The Last Window-Giraffe

by Péter Zilahy, Tim Wilkinson (Translator), Péter Zilahy

The Last Window-Giraffe' is a playful and personal journey through the political unrest of the seventies and eighties. It was inspired by a Hungarian children's dictionary, entitled 'Window-Giraffe', which explained the whole world in simple terms; a world where everything was in order and all problems were easily solved. Popular across Europe for the best part of a decade, 'The Last Window-Giraffe' is a politically infused rendition of the original: quirky, astute and powerful. Peter Zilahy draws on his travels around the soft dictatorships of Eastern Europe, offering his acerbic observations on the often bizarre spectacle. In one instance he describes the carnival-like protests against the Milosevic regime in Belgrade simply and humorously. This reflects, like the format of the book, the manner in which the regime treat their people like children. [NP] Filled with his own striking photographs, Zilahy gives fascinating insight into a whole other universe behind the Iron Curtain. 'The Last Window-Giraffe' is one of the most unusual, beguiling books you will ever read.

For more information please see the book website: www.lastwindowgiraffe.anthempressblog...

Genres: Fiction, Hungarian Literature, Novels

130 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Argos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yayınevi kitabın "avangard-deneysel" türde olduğunu yazıyor. Sevmediğim, ısınamadığım bir türde yazılmış. Ancak zaman zaman deneyselliğine isyan etsem de okurken konsantrasyonum bozulsa da inanılmaz keyif alarak okudum. Yazar 1996-7 yıllarında yerel seçimlerde yapılan hilelere karşı başını öğrencilerin çektiği barışcı halk karşı duruşunu anlatıyor, kendisi de olayların içinde. Macar yazar gösterileri anlatırken, tarihe, çocukluğuna, ailesine geri dönüşler yapıyor. Balkanlar ve Orta Avrupa halklarını anlatıyor. Başta Tito olmak üzere Slobodan Miloseviç ve Radovan Karadçiz yazarın öfkesinden paylarını sıklıkla alıyorlar.
Bu kitap Ukrayna "Turuncu Devrimi"nde göstericilere etkili olmuş. Gezi olaylarını bu kitapta hatırlayacak, ortak noktanın mizah olduğunu hemen farkedeceksiniz. Zaten kitabın en kuvvetli yönü mizah-ironi diliyle yazılmış olması. Özellikle yazarın rüyasında çevik kuvvet polisi olduğunu anlatan 94. sayfada " Rüyamda Yugoslavya'daydım...." diye başlayan ve 98. sayfanın ortasına kadar süren bölüm muhteşem.
"Eylemciler farklı oluşlarıyla birbirine benzerken, polisler benzerlikleriyle fark ediliyorlar, üniformaları var" ( s.44)
"Düşünüyorum, öyleyse televizyonum kapalı" (s.101)
Bu kitap gereken ilgiyi göremediyse tek nedeni sözlük alıntıları ve benzeri deneysel başka biçimleriyle okuma zorluğu yaratmasındandır kanımca. Gezi İsyanını yeniden yaşayacaksınız, okuyun bence. İçindeki fotoğraflar da yazarın objektifinden.

[John Darnielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A remarkable, singular book about a time of protest in Belgrade — 1996. A collection of images and scenes rather than a single narrative: an attempt not just to evoke but to illustrate its historical moment. Funny, elliptical, dark but less so on the surface. Highly recommended.

[Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic read. The language is beautiful, a great translation, and it's great to look at, too, full of the author's own photographs. The interesting thing is: you can read it on many levels, and it's definitely worth re-reading it because each time you begin to see more and more connections and layers. Nothing is what it seems at first glance. And that is also what the author is trying to tell us, I guess. It has a powerful flow that takes you in.
Sometimes you don't know if you should laugh or cry. For me, that's the best kind of humor. Another strong point is that even though much of the action takes place in Serbia, during the demonstrations in the nineties, somehow it becomes universal, even if you don't know much about the events or the culture of the region. Because besides being a lot of fun, the book deals with major issues such as innocence, freedom, identity and hope.
I definitely recommend The Last Window- Giraffe, there's something for everyone in this book. Here is a description of the bullet-ridden walls of the author's hometown:
'We climbed walls, stuck our fingers into the holes and with our eyes shut tried to imagine the bullets. A Braille modern history of Budapest - a city that cannot be seen by the eye, only felt with fingers, read between the lines: house-wallsized hieroglyphs, epic and lyric variations, wartime graffiti, crude erotic messages, an inside-out archive.'

