Iza's Ballad Quotes

“She didn’t really like classical music and there was no Vince to whisper in her ear and tell her what was beautiful about it. His descriptions were so clear. Handel was all scarlet ostrich feathers and silk ribbons fluttering in the wind, great silver trays blazing with candlelight. Wagner was trees creaking and silk ribbons fluttering in the wind, great silver trays blazing with candlelight. Wagner was trees creaking and snapping in the storm, foam running up the foot of a cliff, waves sweeping round rocks, black peaks reaching to the sky. Vince was no longer there, it was only music with no introduction and no commentary.”
― Magda Szabó, Iza's Ballad

“The poor woman believes that old people's pasts are the enemy. She has failed to notice how those pasts are explanations and values, the key to the present.”
― Magda Szabó, Iza's Ballad

“Maybe she was already dead and hadn’t noticed? Could a person die without being aware of it?”
― Magda Szabó, Iza's Ballad

“As if ashamed of themselves, the clouds broke and bare trees began to tremble in the intensely bright unexpected sunlight: they looked as though they were gasping for air or exhausted after a furious dash.”
― Magda Szabó, Iza's Ballad

“Heaven was a long way off and offered no recompense.”
― Magda Szabó, Iza's Ballad

“the weather was unusually cold again, as if March were at war with itself, bringing hard winter days to frustrate the promise of spring.”
― Magda Szabó, Iza's Ballad

“Can people get used to death?”
― Magda Szabó, Iza's Ballad

“Everything has changed,' the old woman thought. 'I can't tell what is what any more, only that nothing is as it was.”
― Magda Szabó, Iza's Ballad

“She didn't stay a word until they reached the edge of the wood, then stopped and looked at him again and spoke very clearly as if she wanted to emphasize every word to him. 'Politics will be my life as long as I live, she said.

He knew it was crazy but at that moment he was sure he would marry her.”
― Magda Szabó, Iza's Ballad

“Budapeşte’ye gidiyorsa mutlaka bir nedeni vardı. Yine de gidişini, onu almaya gelen taksi tarafından kaçırılıp götürülüşünü görmek pek zor oldu. Bu acı karşısında dayanışmak için eşikte birbirlerine destek oldular. Bir gün hayat da aynı şekilde bırakıp gidecek bizi, diye düşündü Vince. Tıpkı böyle, arkasına bile bakmadan. Onun da böyle sessizce, zamanını önceden söylemeden çekip gitmesini isterdim.” s.143”
― Magda Szabó, Iza's Ballad

“Hatıralar kimseye aktarılamıyor, maalesef.”
― Magda Szabó, Iza's Ballad

“Niçin sevilen varlıkların yitirilmesi gerekiyor?”
― Magda Szabó, La ballata di Iza

“Purtroppo i ricordi non si possono trasmettere in eredità a nessuno.”
― Magda Szabó, La ballata di Iza

“Now that she was seventy-six, looking at the new headstone, she knew the dead really die and that there was nothing you could give them by way of commiseration, no sadness, no love.”
― Magda Szabó, Iza's Ballad

“there was no point in hoping.”
― Magda Szabó, Iza's Ballad

“She looked at everything as though it had nothing to do with her.”
― Magda Szabó, Iza's Ballad