Skylark (Central European Classics)
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List Price:
$14.95
Hungary Hotels Travel Price: $69.58
Subject To Change Without Notice
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: A Central European University Press Book
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 894.51133
EAN: 9781858660592
ISBN: 1858660599
Label: A Central European University Press Book
Manufacturer: A Central European University Press Book
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: 1996-05-15
Publisher: A Central European University Press Book
Studio: A Central European University Press Book
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Editorial Reviews:
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Series Copy:
"Half a continent's worth of forgotten genius."--The Guardian
The new Central European Classics series was born some ten years ago in the dim cafes of Budapest and Prague when General Editor Timothy Garton Ash began jotting down titles recommended to him by local writers. Its aim is to take these works of nineteenth- and twentieth-century classic fiction "out of the ghetto," onto the shelves of Western booksellers, and into the consciousness of Western readers.
The result of extensive discussion among writers, scholars, and critics, the rich tradition of Central European fiction has been culled to offer previously unavailable works written in Czech, Hungarian, and Polish that lend themselves perfectly to powerful and accurate translation. Specially commissioned introductions by leading Central European writers explain why these titles have become classics in their own country, while at the same time, the works stand on their own as great literature in English. With future titles such as a new edition of Boleslaw Prus's Polish masterpiece, The Doll, the Central European Classics series will contribute to a deeper understanding of the culture and history of countries which, since the opening of iron curtain, have been coming closer to us in many other ways.
An acknowledged masterpiece of twentieth-century Hungarian fiction, Dezso Kosztolanyi's Skylark is a portrait of provincial life in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy at the turn of the century. Set in autumn of 1899, it focuses on one extraordinary week in the otherwise uneventful lives of an elderly Hungarian couple. Their ugly spinster daughter, nicknamed Skylark, las left them for and unprecedented holiday with relatives in the country. At first the couple, whose entire existence revolves around their daughter, are devastated by her absence. Slowly, however, they rediscover the delights and diversions of small-town society life, finally reaching the shocking conclusion that their daughter is a burden to them.
In this beautifully written tale--introduced by one of Hungary's most exciting contemporary novelists--Kosztolanyi turns family sentiment on its head with an irony that is as telling now as it was nearly seventy years ago.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Kosztolanyi's best novel
Comment: This is an unusually fine short novel which conveys the spirit of life in small town Hungary at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. If you are unsure where to start with Kosztolanyi, I would read Skylark first and then move on to Anna Edes or his short fiction.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Simply Stunning
Comment: I generally agree with what the previous reviewer has stated, although I found this short novel (as well as Anna Edes) brilliant and almost totally flawless. A book which I didn't want to finish simply because I truly enjoyed the experience of reading it.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Simple, bittersweet, and thought-provoking.
Comment: There is nothing earth-shattering about this novel except the unusual clarity of Kosztolányi's descriptive powers. More so than the novel Anna Édes, however, Skylark puts a burden of thought onto the reader. Kosztolányi only narrates, offering no judgements or opinions, and so his narration is very focused. The translation preserves this and is generally praiseworthy; Kosztolányi's characteristic terse, direct style and colorful phrasing come through unscathed.This edition has a nice 10 page introduction by Péter Esterházy, which gives interesting information about the author as well as some background information about Hungarian literature. The cover and binding are, in my opinion, quite handsome also.
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