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tossing us into the deep end of the feeling of the thing eliminates the need for explanation. Not a book for those who need things spelled out for them, but brilliant for those who want to understand through submersion the situation and the story

[Hulyacln · Rating 5 out of 5]

“A Macar abecesinin ilk harfi.Hırvat abecesinin ilk harfi A’dır.Sırp abecesinin ilk harfi de A’dır.Boşnak abecesi de A harfiyle başlar.
Demek ki A eşit değildir A’ya”
.
Öğrenim hayatımız alfabeyle başlar, harf harf ilerledikçe pek çok şey birikir aklımızda. Harfler önce hecelere,ardından kelimelere evrilir. Ve biz cümle kurmayı öğreniveririz. Ne düşünüyorsak, ne hissediyorsak harflerden kalkış yapar ve biz bunu yaparken farkına bile varmayız. Peter Zilahy farkına vardığı an bu sefer tersten bir yolculuk başlatmış. Cümlelerden-harflere..
.
Son Pencere Zürafa, harf harf ilerliyor, resimli anılar ansiklopedisi demek mümkün. Yazarın geçtiği yollar,geçirdiği dönüşümler her harfe açtığı başlıklar altında toplanmış. Bu başlıklarda isyan,eşitlik var. Bu başlıklarda “anımsama ve görme” var.
Çünkü sorularınıza ancak yola çıkarak cevaplar bulabilirsiniz..
.
Zilahy rotası Sovyetlerden,savaş sonrası yıkımlardan ve başlangıçlardan geçiyor. Macar dilinden soğuk savaşa, eylemlerden eylemsizliğe..
.
Çok meşakkatli olduğunu düşündüğüm eserin çevirisinde Sevgi Can Yağcı Aksel (ki kendisinin yazdığı Kapıya Not Bıraktım’ı pek beğenmiştim) bulunmakta. Eserin kapak tasarımı,içeriğindeki resimler ve baskı kalitesi de bir o kadar beğeni sebepleri..

[Sara Gal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Levitin, Times Literary Supplement

In his rollicking novel The Last Window-Giraffe, Péter Zilahy has revisited the prouder chapters in the history of the Balkans. Blending history and reportage, linguistics and politics, family memoir and Balkan myth, Zilahy delivers a generational confession which suggest the fragmented destiny of a post-Soviet Europe. Zilahy’s jokes take the form of political one-liners – „Belgraders count riot cops instead of sheep to get off to sleep”; „If the US is a human melting pot, then Eastern Europe is a scrap yard” – as he takes us through the narrators childhood. The book’s rambling passages on freedom and sex are also politically aligned: „ My bumpy road to sexual maturity was paved with the death of Communist dictators.” Zilahy’s story – his generation’s story and the story of Soviet-trampled Eastern Europe – comes down to choices, the narrator declares in the closing pages, „even when there is nothing to choose from.”

[Cassy Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zilahy wants his readers to work, but the work pays off. There are gems in his playful layered work of The Last Window-Girrafe. It paints the history of the Balkan, combined with accounts of the 1996 struggle for freedom in Belgrade, and is filled with vignettes of poetic prose. It's a tale about freedom and innocence. You can read and re-read it and be surprised to find new connections and hidden stories. You would laugh only to find that you should be weeping instead.

[Bunga Mawar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once upon a time... saya masih SD saat rezim2 komunis Eropa Timur bertumbangan. Masa itu saya terkesan dengan lagu Bimbo, kalau ga salah judulnya "Surat untuk Mr Reagan dan Mr Chernenko". Bagi anak SD di Indonesia yang setiap 30 September ditakut-takuti rezim penguasa dengan memutarkan film pemberontakan komunis, entah kenapa, segala yang berbau Eropa Timur terasa begitu misterius... sekaligus romantis... Saat itulah saya mencantumkan dalam benak jurusan Hubungan Internasional sebagai tempat saya kuliah kelak, sekiranya ayah tidak mengizinkan saya mendaftar sebagai pilot tempur di TNI AU selulus SMA. Tujuan utama adalah mendapat kesempatan mempelajari aksara Cyrilic, agar saya mampu menulis lebih dari nama saya dalam kapital: BEPA.

Lalu, di majalah kesayangan saya masa itu, Intisari, ada rubrik humor. Pengasuhnya Prof James Danandjaja. Ada beberapa humor2 kocak, dan begitu "nge-HI". Salah satunya adalah ini (pakai bahasa saya, ya):

Menjelang senjakala komunisme, pemimpin Rumania yang diktator, lalim (dan tentunya komunis), Nicolae Ceaucescu menderita sindrom curiga akut. Ia sudah tahu di mana-mana rakyat yang membencinya makin banyak dan kekuasaannya menjelang padam. Jadi walau ada polisi2 rahasia bayarannya yang berbaur di segala sudut negeri untuk menciduk mereka yang ketahuan menjelek-jelekkan pak presiden, si paranoid ini sering keluar istana malam-malam (mungkin seperti Khalifah Umar bin Khattab kali ya), ingin tahu kondisi rakyat, khususnya pendapat mengenai dirinya.

