The Obscure Reading Group discussion
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June 8 - 14: Discussion #2 of 3: The Second Third of ABIGAIL
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Ken
(last edited Jun 11, 2020 04:52AM)
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Jun 11, 2020 04:52AM
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Jan, thanks so much for your comments on my poem. I really had no idea how much it would relate to this story. The last line about leaving is layered. It hopefully suggests growing up, leaving home, and my father’s absence.
I'm really enjoying this story even more now that we've entered the second section. I think that the girls' sudden change in behavior towards Gina is realistic. I'm not sure their hearts were really into the game of ignoring they were playing anyway. From experience, I've seen young girls turn on a dime. Then to be put in a dangerous situation where everyone felt this sudden fear would certainly seem a good catalyst to 'change their tune' so to speak. I also have my suspicions regarding Abigail. Pretty much in line with what the majority are saying here already. I haven't proceeded to the next section yet, but am anxious to do so in order to find out if my suspicions are correct or not! I really appreciate the bit of history we are learning in regards to this European nation which I've seen very little of in literature.
Gina is suddenly given a big role and I think she is level-headed enough to handle it. I hope the mastermind is able to keep his or her cover for the sake of all these innocent young girls. There are certainly eyes everywhere, and it reminds me a bit of a literary spy novel of sorts right now! Good stuff getting even better!
Finally I got to the end of reading the second third of our book and then eagerly turned to what you’ve all written. Great conversation; fun to see your thoughtful comments. Did not go look at the spoilers; I want to find out for myself when I finish the book.I am enjoying the book very much, especially now that suspense has increased and the seriousness of the bigger context of what’s happening outside the school has been named. We know the General loses his life; we know four of the students and their families are endangered.
More in another comment; my little iPhone screen is impossible; the keyboard overlays what I’m drafting so I can’t see it! Pls pardon typos. Going to my laptop now.
Okay, this is better -- GoodReads on laptop instead of iphone.Regarding the "lightness" of the book -- yes, on the one hand I agree, and maybe that's intentional to make it YA suitable, not too terribly grim with details of the holocaust that we all know is happening while the focus of the story is inside the school. And on the other hand, for that very reason it doesn't feel "light" to me at all. These kids are faced with something very big even though they may not yet know -- maybe won't till they are older -- exactly how big.
I think about myself at that age and how carefree, protected, and privileged was my life in white U.S. suburbia. There was nothing like the intensity of Hitler going on around me. Yes, there were social issues and unrest, but as a kid and a young teen, it was removed from my daily lightness of being, so I was somewhat oblivious even though I grew up with social justice and social activism in my home and at the dinner table. Maybe a better way of saying it is that it felt theoretical, not personal. The context of this story feels so much more significant than anything I lived.
This point reminds me a bit of a civil rights pilgrimage I did about ten years ago with a small group, visiting landmarks in Alabama and Mississippi and hearing from people there who lived through the time of great resistance in the '60s. We visited the church in Birmingham Alabama where four young teen girls died in a bombing -- and I remember realizing with a start when I heard the details that I was their age pretty much exactly when they died. And I got to live a life for decades more. Well, that's very much an aside.
Seems like there were a few other points I wanted to make about our book but they've evaporated. If they come back to me, I'll post again. Meanwhile, thanks, all. It's fun to do this together. And I'm very eager to read the rest of the book.
Oh I know what I wanted to mention -- that I read somewhere this story was turned into a TV series? And/or a staged musical? I need to go find those details again. I'd love to know whether available to us somehow.
Yes, found it easily. This from the NYT review of Abigail: "Originally published in 1970, “Abigail” is Szabo’s most popular book in her native Hungary, where it has been adapted into both a TV series and a musical — and where it is even more widely read than “The Door,” the 1987 novel that may be her best-known work outside her country."
Pardon me if that was already mentioned in our comments threads.
Oh and I wanted too to notice how amusing the subversive hymn fiasco seemed to me. A retired minister, I can well imagine such a scene in a congregation... the scramble and jaw dropping that ensued made me laugh.
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As for hymns, as a kid I always liked it when we didn't have to sing every verse. That and when Father "I Love to Talk" Kelly didn't have sermon duties.
