Amazon.com
In Prague, Arthur Phillips's sparkling, Kundera-flavored debut, five young Americans converge in Budapest in the early 1990s. Most are there by chance, like businessman Charles Gabor, whose parents were Hungarian. But one of them, John Price, has the more novelistic motivation of lost love. He is following his older brother, Scott, intent on achieving an intimacy that Scott, a language teacher and health enthusiast, is just as intently trying to escape. The romantic hero of this unsentimental novel, John Price lives like an expatriate of the 1920s. He longs for experience (and more or less stumbles into a writing job for an English language paper), but even more so for the great, obliterating love that takes the form of the perky assistant Emily Oliver. Mark Payton, a scholar of nostalgia whose insights are touched with mysticism, seems often to speak for the author, even in his barely repressed desire for John Price. For who would not love the good and unaffected, in the confusion, opportunism, and irony that characterize fin-de-siècle Europe? Phillips's five seekers are like mirrors that reflect Budapest at different angles, and that imperfectly--but wonderfully--point toward the unattainable city: the glittering, distant Prague. --Regina Marler
Book Description
A novel of startling scope and ambition,
Prague depicts an intentionally lost Lost Generation as it follows five American expats who come to Budapest in the early 1990s to seek their fortune. They harbor the vague suspicion that their counterparts in Prague have it better, but still they hope to find adventure, inspiration, a gold rush, or history in the making.
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A first novel of startling scope and ambition, Prague depicts an intentionally lost Lost Generation as it follows five American expats who come to Budapest in the early 1990s to seek their fortune -- financial, romantic, and spiritual -- in an exotic city newly opened to the West. They harbor the vague suspicion that their counterparts in Prague, where the atmospheric decay of post-Cold War Europe is even more cinematically perfect, have it better. Still, they hope to find adventure, inspiration, a gold rush, or history in the making. What they actually find is a deceptively beautiful place that they often fail to understand.
What does it mean to fret about your fledgling career when the man across the table was tortured by two different regimes? How does your short, uneventful life compare to the lives of those who actually resisted, fought, and died? What does your angst mean in a city still pocked with bullet holes from war and crushed rebellion?
Journalist John Price finds these questions impossible to answer yet impossible to avoid, though he tries to forget them in the din of Budapest's nightclubs, in a romance with a secretive young diplomat, at the table of an elderly cocktail pianist, and in the moody company of a young man obsessed with nostalgia. Arriving in Budapest one spring day to pursue his elusive brother, John finds himself pursuing something else entirely, something he can't quite put a name to, something that will draw him into stories much larger than himself.
With humor, intelligence, masterly prose, and profound affection for both Budapest and his own characters, Arthur Phillips not only captures his contemporaries but also brilliantly renders the Hungary of past and present: the generations of failed revolutionaries and lyric poets, opportunists and profiteers, heroes and storytellers.
"Dazzling... brilliant... the most memorable fiction debut of the year."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review)
"Arthur Phillips's bold and ambitious novel, Prague, is one of those rare books that help define and identify a whole generation, in the same way that Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises introduced his lost generation."
PAT CONROY, AUTHOR OF THE PRINCE OF TIDES
"In Prague, Arthur Phillips spins the Jazz Age novel. His expatriate Americans have settled in Budapest rather than Paris, and instead of champagne and ragtime, they outfit themselves with Gauloises, paprika-dusted sandwiches, punk rock, and post-Cold War irony. But their passion -- to know America and to shrug it off -- is timelessly literary. A hip-hop remix of Fitzgerald and Hemingway, a meditation on a generation, a polemic, a love story, a new branch of sociology, Prague tries to do it all and succeeds."
PAGAN KENNEDY, AUTHOR OF BLACK LIVINGSTONE
"An intricate and wordly-wise novel, with sly and acute perceptions on every page, Prague sets itself the challenge of extending the tradition of brainy Central European fiction from an American perspective, and succeeds handily."
PHILLIP LOPATE, AUTHOR OF PORTRAIT OF MY BODY
"Phillips's exhilarating exploration of time, memory, and nostalgia brings to mind such giants as Proust and Joyce."
LIBRARY JOURNAL
Customer Reviews:
One dark little novel...........2007-07-29
I actually enjoyed Prague but I would've liked it a lot more if it hadn't been hyped as a light-hearted romp through expatriate life. You can't blame the author for that but believe me, this is a pretty dark book. Really, from what happens to the characters, you'd have to think that living in Budapest was about as psychologically damaging as serving in Vietnam.
On the other hand, if you're looking for a black comedy, you could do worse. I liked Phillips' writing (I found it leisurely, you might find it glacial) and as a American living abroad, I found his insights spot on. Sometimes, you just can't change yourself by changing the scenery. And really, while the Lost Generation were legendary boozers, isn't there a bit more to expat life than endless drinking games?
Anyway, I thought it was pretty good book. Just be warned it's a bit different from how it's been sold.