Nah, suatu malam pak presiden ngelayap lagi. Ia menjumpai seorang pria yang berada dalam kondisi "mencurigakan": mutung, tak bahagia, dan celingak-celinguk. Didatanginya pria tersebut, sok akrab, dan bertanya, "Kamerad, apa pendapatmu tentang presiden kita?"

Pria itu terkejut, memandang pada Ceaucescu dan celingak-celinguknya menjadi akut. Ditariknya telunjuk menempel di bibir, "Sssst....,"....

Penasaran? Saya juga, dan Ceausescu juga. Apalagi pria tadi kemudian menarik lengannya dan mendorongnya masuk ke sebuah taksi yang baru dihentikannya. Mereka menuju ke luar kota Bukares. Pak presiden mulai ber-su'udzon bahwa ada apa-apa yang dahsyat akan dialaminya. Ini penculikan! Mungkin pria ini dan kawan-kawannya menyusun rencana makar! Bisa jadi kelompok rahasia anti komunis? Siapa tahu ia akan mendengar rencana pembunuhan atas dirinya! Pokoknya ia akan tumpas habis gerakan bawah tanah ini, hukum mati semua anggotanya. Ia menepuk bahu kawan seperjalanannya, tapi langsung ditepis lagi, sambil menunjuk sopir taksi. "Sssst...," lagi desisnya.

Di sebuah jalan yang gelap, tak nampak cahaya, taksi diminta berhenti. Kawan perjalanan Ceasescu membayar, lalu mengajaknya berjalan menuju tengah padang yang gulita. Sambil penasaran dan waswas, pak presiden masih mengikutinya. Bahkan bulan dan bintang pun tak nampak. Mereka berhenti berjalan. Dengan nada lirih, masih sambil tengak-tengok, pria yang bersama Ceausescu tadi berbicara, "Dengar, Kamerad, aku menyukai presiden kita. Sekarang, apa maumu?"

Konyol abis. Saya ingat terpingkal-pingkal membacanya dulu, terutama karena sudah tahu Kamerad Ceausescu telah menemui ajal dieksekusi oleh rakyat Rumania yang bosan diinjak tiran komunis.

Membaca buku Zilahy ini, sebenarnya saya berharap bakal ketemu cerita-cerita seperti itu. Yang manusiawi-lah. Karena diktator kan juga tetap seorang manusia. Awalnya saya pikir ini semacam biografi detik-detik terakhir Tito. Eh, tapi bukan. Ternyata ada cerita tentang Slobo juga, Slobodan Milosevic. Setting-nya memang wilayah Balkan, dasawarsa terakhir abad ke-20. Tapi ini bukan novel, karena tidak ada tokoh yang sebenarnya "diceritakan". Adanya malah si Peter ini, sebagai "pencerita", ke mana-mana membawa kamus yang dicorat-coretnya sehingga tinggal kata-kata yang menurutnya relevan dengan cerita yang ada di kamusnya. Cara berceritanya pun tidak mudah diikuti. Benar-benar seperti orang curhat. Seenaknya sendiri loncat-loncat topik. Kadang-kadang alurnya juga maju mundur, sesuka hati. Jadi di depan ada penjahat perang yang punya anak, di belakang jadi orang biasa yang merawat kembang. Semacam itulah. Suatu masa Peter dewasa tengah menyaksikan dorong-dorongan polisi dan demonstran, eh di masa lain ia berbaris di sekolah dalam pelajaran olahraga.

Kalau tidak mau pusing, jauh-jauh dari buku ini... *alamat bakal dipelototi penerbit* Atau kalau ingin tahu konflik Balkan, ikuti link-nya Mas Ronny.

Pamit ah, bersama penutup lagunya Bimbo:
Bersama surat ini, kami mohon maaf
Salam kami, Bimbo

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about the madness of everyday life under a dictatorship. It shifts in theme and time, testing the borderlines of prose and poetry, fiction and non-fiction, history and autobiography – all in the unassuming guise of a child’s ABC. Filled with his own striking photographs, Péter Zilahy gives fascinating insight into whole other universe behind the Iron Curtain. ‘The Last Window-Giraffe’ is one of the most unusual, beguiling books you will ever read.

'In these bittersweet pages you will find the fall of the regimes, and the last twenty years of Eastern Europe.' —Enrico Remmert, ‘Rolling Stone Magazine’

'It captures what was a near-universal local experience so well, a transition that is monumental and yet oddly anti-climactic… And it's a very good-looking book, too.' — ‘The Complete Review’

[Rio Johan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting piece of work but clearly not an easy read. The story is heavily multilayered: chronicling a part of the country's fall of communism with variety of personal, historical, and even mythological or folk stories in between its present action; but once you got the pivotal point, it'll turn to be very easy to follow—at least for me. Sure, the form of this story (and how the author manage to made it all possible) was the front charm, but for me, the real treasure was the satirical humors scattered all over those giant paragraphs, which was fresh, funny, and ironically sad, or even tragic, at the same time (even if I didn't really understand exact point of a humor, I'd still get the funny part of it, or that it was supposed to be funny, or that there was a joke on it)—that's the truest and purest form of satire!

