What I'm Reading

[fióka]

Harry wrote: "The Village Notary got off to a slow start, as the author digressed into cynical (but not groundless) social commentary. During the second third, it became very exciting.

Today is American Thanks..."

Dear Harry,
Happy Thanksgiving to you!

[blueisthenewpink]

Harry wrote: "The Village Notary got off to a slow start, as the author digressed into cynical (but not groundless) social commentary. During the second third, it became very exciting.

Today is American Thanks..."

Happy Thanksgiving! <3 Thank you for this group and for the conversations here!

[Harry]

I finished The Village Notary and wrote a rather poor but respectful review of it, which I hope is intelligible. I'd hate to think that I'm such a philistine that I must have a happy ending, but the cynicism of TVN is made clear at the beginning and doesn't really evolve.

I think I'll try some non-fiction on Hungary next: The Lawful Revolution: Louis Kossuth and the Hungarians 1848-1849. I won't be expecting a happy ending here either, but at least there should be some twists and turns.

[Harry]

I hope it is not too late for New Year's greetings -- or perhaps I am right on time to tender my best wishes for Chinese New Year.

I have worked my way back to Mór Jókai and am now reading Eyes Like The Sea, which is delightful.

The translator, R. Nisbet Bain, had some amusing things to say in his introduction:

"The pessimistic tone of Continental fiction, and its pronounced preference for minute and morbid analysis, are quite revolutionizing the modern novel....There is, however, one country which is a singular exception to this general rule. In Hungary the good old novel of incident and adventure is still held in high honor, and humor is of the very essence of the national literature."

I hope that's worth a smile.

[Timár_Krisztina]

Harry wrote: "I hope it is not too late for New Year's greetings -- or perhaps I am right on time to tender my best wishes for Chinese New Year.

I have worked my way back to Mór Jókai and am now..."

Happy new year to you, too. :)
Yes, it's worth one. :) But actually, I'm not sure what the translator meant by that.
Whatever he meant, the book you chose is a really fine one, I've wanted to re-read it for years. Back at the time I read it I saw it as special among Jókai's books, full of both fun and depth.

[blueisthenewpink]

Timár_Krisztina wrote: "Harry wrote: "I hope it is not too late for New Year's greetings -- or perhaps I am right on time to tender my best wishes for Chinese New Year.

I have worked my way back to Mór Jókai and am now....."

I never liked Jókai. Do you think I should give him another chance with this one?

[blueisthenewpink]

and a happy new year to everyone! :)

[Timár_Krisztina]

blueisthenewpink wrote: "I never liked Jókai. Do you think I should give him another chance with this one?"

I think so. I could only tell you for sure after the re-reading, but as far as I remember, this one is very different from anything by Jókai that was ever made into school stuff.

[Stephen]

A copy of Black Diamonds sits on my shelf, I’m yet to try it.

I hadn’t appreciated that in the 19th century Jókai’s work was popular abroad, or at least here in the UK.

Does that make him the most widely read Hungarian author I wonder?

Just finished George Konràd’s ‘A Feast In The Garden’. Has anyone else read it? I enjoyed it enormously.

[Timár_Krisztina]

Stephen wrote: "A copy of Black Diamonds sits on my shelf, I’m yet to try it.

I hadn’t appreciated that in the 19th century Jókai’s work was popular abroad, or at least here in the UK.

Does that make him the mo..."

Black Diamonds is FUN!!! It was my favourite when I was a teenager. Later, I found out that there is plenty of material for really interesting analyses in it, too.

But no, he is not the most widely read Hungarian author. It would be Emma Orczy. She wrote The Scarlet Pimpernel in English for a start, as an emigrant, which made it much easier for it to spread all over the world. Especially as it was also a play for theatres, and adapted on film even in her lifetime.

I must admit I've only read one book by Konrád so far, and didn't like it at all, so it didn't make me want to read more by him. Perhaps some time later in my life.

[Harry]

BTW, I just watched the film Testről és lélekről.

[Harry]

Dear Group,

I'm writing to keep in touch with all of you. Unfortunately, I have been so busy with schoolwork (owing to a certain professor -- me) that I have not read anything Hungarian for a while, nor have I read much else for pleasure. I miss it.

I hope you are all doing well and are enjoying a cooler, emotive autumn, wherever you are.

Best wishes,

Harry

[fióka]

Harry wrote: "Dear Group,

I'm writing to keep in touch with all of you. Unfortunately, I have been so busy with schoolwork (owing to a certain professor -- me) that I have not read anything Hungarian for a whil..."

