Mihály SarusiHome of Vain

Which national consciousness - like millions of its compatriots - is stuck at the level of instinct, but which instinctive attachment to Hungarianness is strong enough to 'flee to the motherland' in rebellion against so much (intensifying in the 1980s) abuse. There, too, he is confronted with the fact that he is different: this time 'Romanian'. The Romanian revolution comes, exposing those who stayed at home to new ordeals. His relatives and acquaintances are torn between the agonising dichotomy of whether to go or stay. The young man forces them to make an unusual choice: he moves back home with his parents and marries a Romanian girl.

The novel concludes with the hero on the verge of assimilation singing a Hungarian folk song in a romantic setting (a mountain inn), and "the old snowman is so amazed that - in his flight - the knife stops in mid-air". Whether it stops, who knows? In myth it can stop, so in this novel, yes... - says the author about his book.

Castle Street Workshop Books 20 - Veszprém

The book is sponsored by the National Cultural Fund