ABIGAIL is my third Magda Szabo book. First I read IZA'S BALLAD, then THE DOOR (all three in New York Review Books editions) I found her books to be deep and moving, and amazing studies of relationships and feelings.All three books focus on female relationships. IZA'S BALLAD centers on a mother-daughter struggle-bond, while THE DOOR is about a professional woman and her unique housekeeper. In ABIGAIL, too, we have the motherless Gina and her governess Marcelle, then replaced by Bishop Matula's Susanna; these are intergenerational relationships. But we also have Gina struggling to relate to her peer classmates, collectively and individually.
In each of these relationships, communications, secrets and trust break down and are mended. And both belonging and outsider status play a great role. In both IZA'S BALLAD and ABIGAIL, a major adjustment to fit in to a completely new situation is asked of a lead character and here, Gina has the advantage, being a young girl.
Szabo, I find, is especially skilled in describing momentary shifts in feelings and reactions. On pp. 221-222, for example, After Susanna catches Gina with a distraught Banki in the washroom at night: "Banki tore herself away in terror. Gina felt a moment's bitterness. All she had wanted to do was to comfort the poor girl and now she was in trouble again. Susanna was very gentle, terrifyingly so." Then, as Susanna commands them to return to bed and read the Bible, she asks Gina if she has some particular cause for grief, we are told: "How Gina would have loved to shout in her face 'I certainly have!' What could the prefect be thinking? That her little world corresponded to the real one, the world beyond the school, that nothing existed apart from the Matula? Did she have a cause for grieving? She certainly did. And so did Banki. How nice it would be if one could put everything right by opening the Book of Daniel."
The second major theme I find in all three books is the tension and differences between Budapest and small town or village Hungary. In ABIGAIL, it's interesting that Gina is always referred to as the "Girl from Budapest" and not "the General's Daughter" or "the new girl". She is set apart as having come from "another world" and, indeed, Szabo has her surprisingly well-traveled and worldly in contrast with the provincial girls of the school.
And, in ABIGAIL, the remote providences provide security, whereas the capital Budapest represents a real danger. Here, the concept of freedom is played with since Gina felt free at home and tries to escape by breaking free of her school, yet, under the circumstances, by remaining in captivity, Gina and her father's freedom can be preserved.
I see this as a mature work though it is describing a coming-of-age period in Gina's life. The political context is complex and the adult characters interact with one another on a level beyond the girl's perceptions, that's why Gina and they misinterpret several things. There are many layers to the school life, as revealed in the traditions and girls' games, and, in a close-knit "fortress world", one event or personality impacts many other things. As Gina is won-over into a Marula girl, she adds a certain spirit and creativity to her class and the school.
Erin, thank you for the insightful comparison between Abigail and Iza's Ballad and The Door, which I have also read and enjoyed. I agree with you that in all, Szabo explored the intricacies and complexities in female relationships. In this book, the relationship between adolescent girls was examined with an insider's memory of what those tumultuous years were like; it also featured Gina's relationship with two adult females: Suzanna and Mitsi Horn. These relationships were characterized in all three books by a palpable tension between affection/admiration and resentment/anger.I have been following the threads of discussion and am grateful to everyone for providing many interesting aspects I would not have considered if I read this solo: bits of history, information about Szabo, the significance attached to Hungary names, speculations about who Abigail might be (I have only one person in mind), and thoughtful discussion on Gina's development. I love getting to know a bit about the Obscure personalities in this group. What a diverse group we have! Thank you, everyone. I only wish I have more time to contribute to this discussion.
Wonderful commentary on the exploration of female relationships, Erin. I think too young of a reader might miss some of this.I’m surprised no one has read Katalin Street yet. It’s another Len Rix translation. I think I’ll be queuing it up!
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This is good stuff, Erin. The way you focus on Szabó's skill with female relationships and especially the point about the girls' ages and how it adds an extra dimension (and challenge!) in the author's treatment of matters (something readers might forget).
As if it needs to be proven, it just goes to show how challenging writing can be. And the fact that you were able to read Abigail through the lens of two other Szabó books just makes me that much more anxious to gain that perspective myself!
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Angela wrote: "I’ve added more Szabo to my queue!"So have I. I definitely want to read more.
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Sandra wrote: "I’m loving the end of this story. The action really picked up speed. Almost finished and will be so interested in what you all think."I just finished the book and loved the ending, too. There could have been a sequel.
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I'm especially curious what Gina's life was like the next two years following the end of this story. Again, she would have had to adapt to a new identity, a new place and completely new people around here. And, again, possibly without the chance to communicate with her Matula "family" she has come to love and trust.In "Abigail", Gina make two escapes: first, all on her own from Mitsi's house to the train station, requiring a great deal of preparation, play-acting and challenging logistics and the second, one arranged for her with directions she must follow. Both require risks and discomfort (climbing out through a window, rain and cold); she's "rescued" from her first escape which would have more greatly endangered her and she is again "rescued" in the second when she can't enter Mitsi's house because she forgot to transfer the key from her uniform.