[Orin Tia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buku ini benar-benar membuat penasaran dan mengagumkan. Saya terkadang terheran-heran sendiri ketika membaca, membayangkan bagaimana si penulis bisa menghubungkan sejarah Balkan sebelum perang, di masa komunisme, dan ketika protes berlangsung di Belgrade di tahun 1996. Semua itu diselingi dengan prosa yang puitis. Banyak yang merasa buku ini sulit untuk dicerna, tapi menurut saya, memang itulah kunci dari buku ini. Buku ini menantang kita, dan hanya orang yang punya cukup rasa penasaran akan kembali membaca berulang-ulang dan menemukan lagi sesuatu yang baru, di setiap kali membaca ulang.

Meskipun buku ini ditulis dengan mengambil latar sebagian besar di belgrade, buku ini memiliki cerita universal, dan dapat mengingatkan pada perlawanan mahasiswa di akhir tahun 1990an untuk menurunkan rezim Orde Baru. Ulasan di Majalah Tempo juga menyebutkan hal yang sama.

Saya merekomendasikan untuk membaca buku ini karena banyak harta karun dibalik lembaran-lembaran buku ini.

[Odit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Setuju dengan ulasan Tempo:
"Lompatan-lompatan cerita yang dituturkan secara alfabetis itu tak membuat novel ini menjadi tak utuh dan tampak kaku. Sebaliknya, Zilahy, yang meluncurkan novel itu sepuluh tahun silam—saat itu umurnya 28 tahun—justru terampil melenturkan cerita. Ia bahkan kerap membuat pembaca tersenyum atau tertawa terbahak-bahak." Tempo, 7 Nov 2008, "Kamus Perlawanan dari Hungaria"

[Stefka Hrusanova · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting book about the recent past of the last century in Eastern Europe.

[Cahyo Sukaryo · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first saw it, I thought it was just a children book with a very attractive cover and funny pictures in a bright yellow package. But then I glanced at its sub title, and for that instance, I felt that this book must be something! And that you'd better have it before it's gone from the book stores' shelves. No kidding! Published by my favorite publisher; Bentang Pustaka, it also featured a writer that came from Eastern Europe, something that happened as often as the blue moon.

The book turns out to be a very wild, energetic, yet fantastic reading! Its translation into Bahasa Indonesia is quite excellent, but still I found some difficulties here and there, perhaps due to its original language is uncommon, or maybe the editor have to put some extra works for its upcoming revised edition - if any, or simply because we have to stop periodically to recall what was being told, sometimes in subtle storyline. But I strongly appreciate Bentang et.al. for the hard work given and the extra time taken to explain as many as pretty simple things in the writer's world to be in context to the everyday world as known by our fellow Indonesian readers. If only other 99% of our army of Publisher, Editors, and Translators would have done that, life would be much easier for the rest of us.

Have I told you that this is NOT a children book? Due to its cover, it might be misperceived as a novel, but a pictorial dictionary would be a closer definition. The book is full of interesting photographs, taken by the writer, to accompany the story and sometimes to explain it further. Its title itself is just another meaningful story; the window giraffe perhaps doesn’t mean a thing in the English world, or even in Bahasa Indonesia. And made you wonder, what the heck does it mean? But pardon it for the translation; because it was derived from Hungarian, the window giraffe is actually their way to say the alphabetical sequence "A-B-C" in our language. Window, stands for the first character or "A" (=”Ablak”), whilst Giraffe, is for the last one or "Z" (=”Zsiráf”). And to capture the pupil's attention, they draw cute and funny picture on it: the Window Giraffe, also adopted as the book cover, of course with a bright yellow background, to secure our attention. Clever!

The book focused on the harsh and sometime absurd daily life under the political oppression of the – you know – Iron Curtain, a.k.a. Eastern Europe under the USSR/Soviet’s occupation. Things that should have been very simple yet turned into some ugly realities and sometimes chaotic schemes. A rare look into the life far away from us. A rare, but a deep look definitely worth to be read. The book somewhat is mindboggling for it shifts in theme and time, changing itself between prose and poetry, also either fiction or nonfiction, move back and forward between history and autobiography. All things happened in the Serbia demonstration 1996-1997, but yet universally told thus even if you don’t know about it at all, you still can correlate it with your life for being on the same track: freedom, youth, struggling for better life, and hope..

[Jozsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The alphabet is the only reliable system of order in The Last Window-Giraffe. The rest is a tour of Shandyian digressions, with Zilahy's narrator time-travelling from one decade of political turmoil to the next. Deceptively innocent children's-book illustrations and the author's snapshots illustrate the journey. That feature, and the rambling narrative, bring to mind the writing of WG Sebald. His experimental memoir is at its most impressive when it plunges us straight into the masses of students marching through Belgrade, chanting, whistling and drumming with wooden spoons. Zilahy's account is often funny, but always raw and direct: a far cry from the nostalgic soup often poured over the spectre of 1968. - Philip Oltermann, The Independent

[Max Rasa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a delight. Thoroughly recommend it not only for the genius use of form and creative structure but also its poetic prose and rich substance on Central European history. Zilahy takes us on a time-traveling journey from the times of the Austro-Hungarian empire to Hungary's communist dictatorship to the popular protests in Belgrade in the 1990s and into his personal life of growing up and finding his own revolution.

[Mala Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a read and turn the pages, I felt I found a gem of a book. It's completely groundbreaking and could not be categorised into one genre. It's historical non-fiction, it's part memoir, part literary novel. It's a dictionary novel, with rich illustration that holds meaning and adds another dimension to the book.
I learned a lot about the history of Central Europe and fascinated by how Zilahy brings this to the reader through layers of meaning. Read and re-read. Read it fast and flick through the pictures. Read it slow and savour the author's prose. You can never go wrong with this.

[Diah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saya menyesal saya kurang pengetahuan soal politik Austro-Hungarian. Nampak sih usahanya buat menjelaskan sesederhana mungkin dengan sentuhan humor tapi gimana ya? Kalo kurang informasi-informasi dasar kayak diibaratkan masuk ke sirkel orang baru terus banyak inside jokes aq tida mengertyy :"(

