Anna Tizard's Blog

Journey by Moonlight by Antal Szerb

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


There's something magical about this book. From the very first line, the narrative crooks its finger at you and you just have to follow - down the streets of old Budapest, into old houses just groaning with memories that won't stay buried. Mihaly's aching nostalgia centres around his oddball childhood friends, a brother and sister whose passion for tragedy and experimental theatre leads them to a kind of romance with death - and perhaps each other. It's an atmosphere that drinks you up into it. A sickly-sweet fatalism rests its cloak over this book, and yet it manages to be funny as well. The author gently ridicules Mihaly for his uptightness, his inability to let himself go completely into this reverie, which is probably why he is led all the more by his unconscious drives for a taste of "some sweet wine" he can't quite put his finger on. Mihaly's walkabout through Italy is a compulsive journey and not just for him. I've lost count of how many times I've read this book!



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