Again, the themes of imprisonment, escape and freedom are explored twice over- once based on Gina's personal view, and then based on the full harsh, political reality of war and traitors.
Abigail, the statue and the idea of a personal saintly helper within the school, serves for the students as an on-site "compassionate parent" for the seemingly cold, rule-dominated institutional community.
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If you are still reading ABIGAIL, stay away from that thread until you've finished the book and are ready! A few spoilers are already seeping in on this thread!
Erin wrote: "I'm especially curious what Gina's life was like the next two years following the end of this story. Again, she would have had to adapt to a new identity, a new place and completely new people arou..."Hello, Erin,
I enjoyed the points you bring up. I've often wondered about the way Matula reflects the larger society, for it seems that there are numerous restraints and even dark allegiances. Does Gina realize these tacit rules in addition to the explicit rules? Yes, she is certainly very clever in her escapes, her creative writing, and even many of her rebukes. I suspect she set poor "Abigail" into consternation various times - but then again was she (Gina) admired for her wit?
With a twist, I was surprised to discover four of Gina's classmates were Jewish and needed protection. Was the person (or people) who sheltered Gina also responsible for providing shelter for these girls? Trust, community, safety: all of these are critical during war, yet these can be so hard to navigate for someone new or naive like Gina. She DOES grow at the school, however, because she had been naive in her first home as well. I don't recall who wrote that Gina's father had her grow up quickly; I agree that he came to a point of needing to warn her - almost plead with her - to grow up and leave petulance behind.
I'm glad you're part of the discussion!
Yvonne wrote: "Okay, this is better -- GoodReads on laptop instead of iphone.Regarding the "lightness" of the book -- yes, on the one hand I agree, and maybe that's intentional to make it YA suitable, not too t..."
Hello,
I smiled reading your comment about your youth.
At least Gina and the four Jewish girls were sent to Matula with hopes of protection, and perhaps that was to allow them a bit more of their youthful understanding of the world and whatever hope they still have. No, I don't have any children, but I certainly understand that.
I'd like to learn more about the various media that Abigail has inspired. Thank you for referring to that.
This next comment goes into a different direction, but your reflection about the times you grew, your shared comments about religious work, and then your reference to the Civil Rights Tour made me think of one of my professors -- actually my finest and now I realize one of my most formative educators. I'm certain you have a unique personality - just as surely Sr. Rosemary does - yet I suspect you both share a similar spirit for servant leadership: https://youtu.be/f4FxHjR5KxY
Sandra wrote: "Yes, Angela. Developing empathy is a long and gradual process. The fact that Gina didn’t immediately grow up seems realistic. And I agree Dianne. Konig is kind and helpful. I just hope he isn’t Abi..."You're welcome, Sandra,
I'm glad you shared that poem early on. I figure that something significant prompted you to first share that, so it was rewarding to return to it. Your additional insights also bring more to the conversation, too. I'm finding that yours and others' insights and discussions present a greater depth to the original story. I'll definitely be reading more of Szabo's other novels later.
I'm glad you like the ending of the book. I liked Gina, and I still find her to be stubborn and conniving (which may be both potential hazards but then -- if focused -- a pathway to bravery).
Well, I begin a Summer Institute tomorrow, so I may not be able to write a great deal. I greatly enjoyed reading this and joining in the discussion as I was able.
Though it may not have been the original intention at all, I found this to be an exceptional choice for this unprecedented time in our world. Thank You! Hey, you -- the Obscure One that you are -- very well may be a "2020 Abigail". (no pressure whatsoever there. . . smile)
Jan wrote: "Erin wrote: "I'm especially curious what Gina's life was like the next two years following the end of this story. Again, she would have had to adapt to a new identity, a new place and completely ne..."Thanks, Jan.
Gina definitely has leadership ability and is able to use it once she stops seeing her peers as silly and childish, apologizes and gains their acceptance. She seems to set the pace in academic excellence for her class before she becomes preoccupied with her own troubles. I think the teachers, too, can see that she is bright and creative, along with her (to them) mysterious moodiness. Although she is an only child, she is also capable of acting like an "older sister", taking the 4 Jewish girls and orphan Torma under her wing.
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