Budapest: A Novel
by Chico Buarque
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Book Summary Information
Author: Chico BuarqueTranslator: Alison Entrekin
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-09-14
ISBN: 0802117821
Number of pages: 192
Publisher: Grove Press
Book Reviews of Budapest: A Novel
Book Review: "Hungarian... the only tongue in the world the devil respects."
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
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