Snapshot of Life in Budapest.......2007-07-01
Writing a novel about ex-pat life in a foreign country offers 2 choices: a story that shows the city and lifestyle to outsides (usually written by casual visitors who just need a setting for their story), or a novel about real life with real people and events, for other ex-pats of the country. Despite Arthur Phillips' protestations to the contrary in the afterward (paperback edition), Prague clearly falls into the second category, starting with the title.
"Prague" is an insider joke for residents of Budapest during the time, the city where things were really happening, the place where they all wanted to be, but weren't. But this is only hinted at in the story itself, is generally inconsequential to the plot, and unless you've lived in the area, it will not be obvious, leaving the title incomprehensible and misleading. Had the novel been written for non-expats it would have had a title that encompassed life in Budapest (for example, Coffee at the Gerbeaud, or Chain Link Bridge), or least generalized to Eastern Europe.
What starts in the title flows through the rest of the novel - inside jokes to a small group of expats during a particular period that fail to resonate with non-residents.
The novel also can't quite decide whether it is about a story or a character, and if a character, which one. It jumps around between characters before deciding to focus on John Price. Unfortunately, John is only somewhat sympathetic as a character. He pines for Emily, but has a relationship Nicky, and casually cheats on her. He's a journalist for the local English lanugauage daily, but plants stories to help his friends win business deals for which he gets a kickback.
Nor is there a particular plot that gets followed through the novel, though most of the action revolves around a privitization deal and John's pining for Emily.
So what we end up with is a description of a year or so of life in Budapest during the early 1990s from the point of view of 5 American/Canadian somewhat-friends. The time and place are interesting, and the book does an excellent job conveying what it was like to be there at that special time in history by people who frequently remarked at how special a time in history it was. The prose is decent, but not particularly artful and frequently long-winded. I found myself frequently skimming the text, especially as I grew closer to the end.
Phillips is clearly talented, but inexperienced. It is obvious that the story was made up as he went along, with the only goal of describing what it was like to be at that time and place. It could have used another draft to tighten up the plot, and editing to cut it down by 25%.
So here's my recommendation - if you want to experience life in Budapest in 1990, and don't mind feeling like an outsider and missing all the insider jokes and ironies, this is a very good introduction. Much better than reading a travel guide. As a novel, it's not bad, but not great, either.
waste of time.......2007-05-01
It took me a year to read this book and I am 50 pages shy of finishing it and still not understand why it's called Prague when the action is in Budapest. At times it was the description of the city (Budapest) that kept me turning the pages, especially that I visited Prague and Budapest long time ago and the book brought back nice memories. Other than this and occasional wonderful and witty phrases, the action gets boring, the characters got mixed up in my head (especially after pauses in reading), everything is so lax....
tedious and awful.......2007-01-31
i hated reading this book:
(1) the language is pretentiouly self conscious and awkward, in short it is poorly written.
(2)the characters are unidimensional caricatures and uninteresting.
(3)it really has no insights or anything interesting to say
do not waste your time or money
Tedious and self-indulgent.......2006-09-21
First I should say that this book makes a decent backdrop if you're spending some time in Budapest - the descriptions of the city and its people are sharp, witty and perhaps even accurate. Soon enough, you'll start recognizing not only the famous sights, but will start seeing the book's characters in the inhabitants.
Alas, altough the book gets off to a good start, and you develop a faint interest in its characters, it gets tedious, self-indulgent, and just boring. There's a wonderful page-turner of a history chapter in the middle, but it's all downhill from there. By the end, I lost interest in all of the characters, their endless rondezvous, contrived conversations, silly dealings... I lost my suspension in disbelief and just wanted the book to end. It should have ended about 100 pages sooner. But I persisted until the end, with little reward.
Arthur Phillips is clearly a talented writer, but this book seems somewhat immature, forced, and conceited. And I hope the editing is more aggressive next time around.
And really, I wanted to like the book. I really tried... But I can't really recommend it beyond the first half.
Book Description
Perhaps Brazil’s most influential and beloved composer and musician, Chico Buarque is also a highly praised poet, playwright, and novelist. In Budapest, Buarque introduces the story of a ghostwriter who immerses himself in the Hungarian language. José Costa lives in Rio de Janeiro. Fated to remain in the shadows of his illustrious clients, Costa breaks free of this fate and spontaneously buys a ticket to Budapest. In the city by the Danube, he falls in love with a strangely enchanting woman named Kriska, who offers to teach him the Magyar language in the most intimate of ways. First, however, he must observe the old proverb “There is no life outside Hungary” and abandon his thoughts of samba, sunbathers on Ipanema, Sugarloaf Mountain, and his wife in Rio, to turn himself over to a strange, hallucinogenic world of pumpkin rolls, late-night discos in old Buda, endless bottles of Trojak wine, and, of course, Kriska, the willful seductress and disciplinarian who is as hard to fathom and tame as the language she speaks. But what will become of José, now Zsoze, when his time in Budapest comes to an end and life as he knows it is turned upside down?