Dear Harry,

Same here, although not so much because of work, it has more to do with the crazy amount of commuting that I have to deal with on a daily basis. Since I'm driving, there's no chance for reading, and audiobooks just aren't for me.
This is the wettest autumn ever, but I do enjoy it nevertheless. Hope all is well with you.

:)

[Harry]

Thanks, Fioka. It's kind of a wet autumn here too, and I'm loving it. :)

[Timár_Krisztina]

Hi, Harry,

Good to hear from you. :)

I'm reading all kinds of books, as usual. Only I have less time now, because I write more. Or at least I try. I've finished with my job as a teacher, because of the crisis of the educational system in Hungary. Now I'm going to work as a translator for a few months, and I'm really proud of myself for having been selected for the job. After that, we'll see.

I'm preparing for a language exam in French, so you'll probably see me finish my French book in a short while, and then start other books in French. The Hungarian book I'm reading was written by Attila Veres, who mostly creates horror or weird fiction. A few of his stories have been translated into English, too, and published in the US.

Take care.

[Harry]

Dear Krisztina,

Thanks for your message. I suppose you may find it tedious, but please let me know about the educational crisis, via private message if you prefer, when you have time.

Otherwise, cogratulations on securing your translator job!

BTW, I ordered The Fawn and The Tragedy of Man for my library, the latter on your recommendation.

best,

Harry

[blueisthenewpink]

Harry wrote: "Dear Krisztina,

Thanks for your message. I suppose you may find it tedious, but please let me know about the educational crisis, via private message if you prefer, when you have time.

Otherwise,..."

Hi, I think this is a good summary of the situation:
https://cz.boell.org/en/2023/05/12/hu...

(There is a mistake in it, I think, "maximum working hours will be increased from 32 hours to 48 hours per month" - they must have meant per week)

Since then the bill has become a law, and many teachers have left, as they had previously said they would. My kids' school has a temporary acting principal, appointed to the post. They hadn't had a chemistry teacher for the first two months in 7th grade, the younger ones (2nd-4th grade) have only one teacher per class (there should be 2). My daughter's class teacher is teaching them everything now, including subjects she has never taught. My son doesn't know which high school to apply to next year, because the one he wanted with all his heart lost 13 teachers last year.

Apart from this, we are fine, thank you. I hate the very wet autumn, sorry, everyone, I need sunshine to function well :) Working at a private language school also affected by teacher shortage somehow, the load is quite heavy but we are managing fine. I just have very limited time for reading, as you all do.

Best wishes,
Jutka

[Stephen]

So Pintèr Sanyi is in charge of education. That says everything I need to know.

I’m happy my children aren’t at school in Hungary.
Through all the changes, both good and bad, the country retained a reasonably good education system.

Now that’s also gone.
My commiserations.

I’m mostly reading history at the moment. I dread to think what the history syllabus looks like in Hungary.

[Harry]

blueisthenewpink wrote: "Harry wrote: "Dear Krisztina,

Thanks for your message. I suppose you may find it tedious, but please let me know about the educational crisis, via private message if you prefer, when you have time..."

Dear Jutka,

Thanks for your reply. Ah, I hope the sun comes out in Hungary.

best,

Harry

[Harry]

Stephen wrote: "So Pintèr Sanyi is in charge of education. That says everything I need to know.

I’m happy my children aren’t at school in Hungary.
Through all the changes, both good and bad, the country retained ..."

Dear Stephen,

Thanks for your reply. Reading history is indeed very engrossing.

Best wishes,

Harry

[Harry]

Dear Friends,

I'm happy to be reading The Fawn and to be immersed in a Hungarian book again. It's been too long.

It's put me in the mind to visit Hungary. I could try to bring a group of students, perhaps building a study trip around 1848 (even though I'm the Asian historian in my department); or perhaps I should just make a private trip (less hassle but how to pay for it?)...

Anyway, I hope you are all doing well!

Harry

[Timár_Krisztina]

Harry wrote: "Dear Friends,

I'm happy to be reading The Fawn and to be immersed in a Hungarian book again. It's been too long.

It's put me in the mind to visit Hungary. I could try to bring a ..."

I'm glad to hear that. :)

[Harry]

PS. I just saw the film Gloomy Sunday, on a DVD I got from an estate sale. It makes me want to order a big plate of rouladen, but perhaps I won't jump into the Danube just yet.

[Harry]

Dear Friends,

I hope that spring has started well for you.

I am finishing up an academic year that was focused on Japan, and ongoing teaching into the summer will limit my reading to Japanese books like The Pillow Book and Tales of Ise: Lyrical Episodes from Tenth-Century Japan.