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lerne zu schweben - Péter Zilahys Roman «Die letzte Fenstergiraffe» Von Paul Jandl War man Ungar und jung zur rechten Zeit, dann war die Welt in Ordnung. Von Ablak bis Zsiráf, von Fenster bis Giraffe führte ein Kinderlexikon der siebziger Jahre in die Tatsachen des Universums ein. Neben kindgerecht formulierten Grundweisheiten des real existierenden Sozialismus gab es offensichtlich genügend Platz für dunkle Aphorismen. «Wenn wir etwas loslassen, bleibt es nie von alleine stehen», heisst es da. Oder: «Wer nach Osten geht, hat den Westen im Rücken.» Das bunt illustrierte Wörterbuch «Ablak-Zsiráf» muss aus der Feder eines philosophischen Geistes stammen. Diesem zumindest verwandt ist der junge ungarische Schriftsteller Péter Zilahy, Jahrgang 1970. Sein Lexikon-Roman «Die letzte Fenstergiraffe» ist der ungeniert hoffnungsvolle Versuch, sich die mitteleuropäische Welt noch einmal zusammen zu denken. Von A bis Z. BELGRAD ALS FLUCHTPUNKT Eintrag für Eintrag gräbt sich das Buch in die Geschichte und kehrt zurück in die Gegenwart Serbiens Ende der neunziger Jahre. Mit dem Balkanexpress ist der Erzähler von Budapest nach Belgrad gefahren. Weil es in Serbien bei regionalen Wahlen zu massivem Betrug gekommen war, gingen dort die Studenten auf die Strasse. Von November 1996 bis Februar 1997 dauerten die fröhlich-anarchischen Demonstrationen gegen das Milosevic-Regime. Belgrad, das ist der Fluchtpunkt in Zilahys Roman. Die strategisch wichtige, von Donau und Save umflossene Stadt war über Jahrhunderte historischer Schauplatz. Die Daten der Geschichte führt Péter Zilahy an. 1997 heisst es schliesslich unter den Belgrader Demonstranten: «Lerne zu schweben.» Es ist ein melancholischer Optimismus, der bei diesem winterlichen Revolutionsversuch durchschlägt. Man zieht durch die Strassen und provoziert die Polizisten. Viel mehr ist es nicht. Es ist ein Taumel, der mit Zilahys furiosem Gang durch die Geschichte einiges gemein hat. Man unterhält sich unter Demonstranten, «kurzer Schlenker zur Selbstmordstatistik, zu Mohács, Amselfeld, Trianon». A wie Arany, ungarisch für Gold. So beginnt der Roman. Hat es das goldene Zeitalter Europas je gegeben? In Péter Zilahys Buch steigt die Temperatur, wenn von jener Epoche die Rede ist, in denen die Namen der südosteuropäischen Länder noch nicht wie lexikalische Einträge nebeneinander lagen. Die k. u. k. Monarchie als gültiger Beweis, dass ein vereinigtes Europa vielleicht schon damals möglich gewesen wäre? So weit, eine rückwärtsgewandte Utopie zu formulieren, geht Zilahys Roman nicht. Hier werden keine grossen Thesen aufgestellt. «Die letzte Fenstergiraffe» läuft, formal und im Inhalt, auf die trockene und doch mit einigem akrobatischem Geschick präsentierte Pointe hinaus, dass ein Ganzes nicht mehr zu haben ist. Milorad Pavic, der Schriftsteller, der sich während der Balkankriege zum serbisch-nationalistischen Kanzelredner aufgeschwungen hat, war auch bei den Belgrader Studentendemonstrationen. 1997 bereits geläutert, hält er eine Rede. Der alte Herr schreibt dem jungen ungarischen Dichterkollegen eine Widmung in ein Buch. Vielleicht ist das ja auch als Vermächtnis zu verstehen. Denn Péter Zilahys kunstvoll abschweifende «Fenstergiraffe» hat viel von Pavics Poetik des nichtlinearen Erzählens. Allzu weit von Pavics Kunst, Romane als Kreuzworträtsel, als Handbücher für Wahrsagerei oder – eben – Wörterbücher zu tarnen, ist Péter Zilahy nicht entfernt. Ganz in Pavics Sinn hat der junge Ungar eine produktive Schwäche für die heimlichen Ordnungen des Zufalls. Er stellt Theorien über eine geschichtsmächtige «grosse B-Weltachse» auf, die von Babylon über Byzanz bis Berlin und Brüssel reicht. Und er rührt das Personal der Geschichte zusammen, bis alles das tatsächlich etwas bedeutet. Biografisch verbindet Gavrilo Princip, den Sarajewo-Attentäter, so manches mit Josip Broz Tito, Jugoslawiens mächtigem Mann. Auch Leo Trotzki und Bram Stoker treffen in einem ausgewählten historischen Moment auf dem Balkan zusammen. Trotzki ist Kriegsberichterstatter, Bram Stoker exportiert mit dem «Vampir» eines der wenigen serbischen Wörter, die es später schaffen, in den Sprachschatz der Welt aufgenommen zu werden. Vampir, ausgerechnet. EUROPA, ACH WAS Ach, Europa? Europa, ach was. Das Pathos der Geschichtsversessenheit wird in Zilahys Buch sehr bewusst und auch provokativ unterlaufen. «Die letzte Fenstergiraffe» mag der Entwicklung eines geographischen Raums nachspüren. Doch das Buch ist auch ein Entwicklungsroman im klassischen Sinn. 1996, zur Zeit der Belgrader Demonstrationen, war Péter Zilahy gerade sechsundzwanzig Jahre alt. Und es ist nicht von der Hand zu weisen, dass die Belgrader Erfahrungen auch das Ende einer Ich-Werdung bedeuten. Das Z des Buches, das ist auch Zilahy. «Mit herzlichen Grüssen, dein Freund Peter», so endet der Roman. Die Bilanz ist eindeutig: «So einen Winter wird es nicht mehr geben und so einen Frühling auch nicht. Vielleicht werde ich auch nicht mehr so voller Vertrauen sein.» Wenn Péter Zilahy mit seinem Roman bis tief an die europäischen Wurzeln gräbt, dann tut er das auch, um die eigene Herkunft zu ergründen. Buda und Belgrad sind in gemeinsamen historischen Erfahrungen verschwistert. Die Verwandtschaft des Erzählers ist in den siebziger Jahren mit heiterem Sinn gegen die Umstände verschworen. Über die Jugendzeit heisst es bei Péter Zilahy ebenso lapidar wie gültig: «Mein Vater war das Beste am alten System. Er lebte im real existierenden Sozialismus, als existiere der gar nicht.» SANFTES LEUCHTEN Mit der Beschreibung einer ungarischen Kindheit beginnt der Roman sanft zu leuchten. Sprachlich sensibel und von Terézia Mora punktgenau übersetzt, wird dann das Milieu des Kommunismus in all seinem Aberwitz gezeigt. Dass das «Ablak-Zsiráf» zu seinen Verdiensten zählt, ist ein schwacher, aber anhaltender Trost. Péter Zilahy, der junge ungarische Schriftsteller, wird mit seinem provokant-unpathetischen Europa-Lexikon künftig auch im deutschsprachigen Raum zu führen sein. Mit herzlichen Grüssen und unter Z. -- Neue Zürcher Zeitung

[cecilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. No genre and no words can actually give the right description to this book. It’s a non-fiction, fiction, autobiography, memos, proses, metaphors, history, short stories, pictures, dictionary, et cetera et cetera, this book has it all. Zilahy is no doubt a skilled writer, and it shows. He doesn’t care about what people will think about this book, he wrote what he had in mind and executed it sophisticatedly, and I love and admired every pages. Zilahy has wit and knowledge, and every stories show just that. Amazing omg I doubt I can ever forget about this book. Instant 5 stars.

