Comments on: HUNGARIAN SHORT STORIES

HUNGARIAN SHORT STORIES

Taksi Putra — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 09:01:02 -0800

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 09:55:56 -0800

Great, thanks! Beyond short-stories some of the best Hungarian authors include: Mihály Babits (1883-1941) notably The Son of Virgil Timar (1922). Dezső Kosztolányi (1885-1936) notably Naked (1928). Gyula Krúdy (1878-1933) notably The Youth and Sorrow of Sinbad (1912) Zsigmond Móricz (1879-1942) notably "Seven Pennies" (1908). Perhaps as good as Emile Zola, he was Hungary's great Naturalist. See also Be Faithful Unto Death (1920). Frigyes Karinthy (1887-1938). Humorist and Hungary's best satirist. Best known in Engliash as author of the classic A Journey Round my Skull (1937). NYRB just re-published it this year. Lajos Zilahy (1897-1977), was fairly well known in the West during the 50s and 60s, war novels. Tibor Dery (1894-1977), Novels and shorts stories about working class. Best known for Niki, the Story of a Dog, a fable of life under communism, international best-seller.

By: tkolar

tkolar — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 10:03:25 -0800

Hey cool, thanks for this.

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 10:06:12 -0800

..oh and Endre Ady (1877-1919), the father of Hungarian modern literature (should be first). Poetry.

By: Rhaomi

Rhaomi — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 10:32:51 -0800

Taksi Putra: " HUNGARIAN SHORT STORIES" Aw. You made me miss davesecretaryatwork.

By: bertrandom

bertrandom — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 11:41:29 -0800

See also these Frigyes Karinthy stories, they're amazing.

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 12:57:14 -0800

I linked to this once before, at the old (faster) MEK site. Kosztolányi really deserves to be better known abroad; Esti Kornél should be as familiar as Nick Adams. He's generally not bursting with sunny joie-de-vivre, but certainly not all his stories are as grim as Fürdés is. There are really good English translations of his novels, among which I think I most enjoy Pacsirta (Skylark).

By: Michael Roberts

Michael Roberts — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:28:21 -0800

Thank you thank you! Obligatory magyar népmesék YouTube link for people who prefer their literature in cartoon form.

By: vac2003

vac2003 — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 14:44:22 -0800

Thank you too Michael Roberts. It never fails to amaze me what is available on Youtube. Amazing.

By: pwicks

pwicks — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 09:38:57 -0800

I've read a number of these before. I can't wait to read more. Most of the Hungarian authors that I've read deserve a much greater audience. I especially like this one. It's brutal wrenching and exceptionally well written.

By: bitter-girl.com

bitter-girl.com — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:03:28 -0800

Yay! new airplane reading...uploading these to my Kindle right now! Thanks for the link.

By: Michael Roberts

Michael Roberts — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:31:11 -0800

I've been married to a Hungarian nearly twenty years and, to my regret, I haven't read any of these. I manfully made it through a third of Kõszivü ember fiai once, but despite having picked up a lot of Hungarian from the kids, my skillz weren't quite up to it, and it fell by the wayside. But in English, it all goes so much faster! So this is really quite a nice find.

By: Michael Roberts

Michael Roberts — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:14:53 -0800

Freaky how all these street names have written short stories... I've made it to #16, pwicks. Jesus.