Embers by Sándor Márai Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Embers
Book Review: FLAWLESS!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is a diamond: brilliant, clear, cold, and hard. The language is particularly remarkable because the credits state that that the English transation of this book was made not from the orginal Hungarian but from the German translation of the Hungarian. It is a double tour de force of the translators' art.
Among this work's many charms is the period detail of the Austro-Hungarian empire at the very end of its long run, and an Old World culture that still echoes in memories of the airs and graces of immigrant grandparents. They say that history is written by the victorious (in war); well, although literature is most frequently published by the victorious as well, the vanquished keep on writing, and manuscripts don't burn.
As other reviewers have stated, the arresting story line of this book is told in the course of a single evening, but covers the lives of two old men beginning from the time they were boys, and centering an ambiguous act or acts of betrayal which occured at their last meeting forty-one years earlier.
There is not a single extraneous word, or wasted image, in this volume. This becomes more obvious upon second reading once one has satisfied oneself that one has solved, to the extent possible, the mystery presented in the storyline. The depth and subtlety of psychological insight that Marai brings to this work is astonishing.
The effect is a combination of the film "My Dinner with Andre," but without the humor, as written by Josephine Hart, the author of _Damage_. What is truly phenomenal to the 21st century American reader is that an author of such power and mastery could have lived and died (in Los Angeles, or thereabouts, in 1989!) utterly unknown until recently.
I disagree with comparisons of this author to Proust or Dostoevsky. He is more nearly akin to Pushkin, and this work can stand next to the _Queen of Spades_. You will not regret the time spent reading this book.
Book Review: Friendship and love
Summary: 5 Stars
I was surprized to find how much this book held my interest. The writing is mostly descriptive with very little action. The stage was set and a conversation ensued which was mostly one sided. Yet I felt I was in the room listening to the General reveal the path his life had taken due to the choice made by Konrad, his boyhood friend. Revelations occurred one by one in a description of dawning of awareness about what friendship and love mean and require. I found the book fascinating.Book Review: Good literature but dull
Summary: 4 Stars
I find it a very thoughtful, almost philosophical book. I admit, the composition, description technique and language, as a translated work, are as polished as everyone here has said. I also like the way the author revealed the whole events.
But rhythmical progress was somehow slow and boring. The long, monologue by one of the 2 old friends were basically used to express personal opinions and thoughts about human nature. There was no word saving for this stand alone speech. I think I would enjoy it better if it was a conversation, an interaction. Or was it just the author's way to reveal each true character? A nice discussion could be made out of this.
A gem for literature and philosophy but not for my collection.
Book Review: Good...even if its kind of a rant.
Summary: 3 Stars
If you are looking for a book that comes in heavy-handed on the philosophy and soft on the action then look no further. While some of the topics brought up are the fundamental basis of the human condition they are not brought up subtely. Instead the author prefers a more direct approach. Rather than circle around friendship through narrative, story, and plot he opts to beat you over the head with it strait on. In the end the book is a worthwhile read; but get ready to really slog through some tough, if readable at all, passages. A good book; but leave it at home next to the fireplace and out of the beach bag.Book Review: Grand Rediscovery
Summary: 5 Stars
The good news is that a substantial body of work from Mr. Sandor Marai of Hungary has been found once again, in a manner of speaking, and for those who love brilliant writing, the Publisher Knoph is translating his work into English. His novel, "Embers" is one of the better books I have read this year.An old castle in The Carpathian Mountains is the setting for what approaches a monologue. The mood of the book is consistent with another who hailed from these mountains as Vlad The Impaler. The book is not a horror novel, rather a disturbing psychological thriller that explores what is truly at the heart of an issue after it has been examined for over 4 decades. Coincidentally the age of the author when he wrote the work, and the time that expires between one dinner between the closest of friends and its sequel, are both 42 years. The book is remarkable as he writes of the view of life from the perspective of people in their 8th and 10th decades of life, and the prose reads as authoritative and appropriate. It reads like a man who has lived twice as long as the author had lived when he penned this work. The writing is wise.
Mr. Marai takes a familiar theme that would normally result in rapid responses from those involved, and instead suspends any conclusion for over 4 decades. He presents two boys that grow up together and form bonds that are so absolute, there is nowhere for their friendship to improve. Their bond is complete; their backgrounds are polar opposites, which may give rise to the fall. There is an intentional breach, and then there is an event that never gets beyond the "almost" stage. Had it occurred it would have been the greatest of tragedies.
The injured party, whether through right or the power of family and position, could have done anything he chose to his friend and betrayer. For over 40 years he could have easily sought him out, but yet he never did, he never even contemplated seeking a traditional revenge. When the faithless friend comes to visit, dinner is served with a meticulous eye for the reproduction of every detail of the dinner 42 years before. There are only two at the table as opposed to three, and yet the missing third is a tangential issue, important but not the focus. The host queries his guest about events of which he knows all the details save for one. He already knows what happened, and is comfortable as to motive. The author builds such expectations in the reader that you will wonder if the final act can possibly match the first.
There is only one question, however there are two sources for the truth. The host for most of his life has held one and he has never violated the seal, his friend alone can provide the answer if the book remains closed. The resolution of the tale is brilliant. It is complex, and also beautifully logical when expressed as this one character of fiction has decanted it for most of his life. There is no written slight of hand. This is a completely new approach, a unique response to what should seem cliché. Absolutely great reading.