Under the Frog: A Black Comedy (New Press International Fiction Series)
![Under the Frog: A Black Comedy (New Press International Fiction Series)]()
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List Price:
$17.00
Hungary Hotels Travel Price:
$4.00
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Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: New Pr
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9781565841482
ISBN: 1565841484
Label: New Pr
Manufacturer: New Pr
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: 1994-04
Publisher: New Pr
Studio: New Pr
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Editorial Reviews:
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A finalist for the Booker Prize, this debut novel is the bitterly funny account of two young men who survive the chaos of communism in post-World War II Hungary as part of a debauched traveling basketball team. 10,000 first printing.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: can it get any better?
Comment: I just picked up the book from Goodwill - just read the back cover and did not know what to expect - once I started reading the book there was no stopping - I could not stop laughing and sometimes crying at the same time. My attention was increased by the fact that I know somebody who took part in some of these events - but now he is extremely successful businessman in US and one of my good friends.
Tibor Fischer is flamboyant in describing the trying times of Hungary, just after World War II, during the Russian occupation (somewhat) - but the surprising part is the wit, satire and pan - which help us to see beyond the unimaginable tragedy of the destruction of a country and the fast death of a vibrant society under communism.
The protagonist Gyuri, a twenty something basketball player describes some of experiences in war torn Hungary in between December 1944, as the Germans are starting to retreat and the Red army is marching forward and October 1956 as the Russian tanks are again rumbling in Budapest. Hungary had turned into an orgy of atrocities - its darkness everywhere but Fischer shows the darkness in a light of wit without cynicism - the society falls apart, families perish and Gyuri loses his friends one after another. Fischer's description of the Hungarian society under siege is vivid. I promise you will love it
Customer Rating:
Summary: Powerful, humorous and brilliant
Comment: Written in a style that shares an awful lot with Joseph Heller's Catch 22, Fischer chronicles life in post (and partly mid) World War II Hungary. Since what I know about Hungary can fill a thimble, it proved to even be partly educational.
The book chronicles the story of Gyuri and Pataki, friends who wind up playing basketball together in Soviet era Hungary, but the two young men seem to spend a lot more time endeavoring to get laid (a cinch for Pataki, but a bit of challenge for Gyuri) doing their best to shirk off anything that smells like responsibility and in general keep from going mad in a world that seems to be rapidly disintegrating into insanity.
In an episodic fashion the reader is introduced to a host of brilliantly crafted and hysterical characters, each one more vivid than the next. This is a world where the fate of a village can hinge upon an eating contest.
Under the Frog would be a good book if all it was a comic adventure of two sometimes professional basketball players in post-war Hungary, but Fischer isn't content in telling a story that's all fluff. These are, after all, some very serious and scary times, and the author doesn't pull any punches in order to write a light-hearted tale. The book is as serious as it is funny, is downright heartbreaking in parts. In fact, the book is a lot like life, which it seems is never all serious, and never all laughs.
Customer Rating:
Summary: brilliant
Comment: Following footsteps of great english satirist, Fischer writes the marvelous book, that trembles with irony, that cries in agony, that shatters the reality of pink glasses and shows to all of you who still live in utopia, how life in communsim was really like. Mind you, this is not the political novel so do not be alarmed from the beggining. This is the novel of humans and peculiar way of interpreting the rules, way that people on balcan mastered in so great a scale that no one can outmatch them anymore. If you want great life, and something to think over, this is the book for you.
Customer Rating:
Summary: FIVE STARS NONETHELESS...
Comment: I have yet to read your novel sir; but since so many critics hand out negative reviews without having read the damn book, I figured it was high time someone who had not read a book gave one a glowing review.
Remember me if I am ever up for the Man Booker, and you are still a judge.
Read Under the Frog. I gave it a full five stars!
(Publishers may not know how to work the graft and corruption--but have faith Mr. Fischer--some of us still do.)
Customer Rating:
Summary: Sorry for the cliche, but you'll laugh & you'll cry...
Comment: I don't remember how I came across this book in the first place, but by the second page I was laughing out loud, read the whole thing in one sitting and immediately went back to the beginning and started reading again. Why's it so good? First of all, it's packed with Fischer's unique sense of humor. Read the first couple sample pages; if you're not laughing, you probably won't enjoy the rest of the book. The humor is black, definitely. But there's a good chance you'll be laughing HARD nonetheless. Pranks, absurd situations, physical comedy, and wicked wordplay rule the roost. Second of all, it's dead serious. The book is about communism and the attempted revolution in Hungary in 1956. If you want to see the absurdity and insanity of the communist system as it looked from the inside at that time, Fischer delivers. It is fascinating, shocking, and it would be unbelievable if the author didn't make it so very believable. I haven't seen anyone mention it, but Under the Frog reads a lot like Kurt Vonnegut's best work (Slaughterhouse V or Cat's Cradle). For me, though, Fischer's book has a lot more reread value -- neither the humor nor the horror has grown thin over the many times I've read it. Highest recommendation.
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