Customer Reviews:
Reading this was like watching a fringe foreign film with subtitles..........2007-08-14
This was our book club book last month, I chose it because I was raised in Budapest and was eager to read something that brought back good memories. This selection didn't cut it by a long shot. While there was some Hungarian interspersed throughout, the fact that the author failed to once step foot in such a magical city really showed. Our book club rated this selection with 4 stars on a scale of 10 (10 being a best friend for life and 1 being a shameless waste of paper). Our readers found the book confusing, sliding from dreams to reality and interchanging characters in the process. The plot doesn't go anywhere and neither do the characters - a frustrating combination. The agony was cut short by the fact that it was a quick read. The artwork for the cover was well done, too bad the content between the two engaging covers didn't provide more structure and development. Reading this was like watching a fringe foreign film with subtitles that jumps from place to place, character to character without any rhyme or reason. When it ends you are left scratching your head wondering if you simply "missed something." In this case, you didn't.
"Hungarian... the only tongue in the world the devil respects.".......2005-11-06
Women are the source of Jose Costa's inspiration, as he envelops himself in words, yet dreams of female comforts, enraptured by the sounds of language, even the brief snatches of Hungarian he has heard while on a stopover in Hungary. He writes about women, on women, inking their skin, arms, legs, torsos. One woman will only let him write backwards; she reads the words in the mirror, then washes them off so he can start over anew: "Recently written words, with the same speed with which they had been written, ceased to belong to me." A ghostwriter in his native Rio, Costas is fascinated with language rather than writers, attuned to the fluidity of language, listening to tapes of those for whom he writes; ingesting their spirit, he flawlessly interprets their lives, those who receive acclaim for what they have not written.
In a world where the famous masquerade as authors, their works are, in fact, created by men like Costas, bringing wealth and fame to the so-called authors. Costas takes inordinate pride in this ability, delighting in his private achievements, happy to perform this unique task. Life is fulfilling until he is confronted with the real meaning of such anonymity, his wife in awe of a book he has ghostwritten, but cannot claim. On impulse, he returns to Budapest, takes up with a language instructor, Kriska, who teaches him Hungarian, "the only tongue the devil respects." Once more, language defines him, becomes his obsession, Kriska the source of his knowledge, the muse that feeds his dreams. Back and forth, between two countries, Costas can find purchase in neither, familiarity altered by whichever tongue he speaks, images wrought by his women, Vanda in Rio, Kriska in Budapest.
Costas is conversant with loneliness, displacement and his own lack of identity, as though lost in a snow storm that obliterates all but the phrases that swirl through his brain. In a seamless narrative, Buarque transports his protagonist through two worlds, lost in a search for connection but isolated by his own proclivities. This is a shadow world, where talented men create for the inept, willing to market their words, caught up in the pure joy of writing. As each of his carefully constructed personas disintegrates, Costas must choose whether to hide among the clamoring voices of others, or to temporize and claim an opportunity for love. This man is sympathetic, brilliant, often sad, as he navigates the treacherous territory of self. Luan Gaines/ 2005.
The irresistable attraction of total immersion.......2005-05-13
While refreshing, this novel does fall into the post-modern conceit of a writer writing whose work gets out of control and turns back against its progenitor. The twist, however, is the ghostwriting angle that Buarque inserts into a by now familiar plot, at least for anyone whose read experimental fiction of the past sixty or seventy years. Actually, I expected more of the Budapest sections, but much of this read takes place in Brasil. A dislocation that the cover art, reversing Rio and Budapest's tourist attractions with their pictorial referents, wittily prepares us for. The allure of alienation, of wishing to immerse ourselves into another tongue and place, comes out beautifully in the narrator's wish to wake up in a locale where he speaks a language everybody understands but himself!
The characters he engages with, his wife Vanda, his stepson Joachim, his lover Kriska, her son Pisti, along with Costa's unctuous partner Alvaro and his antagonist of sorts Kasper Krabbe, make for entertaining if at times puzzling antagonists. Buarque wishes apparently to obliquely introduce and manipulate his supporting cast so they appear as elusive as, well, those with whom we come into contact in our everyday world. The combination of the surreal and the quotidian makes here for a satisfying, if somewhat predictable in its climax and resolution, story.
Falling in love with a foreign language..........2005-02-25
Have you ever grown tired of your hometown, even though it is as beautiful as Rio de Janeiro? Have you have wanted to fly away to a far away place and got lost in the culture of another country? Has a foreign language ever seemed so appealing to you that you would be willing to leave behind your family, friends, work and life to learn it to utter perfection? Do you think you could fall in love with a person that you cannot even speak with?
