivolism is more wistful than satirical.
I guess all I was trying to say earlier was that I'm more into wistfulness than satire at this stage of my life.
As for films, I'm a big fan of the Czech new wave, especially Closely Watched Trains (which I guess has a certain wistfulness about it) and Daisies (in which the psychedelia itself now seems wistful).
And yes, I loved Jojo Rabbit. I saw it in the cinema three times and countless times on DVD.
Thanks for your indulgence, while I worked through these issues.
Harry
hello Harry,I just saw this list by Seagull books of Hungarian lit in English translation, and wonder if you knew about it :::
https://www.seagullbooks.org/books-by...
cheers
DD
Dani wrote: "hello Harry,I just saw this list by Seagull books of Hungarian lit in English translation, and wonder if you knew about it :::
https://www.seagullbooks.org/books-by...
chee..."
There are a few delicatessen in there, Vida, Tompa and Krasznahorkai for example.
Mod
I'm reading a fairly long American book now but will return to Hungary for my next book.
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I'd hate to think of our group as defunct. I've been reading various things for school, mostly Taiwanese, and I've neglected Hungary for too long.
Now I'm back with The Village Notary by József Eötvös, a three-volume edition published in 1850. I'm enjoying it immensely. It will prove to be the best accompaniment to the autumn months here.
I hope all of you are well and are enjoying the autumn too.
Harry wrote: "Now I'm back with The Village Notary by József Eötvös, a three-volume edition published in 1850."I loved that one when I was at school. Most people find it quite lengthy, but for me it was really exciting. I think I had to read it twice because of a literature competition. It helped me get a place at university. So I have the best memories of the book. :) I should definitely reread it some time.
I've seen you read The Scarlet Pimpernel, too. It's supposed to be the "most read" book ever written by a Hungarian author. I agree with your opinion: it's fun to read, but you should read it when you're under twelve. :) I didn't have that luck either. I read it after watching the musical version at the theatre. The best word I can use when I think of that performance is that it was an experience of being perfectly safe. From the fifth minute of the play I knew who were the good guys, who were the bad guys, who was going to fight, who was going to be double-crossed, who was going to win, and why it was going to be funny. All my expectations were fulfilled. And the music was great, which counterbalanced the predictability of the plot.
How wonderful, the autobiographical novel of Gabor Vida, one of my favourite contemporary Hungarian writers was finally translated: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5... I recommend it wholeheartedly.
On my to buy list but £30 is a bit much.
Stephen wrote: "On my to buy list but £30 is a bit much."It's £20 on Wordery with free delivery. It's a shame there's no Kindle edition of it though.
Since when have you been reading in Hungarian? I’m still struggling with my daughters “Nyuszik a Balatonon”.
£20 is still rather a lot for me. But thank you.
Stephen wrote: "£20 is still rather a lot for me. But thank you."It is a lot. Hopefully it'll get cheaper in a couple of months, would be quite interesting to read it in translation. I'll wait, I guess. 😊
Mod
I loved that one when I was at school. Most people find it quite lengthy, but for me..."
Wow, The Village Notary has been a very important book for you!
Mod
Today is American Thanksgiving, so thank you all for your friendship.
Hungarian Literature Club
Books mentioned in this topic
The Hungarian Nabob (other topics)The Corsair King (other topics)
The Corsair King (other topics)
The Slaves of the Padishah (other topics)
Companion in Exile: Notes for an Autobiography (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Harry Mathews (other topics)Mór Jókai (other topics)
Mór Jókai (other topics)
József Eötvös (other topics)
Walker Percy (other topics)
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The political background of the book was a bit mysterious to me and I feel it might have prevented me from enjoying ..."
I'm glad you liked it so much. :)
I can't help you there, though, because I read it as a child, and it left almost no impression. I must have been too young.
One thing is certain: the political background of historical novels set in the Translyvania of that period is mysterious and confusing for EVERYONE, including locals. You're not alone. :) It was a really, really complicated time. Only historians know their way around in it.