Earlier, I mentioned the possibility of taking students to Hungary to study the revolutions of 1848. Are there any things to see from 1848 that would be worth a trip to Hungary today?

Thanks and best wishes,

Harry

[Stephen]

Hi Harry
Interesting question to which I can only answer ‘not much’.
Perhaps others can think of something.
Plenty of monuments of course, Jozsef Bem’s statue opposite the foreign ministry for example. Everywhere you’ll find Kossuth & Petőfi streets.
But what I’m missing is a museum with exhibits that cover the subject. Which seems a bit surprising.
But maybe it’s for the good because history has a habit of being rewritten in Hungary to support the ideas of whoever happens to be currently in power.
Ww all promised to avoid politics but it would be easier to ignore an elephant in the room.
Have you seen the recent movie about 48? I’d be interested in your opinion. Best wishes Steve

[Harry]

Dear Steve,

Thanks for your answer. I've found a couple of tourist websites, but there doesn't seem to be much in the way of original buildings.

What is the name of the film about 48?

Thanks again and hope you're well.

best,

Harry

[Stephen]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19857862/
Personally I don’t recommend it, although I must admit I haven’t actually seen it.

[Nicholas]

Dear Harry, I feel like the national museum is a nice historical site related to the 1848 revolution. Of course it’s where Petőfi gave his speech, and today it’s a beautiful area of the city. The famous cafe where many revolutionaries met is no longer there unfortunately. I think I saw a video on the very topic of 48 revolution sites in Budapest. I’m going to send it later.

Nick

[Harry]

Dear Nicholas,

Thanks for your message.

I have since learned of the National Museum and of the cafe (or the modern version of the cafe).

As a college professor, I need to devise serious-sounding justifications for visiting foreign countries (and getting compensated for it, at least in part). Of course, taking students overseas is educational in itself, as everyone admits.

I am scheduled to take a group to Taiwan, but I'm feeling like Europe instead. I'll keep my thinking cap on and see what I can come up with.

Thanks again and best wishes to you all,

Harry

[Nicholas]

Dear Harry,

I couldn’t find the video I was thinking of.

What sort of classes do you teach that was making you consider Hungary? (If that was the case) There are many other museums and sights related to other historical events or information here of course. Beyond just the 1848 revolution. I feel Hungary could be interesting. I was part of some international groups for students from the Middle East who got student trips to Hungary and they loved it.

It’s quite amazing to hear someone plan a trip for the purpose of education for students. Especially something like Taiwan (as I’m guessing you come from Europe or the Americas or someone else in the west). I could be mistaken though!

Nick

[Harry]

Dear Nick,

Thanks for your message.

I mostly teach Chinese and Japanese history classes. I've been enjoying Hungarian literature for about ten years and learning more about Hungarian history, mostly informally. Recently, I've begun teaching survey courses in modern Western history as well, as student interest in Asia, oddly, seems to be tapering off. I am enjoying teaching "Western Civ," which I tend to approach, especially after 9/11, as an ideological project: I stress the rise of the philosophy of freedom and then the reaction against it, which seems to take place in Europe around 1848 (and a little later in the US). I realize I may be criticized for having an ideological agenda, and my students, mostly non-majors who are required to take the class, are initially dismayed that the course goes beyond simple multiple choice based on facts from the textbook; but they seem interested, miraculously.

I'm sure you're right about there being plenty to do in Hungary besides focusing on 1848. A student trip needs to have a theme, though, and I thought 1848 would be a good one. I could combine it with a French trip (i.e. a week in Paris and one in Budapest). Of course, a colleague asked me, "Why not go to Germany too?"

And now for the wackiest fantasy: Why not take students to both Taiwan and Hungary, in a trip focusing on nationalism, especially denied or (deferred) nationalism? It would be prohihitively expensive, but one can dream.

Thanks again and best wishes,

Harry

[Andrea]

Dear Harry,

Maybe I can add a couple of options to consider connected to 1848 in Hungary. first, I think your introduction to the topic depends a bit on when you would like to go on the trip.

1. If you can justify going in mid-March (when we celebrate March 15th to remember the Revolution and War of Independence), you might be able to see a lot more than in other parts of the year. during (and around) this national holiday, there are usually several memorial speeches, theater plays, short-term exhibitions, and other events - some of which might be even accessible to non-Hungarian speakers. Maybe worth looking into.

2. Museums: yes, the National Museum will have a lot on the topic, but you can also consider some of the following: Petőfi Literary Museum (with a permanent Petőfi exhibition), Petőfi Birthplace and Museum in Kiskőrös

3. Historical sites: Pilvax Cafe, Landerer printing house, Batthyany eternal flame

+1: I would recommend reading The Paul street boys from Ferenc Molnár, maybe also for your students. While the book is not directly about the events of 1848, it deals with many topics very much connected to revolutionary ideals within Hungarian cultural identity.