This is what happens to José/Zsoze in "Budapest, A Novel" when he is accidentally forced to take an extended stopover in the Hungarian capital on his way back home from elsewhere. More than a book about his love affair with the woman who teaches him Magyar, it is a novel (a "romance" as so beautifully put in the Portuguese language) about his ongoing fascination with the language itself. We see José's mind evolve as he goes from a bored ghost-writer with an unenthusing wife in a home town he doesn't fully appreciate, to the Hungarian-speaking expat who will stop at nothing to burn the circuitry of that language into his mind and stamp out that of his native Portuguese. The language and what he does with it are a metaphor for what he does with his life, and for someone like me, who has traveled extensively and fallen in love with a foreigner who has taught me all the intricacies of another language (nearly as complex as a human being, if not more so), this portrayal had a huge amount of appeal. Maybe it was just me, the amateur linguist and world traveler, who felt such an affinity for José, but perhaps others will also be able to appreciate what a musician (Chico Buarque) can do with words when he delves into the world of prose.
"I'm an amateur", "yet somehow I manage to get away with it".......2005-01-08
José Costa is a Brazilian with a rather unusual job: he is a ghost writer. Mainly that means that he writes a book and gets paid for doing so, while someone else receives the credit for the job. Costa is married to a successful journalist, and has a son. He is neither terribly happy nor horribly unhappy, but he wants to change his routine. That is probably the reason why he accepts the invitation to the Anonymous Writers' Convention to be held at Istanbul. Costa goes there, and has a wonderful time, but something life-changing happens to him when his airplane somehow gets stranded in Budapest (Hungary) during his returning trip to Rio de Janeiro. He hears the Hungarian language, and feels the need to learn it, to understand what makes it so poetic...
Unfortunately that isn't possible, and Costa has to return to Brazil, to his family and to his job. But he won't be able to forget his ardent wish to learn Hungarian, and will even mutter some of it in his sleep. Soon enough, José Costa knows that he is a man with a mission: he must return to Budapest and learn Hungarian, "rumoured to be the only tongue in the world the devil respects.". In that trip and in others that will come, Costa will find the meaning of Hungarian, of languages, and of words, and will rediscover the magic of his own language by forbidding himself to speak it for a long time ("Perhaps it was possible to replace one language with another in my head, little by little, discarding a word for every word acquired. For a time, my head would be like a house undergoing renovations, with new words being hoisted up through one ear and the rubble being lowered down through the other"). There will be another woman, and another boy, a possible family so similar to his own... All that, in Budapest, the yellow city in Hungary that will compete with Brazil and Rio de Janeiro for Costa's allegiance. Some questions stand out so much that even the reader will have to find an answer of his own. For instance, are we necessarily born into a language, or can we adopt the one that pleases us most?.
"Budapest" is a strange book, somehow confusing at times, but also deeply engaging. The reader will be interested in Costa's life as he travels once and again between Rio de Janeiro and Budapest, but also on the many reflections on the nature of words, language, life, anonymity and fame that appear in this book. Of course, the author of "Budapest" is as peculiar as the book itself. Chico Buarque is a famous Brazilian artist, better known for his music than for his books. Notoriously press-shy, he might even see himself as a kind of José Costa, someone who wants to write just for the sake of it, not needing fame to be happy.
Chico wrote this book without having visited Budapest, merely with the help of a dictionary and a tourist guide of that city. Disregarding that, the results were wonderful, something the reader will be able to appreciate even in "Budapest"'s translation to English. This translation cannot help but lose some of the charm that is intrinsic to the Portuguese language, despite being very good. All the same, it is as good as one can be, due to the fact that Buarque worked alongside the translator who did it, in order to help when some things had to be rewritten because "They did not translate".
"I'm an amateur" said Chico Buarque in an interview about "Budapest". "It's the same with songs. I'm not a professional. Yet somehow I manage to get away with it". I think that in this case, as in many other occasions, Buarque is being overly modest. This book is well-worth reading, because it has an interesting plot and a great development of it. Those are the reasons why I recommend it to you :)
Belen Alcat
Book Description
On a dank fall night at the Brooklyn Marine Terminal in New York City, police uncover a grisly scene: the naked corpses of three murdered young women lying on the pier. Weirdly, their bodies are neatly arranged to form a perfect triangle, each face up with one eye glued open and the other shut. A gunshot wound to the side of each woman's head confirms the initial impression that this was an execution-style killing. Dr. Henry Liu—a brilliant forensic scientist—calls together the Global Interactive Forensics Team (GIFT) to investigate these brutal murders. Composed of the very best in the profession, this eclectic group of four men and one woman works together as a forensics SWAT team to solve bizarre and insidious crimes around the globe.
So begins the intricate, suspense-filled plot of this exciting murder mystery, written by world-renowned forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee and critically acclaimed mystery writer Jerry Labriola, M.D. Dr. Liu and his group boldly pursue leads that are fraught with danger and bloodshed. They encounter an assortment of strange and suspicious characters—including a descendent of the real life Dracula (who proudly displays his chain collection). Despite receiving a barrage of threats—as well as overtures from the frankly seductive Dr. Gail Merriday, a detective in his own group—Dr. Liu remains focused on the aim of his quest: to discover the identity of Mr. or Ms. Big—a top international criminal.
Fans of mystery novels, true crime, and forensic dramas like CSI, will not be able to put down this entertaining and suspenseful page-turner.
Customer Reviews:
Terrific mystery and timely setting.......2007-08-01
The story is a master of intrigue that reflects the abilities and esperiences of the authors. It is a terrific blend of mystery fiction and forensic science. Dr. Lee is a mentor to fornsic scientists and Dr. Labriola is a montor to myster writers.
Dan Uitti - President, Connecticut Authors & Publishers Association
A lot was left on the table here..........2006-12-10
I ran out of recreational reading material awhile back, so I picked this up from the library based on the synopsis and cover... The Budapest Connection by Dr. Henry C. Lee & Jerry Labriola, MD. What I hoped for was a medical/forensic thriller, but what I got was something that never did grab ahold of my interest...
The main character, Dr. Henry Liu, is a forensic scientist who heads up a small international crime-solving group called GIFT - Global Interactive Forensics Team. This group has regular day jobs, but they are also available to head anywhere in the world on a private jet and consult on high-profile, difficult, or sensitive cases. GIFT has been called in to a crime scene here involving three dead girls on a waterfront pier. The nude bodies are arranged in a triangle, with one guy glued open and the other glued shut. Liu reluctantly takes the lead on the case, since it's relatively close to where he lives. The arrangement of the bodies suggest a Triad killing, and other clues link it to a Mafia matter. A chance request from a Hungarian official to consult on a crime also touches on this case, and it means that there are Eastern European elements in play. In all likelihood the case involves trafficking in young women ("white slavery"), and there are some people who would prefer that Liu just ignore everything he's seen and let things alone. But of course, that's not going to happen, regardless of how many brushes with death he has...
Having never read any of Lee and Labriola's other works of non-fiction, I came into this with no preconceptions. After a short time, I figured I must have stepped into the middle of a series as there was a lot of background I didn't seem to have on the characters. Only after finishing the book did I find out this was a first fictional effort by the two, which makes this even harder to understand. Other than the Liu character, everyone else was just filler with no depth. One of the team members is making overt sexual advances towards Lui (for what reason I don't know), but he's turning her down (again, not quite sure why). Lui travels with a bodyguard and driver during the day, but I must have missed why. The ending is a bit strange, and I never quite had a firm grasp of who the players were and why they were part of the international crime group. All in all, I was turning pages, but without much enthusiam...
This could have the makings of a decent series, but the character development needs to improve dramatically (in my opinion). I'd like to care about and understand the characters, but in this story I certainly didn't...
An exciting global thriller.......2006-10-27
In spite of too many gruesome crime scenes, criminologist Dr. Henry Liu and the four other members of the Global Interactive Forensics Team (GIFT) are stunned by what they see winking back at them lying at the Brooklyn Marine Terminal. Three naked late teen female corpses each having one eye opened and one shut arranged to form an equilateral triangle. The women were executed by a shot to their heads.
GIFT begins its investigation informing NYPD that it is too soon to jump to conclusions. However as they start to follow the clues Dr. Liu and his three males and one female teammate run into a dangerous adversary who want Gift eliminated before they uncover the head of an international gang into all sorts of insidious activity including a white slave sex ring that leads them to Budapest.
The forensic science is terrific as the renowned Dr. Henry C. Lee and Dr. Jerry Labriola collaborate on an exciting global thriller. However, having the GIFT players also act as warriors seem over the top though it is fun to root for them as they kick butt. Still Dr. Liu and his squad provide readers with an interesting forensics investigation that takes the audience on a wonderful magical mystery tour from New York to THE BUDAPEST CONNECTION.
Harriet Klausner
Good first fictional effort from a great forensics man!.......2006-10-19
Dr. Henry Lee creates a character who reminds most of...himself. Even the name Henry Liu is close. Anyway, Dr. Liu and his team of forensic professionals G.I.F.T. find themselves in the middle of an investigation that starts with three dead girls and ends in a climax that endangers the life of Liu and takes the lives of others.
This book was a good read, not great, but it was very entertaining. The mix of science, thrills, and twists make the story move. I was disappointed in the ending as I would have liked more explanation and follow up on some of the main players, but all in all it was a good debut effort.
If you are looking for a quick interesting read, this one is for you.
Book Description
Kosztolanyi, Anna Edes. Cruelty and emptiness of Bourgeois life permeate this novel.