[Harry]

Dear Andrea,

Thanks so much for your suggestions, which I've only seen just now.

I have noticed the Pilvax Cafe in the course of research.

Thanks especially for the Molnár recommendation. I've only read Companion in Exile: Notes for an Autobiography and would like to read more of his.

BTW, the study abroad people at my school have talked me out of leading a trip to Hungary, because there are many trips to Europe that I would be competing with. They have advised me to stick to my specialty and try for a Taiwan trip instead.

Thanks again very much.

Harry

[Timár_Krisztina]

Dear Harry,

I'm also sorry for not writing earlier. Should you ever get the chance to visit Hungary in the future with your students, reading The Paul Street Boys together is a great idea, and there are also tours connected to the places in the novel. All scenes are set in a pretty narrow space within Budapest, and a lot of the streets and buildings are within walking distance to each other. Not just that: there are actually boards on the walls of some houses saying some characters from the book were supposed to live there, or be playing there. You can even find a group of statues showing a scene from the book. You have everything for a literary tour there.

It's another question that the book is also prone to criticism nowadays, and so it should be, more than a hundred years after its publication. Some (including me) even say it shouldn't be required reading any more. But those matters can also be discussed with your students, and it'll still remain a great read and a cult book,

[Harry]

Dear K,

Thanks for your message.

It does seem like there's a lot to do in a compact area of Budapest.

Maybe I can visit Hungary without students this spring. I have a sabbatical...

I hope you are doing well this summer. It is searingly hot in Alabama.

best,

Harry

[Harry]

I will read The Paul Street Boys next, even though I read a review of it that contained a spoiler.

[blueisthenewpink]

Harry wrote: "I will read The Paul Street Boys next, even though I read a review of it that contained a spoiler."

Oh, sorry about that. It is compulsory reading in 4th grade (or 5th), so everyone knows what happens in it (in case it was a Hungarian reviewer). Tell us when you're done, I would like to share a sculpture of one of the characters with you, but it is a spoiler in itself :)

[Harry]

Hmmm: a spoiler sculpture. Very intriguing!

[blueisthenewpink]

Harry wrote: "Hmmm: a spoiler sculpture. Very intriguing!"

:D you'll read extra fast to find out! ;)

[Harry]

Yes, it's a good incentive!

[Harry]

Paul Street Boys arrived today! It's a 1927 edition.

[Harry]

I love The Paul Street Boys. The affair of the Putty Club is extremely amusing.

Would someone please provide the original Hungarian for:

Putty Collectors Club, Budapest. Founded 1889. We solemly swear to be free forever.

I would like to make a stamp of my own.

[fióka]

Hi Harry

The original for your stamp is as follows:

Gittgyűjtő Egyesület, Budapest, 1889. Esküszünk, hogy rabok továb nem leszünk!

The solemn sentence is actually from Sándor Petőfi's Nemzeti Dal which was written at the dawn of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, on the 13th of March 1848, and it's the refrain of the poem. :)

I'm glad you like the novel. As the others have already written, it's compulsory literature in Hungary so everyone has read it at some point.

[Harry]

Thanks very very much!

If I really do make a stamp out of it, I'll try to figure out a way to share it with you.

Best wishes to all.

[Stephen]

and if my very meagre language knowledge doesn’t defeat me the quote says ‘we won’t be slaves anymore’.

[Harry]

Yes, I checked it out with (Gungle) Translate, and that's pretty much what it said.

It couldn't do much with Gittgyűjtő. It said "git collector."

[fióka]

Harry wrote: "Thanks very very much!

If I really do make a stamp out of it, I'll try to figure out a way to share it with you.

Best wishes to all."

You are welcome, Harry!
I hope you'll have the opportunity to share your stamp with us, would be lovely to see.

[fióka]

Stephen wrote: "and if my very meagre language knowledge doesn’t defeat me the quote says ‘we won’t be slaves anymore’."

Exactly. :)

[fióka]

Harry wrote: "Thanks very very much!

If I really do make a stamp out of it, I'll try to figure out a way to share it with you.

Best wishes to all."

A small correction to the copy-paste Hungarian translation which seems to have a spelling error/it is from an older publication, whichever. There's a 'b' missing from 'tovább'. Here's the correct version:

Gittgyűjtő Egyesület, Budapest, 1889. Esküszünk, hogy rabok tovább nem leszünk!

I'm sorry for not checking it first.

[Harry]

Nemecsek!