Customer Reviews:
A Small Masterpiece on a Large and Dispiriting Reality.......2007-07-08
"Anna Edes" is a gem - its language is simple and precise, giving its facets sharp edges; it is not a "bright and sparkling" gem but one whose interior is dark and cloudy, since it deals with the murky minds of antagonists in a very concentrated form of class conflict, the struggle between masters and their servants. With the exception of one character (the old and sympathetic workhorse, Doctor Moviszter, who in a sense has created an inner life that puts him "beyond class") neither side in this battle comes off well, and yet neither side has its desires and reasons wholly disowned or tarnished by the author, who sees that it is man, regardless of which philosophy he chooses to be his vehicle, who is both tarnished and worthy of respect at the same time.
It is a story that will remind American readers of the grim fate of working class women portrayed in Dreiser's "Sister Carrie" and "An American Tragedy", but its compass in time and space is smaller and tighter. The story commences on the day when Bela Kun's Soviet-style government ("The Republic of Councils") collapses; preceding the onset of the story is a one-page "urban legend" concerning Kun, which gives the reader an emblematic taste of the hysterical flavor of those days. On the following day a marauding Romanian army occupies and garrisons Budapest, to the astonishment of all parties involved, including the Romanians.
These events form the ominous background of the story of one couple, Kornel and Angela Vizy, and their servants. The old one, Katica, is dismissed, tainted by an indifference to her masters which flourished during the Kun regime, which the Vizys feel licensed her to misbehave. Vizy himself is no hero in this respect, hanging onto credentials certifying him as a "working member of the middle class" until the last minute. For Mrs. Vizy the desperate problems of post-World-War-I Hungary are reduced to very cozy dimensions - where and how shall she find an appropriate servant (i.e., humble, hard-working, and respectful)? The supporting characters of this household drama are the other tenants of the building owned by the Vizys: Druma, an opportunistic attorney with an eye on the future, the Movisters (the doctor's wife is a self-involved patron of the arts and flamboyant man-chaser), and the former communist and now eagerly nationalistic caretaker of the building, Fricsor, and his wife. Etel and Steffi, two other household servants in the building, and the Vizy's transient nephew Jancsi complete the cast.
Anna Edes, a country girl from a small town on Lake Balaton, is the answer to the Vizy's prayers, a literal service machine who seems to have no flaws (and an opaque inner identity - although she has her own standards, she is incapable of articulating them) that might disturb their busy attempt to reconstruct a pre-war gentry style of life. In the course of half a year she organizes the apartment into a shining model of bourgeois propriety. There is an interlude where she is ravished and rapidly abandoned by Jansci; he is an empty-headed fop uncertain of his own wants and needs and he plunges ahead recklessly into one melodrama after another, each contrived to convince himself and others that he is a man of the world (or a talented actor at the center of everyone else's stage). What is going on in Anna's head as these events unfold and she virtually becomes a pincushion of the Vizy's ambitions? That is unknown.
Events move toward a shocking end. Vizy becomes a government under-secretary (although not stated, his bureaucratic job appears to be within the Ministry of the Interior or its equivalent). The big party celebrating his appointment and showing off the restored apartment culminates in a double murder after the guests have gone home. Anna is guilty but appears to be as mystified by her butchery as the police, prosecutor and her defense attorney are; a satisfactory and legally sanctioned "motive" is never established. Only Dr. Movister offers a sane opinion of what has happened and in what light the crime, its perpetrator and its victims should be viewed (and in this, he is the author's fictional alter ego).
This is an extremely well-wrought novel, compact and classical in its language. The talented translator, George Szirtes, provides the English-language reader with a brief introduction in which he describes Kosztolanyi as the most elegant among a generation of elegant Hungarian writers (with elegance referring to his handling of the language, not his selection of themes). There is a little paradox here - Kosztolanyi was a self-declared aesthete (a position condemned in the post-World-War-II era as "bourgeois formalism"), yet he and his fellow writers had to work hard at daily journalism and other functional writing chores in order to keep body and soul together sufficiently to write fiction of a high order. But from the pen of this aesthete, who understood the hierarchies, the bitter internal divisions, and the persistent feudal legacy of Hungary all too well, came this novel, aptly characterized by one of his admirers, the talented S. Marai, as "the only Hungarian social novel that registered class warfare as it should be, without 'social realism', in all its disastrous human reality."
And what about the ending, a postscript note on the story of Anna? In the final two pages Kosztolanyi creates a surprisingly (even disorienting) "post-modernist" commentary on the preceding tale and its author, himself. His mouthpieces here are the opinionated Druma and his companions, who spy briefly upon "the writer Kosztolanyi" in his small glassed-in verandah. They debate just what kind of man he is, and most importantly in the current context (1926), what are his "real" political opinions, unable to understand that he is a man capable of entertaining more than one thought at a time, as they switch between contradictory opinions with absolute self-certainty about the correctness of their judgments. Their final remarks are drowned out by the equally informative barking of a dog. This finishing touch is, I should say, marvelous.
Poor servant girl.......2002-04-25
Other reviews here summarize the plot, so I'll go with personal reaction here. Kosztolanyi is one of my favorite authors from anywhere in the world. This novel doesn't get highest marks, though. My chief objection is that the climactic murder doesn't seem sufficiently motivated (I have the same problem with the regicide in Macbeth). Mrs. Vizy is picky and cruel and frankly just a bit weird, but there's never a sense that Anna is in a situation she can't escape from, and the lack of tension kills the climax. Mrs. Vizy isn't intentionally malicious, I don't think. It seems Anna's willingness to serve is as much the problem as the Vizy's demands. Her affair with Jancsi goes much the same way: she has ample opportunity to avoid it. But she seems to go along, simplemindedly. I ended up with less sympathy for her than I might have. I may be missing the point; if you understand this better than I do I'd like to hear from you.
That aside, I'm sure this book will get you thinking about the intricacies of the master-servant relation, sort of like the recent movie Gosford Park did, actually. It also got me thinking about control issues in theology. There's no doubt if you can convince a couple of friends to read it you'll have plenty to talk about. The prose is great as always (Kosztolanyi should be called the Hungarian Hemmingway) and it's a neat peek into recent history, too.
On a textual note, Anna isn't the same as Anya, but it's close enough to have connotations, and the author makes it explicit by having young Bandi mispronounce her name as Anya.
Among Kosztolanyi novels I like Pacsirta (Skylark) better than this one; the short stories are absolutely the best, though.
great psychological description of the young girl.......1999-10-01
Anna Edes "Sweet Anna" and not "Sweet Mother" as someone has translated is a shocking story of a young maid. She is shy, quiet and hard-working and nobody seems to realize that she has feelings just like everyone else in the house or probably more feelings than the family she is surrounded by. As she is continously hurt emotionally by several people and taken advantage of physically she commits a horrible deed. She can not deal with it all in any other way. It is a shocking story. Kosztolanyi provides us with a psychological case study in just a short story. He does a wonderful job at it.
an intricate tale of the explosion of a "perfect" maid.......1999-02-20
The main character Anna Edes, or "Sweet Mother" (anya edes) is the perfect maid. she expresses restraint of all of her desires, eating, stealing, and sex, but what will come of this suppression? Something that will blow your mind! It is a must read! Kosztalany is brilliant!
Product Description
A romantic academic, a self-assured young writer, an enigmatic musician, a slacker, a wealthy mountain climber, and a former heroin addictcharacters whose lives intersect in the unique debut novel Comfort Food. Stan Gillman-Reinhart is a graduate student at a small university in Bellingham, Washington in 1993. Through his experiences and frustrations we meet Delany Richardson, a budding writer and old friend of Stans; John Snyder, a local musician; Brian Fetzler, Stans stoner roommate; Dave Greibing, a mountain climber and Delanys ex-boyfriend; and Bridgette Jonsen, a former heroin addict and Daves current girlfriend. Successive sections of the novel focus on Johns trip through Eastern Europe, Delanys summer in Alaska, Brians life after college, Bridgettes road trip through Utah, Daves ascent of Mt. Denali, and a tragic accident that illuminates their lives. Set in the verdant Pacific Northwest, the sandstone deserts of Utah, the gritty streets of Budapest, and the snow covered wasteland of Mt. Denali, Comfort Food is a literary work with an emphasis on the importance of human relationships and a sense of place. In his inventive new novel Noah Ashenhurst creates a cast of charactersindividualswho are frustrated, isolated, enamored, addicted, connected, and finally redeemed.
Customer Reviews:
Comfort Food - Misnamed but Great Read.......2007-05-09
The only thing I disliked about Noah Ashenhursts's COMFORT FOOD is the title. It should have been given some more Gen-X-ish title that more accurately reflected the novel itself.
Name aside, however, I enjoyed this book. The characters were familiar, and multi-dimensional, and the language was vivid - scenes in the Pacific Northwest were written so well that I could feel misty air on my face.
GOOD READ.......2007-01-05
After letting "Comfort Food" lie on my desk at home for over a year, I finally put down my other readings and picked up this one. I seldom read fiction, but found "Comfort Food" an enjoyable, easy, and entertaining read. It took me only a few sittings to read the book, and the time flew. The characters were intriguing enough to keep my interest page after page, and I found myself wanting to know them more with the turning of each page. Especially for those familiar with the Pacific Northwest, "Comfort Food" is a joy to the soul and a great read.
Discomfort Food.......2006-09-26
I purchased this book this summer on my trip through Boulder. In the Boulder Newspaper I read about a promising new author and his book about the inner struggles of 5 brave characters and how their lives intertwine and interact. The article made it seem like this book was going to be three things: great with character development, great with storytelling, and great with writing about "one's sense of space." This book was terrible. I have been an avid reader my entire life and this is literally one of the worst books I have ever read.
The editing was terrible throughout the length of the book. Grammar mistakes, spelling mistakes, punctuation mistakes - I couldn't believe this book actually went through a proofreading process and was approved and sold for distribution. The mistakes were horrific.
The entire book is supposed to be about character development. Instead the reader starts at a party in college with all 5 characters, and then the reader is told about one significant portion of each of the character's life post-college, then in the final parts of the book the reader is brought through their current places in the world while racing through a final chapter. I think the overall effort of what Noah was trying to portray is a good one, but each section had so little depth it's hard to care too much about any of the characters before you're thrown in to the next ones predicaments. There's very little explanation, the writing talent is very low and almost poor at times, and there are times where political views conflict with the character's voice, or the character's actions don't seem to fit with their earlier character layout in the book. If the character has changed and that's what the author is trying to show, it needed to be a lot more developed. I tried page by page to *get* some sort of underlying theme, I was hoping that one would emerge, but even the final pages confirmed the worst for me. Poor story layout and too many suggested circumstances causing the reader to come to character conclusions which didn't fit the story line.
A recipe for a good read!.......2006-03-01
The characters lives are interlaced like the ingredients in the various mouthwatering dishes that are devoured throughout the novel. A recipe for a good read!
Noah's first novel is a keeper.......2005-12-03
Being a Boomer, I generally don't much relate to stories of Generation X existential angst. However, I found Noah's book delightfully readable and I found I took a genuine interest in his multi-faceted characters quickly. His portraits were compelling, believable, and engaging. I found that in this tale of interwoven lives, I ultimately cared what happened to each one. Well written - - I eagerly await your next effort!
Customer Reviews:
Stylish and intelligent stories.......2005-10-02
This is Art, beautiful and meaningful. The stories are told with all the dynamics of movies. So, every illustration is multilayered, only for those readers who want to use their intelligence at maximum level. Holiday in Budapest and F-16 follow the golden rules for those stories from the 1950s, and succeed, or even more, create new standards. 'Budapest' includes a message about politics and civil war, while 'F-16' is a thriller in the sky, but not the typical one! My recommendation: get this book, and enjoy it!
Publisher's trouble.......2005-04-12
The artwork and stories of Chaland is in itself of high value, and I do recommend his works, even this edition if none else is available. This edition is really not treated right by the publisher: There is confusion in the number of stories or where they start (I have read The Elephant Graveyard in different languages, and they are shorter). To me this collection has got four stories, and if not, a preface or some kind of explanation would have been helpful. The paper quality and the cuttings (format) leave some to desire. All in all, you end feeling that the publisher has taken too many shortcuts. There exists also a second volume of Chaland Anthology from DC, and a third is announced to be published later 2005.
Why I love comics.......2003-08-27
This anthology and its companion (vol. 2) are a real treat for any comics fan, but especially for those who revel in the greater intellectual and artistic maturity of the European tradition over the almost terminally adolescent American tradition, dominated as it still is by musclebound stuporheroes.
Chaland was a product of his tradition. "Was," because his life was cut short by a fatal car accident in the early '90s. The influence of Herge (the creator of Tintin) pervades Chaland's work, whether it be his main character's obvious resemblence to Tintin or the format of the storytelling--self-contained adventures featuring mysteries to be solved, exotic locations, and a good dose of humor. This is no accident; like Herge, Chaland was Belgian. But Chaland is anything but a pale imitator. His debt to his tradition is something he is well aware of and acknowledges, but joyfully and by choice; he is by no means weighed down or limited by this.
Chaland's stories are not for children. They are not particularly violent or sexual, but they tend to be more abstract with distinctly adult themes, and the 3 somewhat gritty main characters are apparently destitute and unemployed.
That said, the highly stylized artwork is beautiful to look at and masterful in its composition, point of view, and pacing. The storytelling is also very satisfying and surprisingly free-ranging in subject matter and approach. This first volume contains three stories, the second volume two more and some rare sketches and first drafts. As far as I know, this is all the work Chaland produced in this series, the "Freddy Lombard" series. Having read the two anthologies, I can only lament his untimely passing and state with unequivocal longing that I wish he had written more.
Average customer rating:
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Good-bye to Budapest;: A novel of suspense
Jeannette Eyerly
Manufacturer: Lippincott
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: 0397314965 |
Books:
- Reader's Digest Family Songbook
- Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers
- Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower
- Second Sunday: A Novel
- So, What Did You Dream Last Night?
- Stealing Time : Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the Collapse of AOL Time Warner
- StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup's Now, Discover Your Strengths
- The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into the Origins of Cultural Change
- The Dark River (Fourth Realm Trilogy, Book 2)
- The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
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- The Political Economy of the Asian Financial Crisis
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- The War for American Independence: From 1760 to the Surrender at Yorktown in 1781
- Century 21 Accounting, Texas Multicolumn Journal
- The Art of High Stakes Decision Making: Tough Calls in a Speed Driven World
- James Joyce: The Complete Recordings
The Egyptologist: A Novel
Angelica: A Novel
Prague: A Traveler's Literary Companion (Traveler's Literary Companions)
The Geographer's Library
Budapest: A Novel