[Ririenz · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE LAST WINDOW GIRAFFE ~ Hari-hari Terakhir Sang Diktator
Penulis : Peter Zilahy
Penerjemah : Cahya Wiratama
Penyunting : Hermawan Aksan
Penerbit : PT. Bentang Pustaka
Cetakan : I, Oktober 2008
Tebal : viii + 188 Halaman

Hufff…. akhirnya berhasil juga aku menyelesaikan novel ini. Karya Peter Zilahy ( PZ ) ini benar-benar unik karena cara penyajiannya yang berbeda dengan novel-novel kebanyakan. Novel ini dituturkan secara runut berdasarkan abjad-abjad dalam kamus dan selanjutnya dikembangkan menjadi suatu jalinan kisah yang saling berhubungan meski terkadang sedikit ada “ intermezzo “ yang aku rasa kurang nyambung.

PZ mengunakan kamus bahasa yang biasa digunakan oleh anak-anak Hongaria sebagai analog untuk memperkenalkan dan menceritakan kondisi negara serta kehidupan masyarakat negaranya. Dimulai dari huruf A untuk kata Ablak, yang berarti Jendela dan diakhiri dengan huruf Z untuk kata Zsiraff, yang berarti Jerapah. Seingatku hanya ada beberapa kata yang sama artinya dalam bahasa Indonesia, seperti ; civil, nozstalgia, gen, radio, politika, reklam dan vampir. Ada pula beberapa kata yang sama tapi beda artinya, seperti; akar ( ingin ), allam ( negara ), halal ( kematian ).

Sebagai narator, PZ mengajak pembacanya berjalan-jalan mengenal budaya Eropa Tengah mulai dari sejarah nenek moyangnya sampai ke tahun 1980-an, mulai dari kehidupan pedesaan dan masa kecil yang tenang menyenangkan sampai ke kehidupan kota yang riuh dengan gejolak politik, geliat ekonomi juga hiruk pukuk para demonstran. Ada cerita tentang bangsa Magyar , cerita terbunuhnya pangeran Franz Ferdinand yang menyulut Perang Dunia I, kehidupan negara dibawah kepemimpinan Joseph Brozz Tito, tentang grup musik ABBA dari Swedia, Boney M dari Jerman, AC/DC dari Sidney bahkan kisah pasangan penjahat legendaries Amerika - Bonnie & Clyde, cerita tentang kejahatan perang Radovan Karadzic yang telah melakukan genosida pada rakyat Bosnia Herzegovina, sampai demonstrasi-demonstrasi yang menentang kediktatoran ( lunak ) Slobodan Milosevic.

Oh ya… ada lagi yang unik dari novel ini , dari halaman pertama sampai halaman 186 tidak satupun halaman yang bersih dari karya lukis, karikatur atau foto-foto hasil bidikan PZ . Karena terlalu unik membuatku bolak-balik membacanya alias agak susah dimengerti jalinan kisahnya karena sering melompat-lompat sehingga membingungkan. Pokoknya novel ini isinya komplit banget, sangat dinamis plottingnya, dan sarat pengetahuannya meski memusingkan.


~* Rienz *~

[Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Книга так забавно называется, потому что автор приводит кусочки из венгерского "букваря", где первое слово "окно" и последнее "жираф", детская венгерская книжка так и называлась "окно-жираф". В аннотации написано, что Зилахи создал своеобразную энциклопедию Балкан, и это так, ни прибавить, ни убавить. Там есть экскурсы в венгерскую и сербо-хорватскую истории, биографии Тито и Милошевича.
Я лично плохо знаю балканскую историю и вечно путаю и страны, и персонажей. Поэтому мне любопытно было прочесть. 96 год - это весенняя студенческая революция, когда весь Белград вышел на улицы с плакатами, тухлыми яйцами, деревянными ложками, дудками. До американских бомбардировок ещё далеко, и пока в странах Восточной Европы разбираются со своими режимами - остатками советского наследия.
В книге много картинок из детского букваря и фотографий белградской революции - кордоны омона, бабули, студенты.
Автору снятся сны: сторукий Ленин танцует танец Шивы, в каждой руке кепка; размываются границы Будабешт-Москва-Белград и др.; то он сам омоновец, который гонится на демонстрации за самим собой... Много описаний людей: журналисты, туристы, писатели, поэты, студенческие лидеры, революционные девушки, омоновцы, стоящие в оцеплении, деревенские пастухи и проправительственные демонстранты. Целые главы посвящены самим словам "государство", "свобода" - автор играет словами, приводит все варианты, всевозможные примеры - от патетических до смешных бытовых.
Вот такой шумный студенческий Белград глазами венгерского студента. Огромный кусок общей истории 90-х годов - и нашей тоже. Очень советую прочесть.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dal 1998, anno della sua pubblicazione in un Ungheria, L’Ultima FinestraGiraffa è già stato tradotto in quattordici lingue e non ha più smesso di attirare l’attenzione di un pubblico internazionale. È diventato una trasmissione radiofonica, un cd-rom multimediale, il nome di un gruppo rock e da qualche anno anche uno spettacolo teatrale che continua a girare il mondo e viene rappresentato a Broadway e al Berliner Ensemble. Parte di questo successo, non c’è dubbio, è contenuto già nell’idea stessa di questo libro incantato: raccontare vent’anni di Storia dell’Europa dell’Est e il crollo dei regimi totalitari attraverso lo sguardo di un bambino che compila un suo privatissimo abbecedario, incasellando dentro ogni lettera i fatti della Storia insieme alle minuscole storie della sua infanzia e adolescenza, e costellando tutti i disegni, illustrazioni e foto, proprio come nei migliori libri di scuola. Dentro L’ultima FinestraGiraffa (perché nel vero abbecedario ungherese la lettera A è associata ad “ablak”, finestra, e la Z a “zsiraf”, giraffa) sfilano così Milosĕvić e Kim Basinger, Tito e la musica rock, i primi amori mescolati alle proteste di piazza a Belgrado nel 1996, certe disavventure scolastiche dietro la cortina di ferro, e poi Ceausescu, Andropov, e Černenko magari insieme ai tempi supplementari della finale mondiale tra Olanda e Argentina – tutti come piccoli frammenti di vetro colorati in un caleidoscopio che Péter Zilahy, con ironia, con dolcezza, con implacabile sapienza, si diverte a far ruotare davanti ai nostri occhi.

[Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Swanborn - Volkskrant

Zilahy was achttien toen het communisme viel: 'Ik had mijn examens precies op het moment van de eerste vrije verkiezingen in Hongarije. Maar daarvoor was ik al gaan rondreizen. Ik wilde alle protesten meemaken. Want als je op een periode wilt terugkijken, moet je er bij zijn als die ten einde komt. Kom je een jaar later, dan is er niets meer, zelfs geen ruïne. Het enige wat je dan nog vindt zijn souvenirs.'

Ondanks deze hang naar het einde, begint Zilahy zijn boek gewoon bij de 'a'. Vervolgens werkt hij netjes het alfabet af. Zo komen we bij de 'í', van het Hongaarse woord voor noodweer, 'ítéletidó', een prachtige beschrijving tegen van de ijs en sneeuw trotserende protesten in Belgrado. Op carnavaleske wijze gaat men de straat op, met triangels, wc-brillen, zilveren dienbladen en nog veel meer. Een komische opsomming die Zilahy afsluit met de nuchtere mededeling 'we gaan lawaai maken' én met een schreeuwerige tekening vol inktvlekken van de woorden 'heel lelijk'.

Het is precies deze voortdurende wisseling van toon die de chaos, de vreugde en de angst van de dagen van de revolutie zo goed voelbaar maakt. De laatste raamgiraf kan dan ook op vele manieren gelezen worden. Van een feitelijk, bijna journalistiek verslag tot een roman met een heus plot en een interessant personage.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Verena Gioia
Péter Esterházy uno dei più importanti scrittori ungheresi viventi definisce L' ultima FinestraGiraffa "come se questo libro fosse stato scritto da un giornalista con la fantasia di un poeta" . Un bel complimento diretto all'autore, suo compatriota, Péter Zilahy, scrittore e poeta, ma anche fotografo, artista multimediale, autore per teatro e per il cinema.

L' ultima FinestraGiraffa è stata una trasmissione radiofonica, un cd-rom multimediale, un gruppo rock e anche uno spettacolo teatrale. Ok, ma in origine cosa è stato? Un libro. Un libro pubblicato in Ungheria nel 1998 e poi tradotto in 14 lingue.

Un libro che racconta 20 anni di storia dell'Europa dell'est: i grandi avvenimenti mescolati agli episodi dell'infanzia e dell'adolescenza. Come un libro di scuola che va dalla A alla Z (in ungherese la A è ablak la finestra, la Z è zsiraf la giraffa) così L' ultima FinestraGiraffa è un abbecedario di quando ervamo piccoli. Foto e illustrazioni si mescolano con tenerezza e saggezza alle disavventure scolastiche di Zilahy, a Milosĕvić e Kim Basinger, alla finale mondiale tra Olanda e Argentina, a Ceausescu e a Tito.

Uno sguardo acuto per mille frammenti colorati pieni di poesia e di storia.

[Sara Gal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Юрій Андрухович: “Петер Зілагі нагадує мені Жана Артюра Рембо. Це перше, що можна про нього сказати, друге – він угорець, третє – письменник, четверте – угорський письменник. Юрко Прохасько – на сьогодні його перекладач, бо він виявився єдиною людиною у Львові, яка знає угорську... Вітаю, користуючись нагодою, і видавця – Володимира Дмитерка, бо книга вийшла у видавництві “Класика”, яке він очолює. На превеликий жаль, не можу тут сьогодні привітати перекладачку цієї книги – Галю Петросаняк, яка мусить залишатися в Івано-Франківську. Сталося так, що, починаючи роботу над цією книгою, вона завагітніла, і потім, працюючи над перекладом, вона, як говориться, вагітніла все більше і більше. Врешті-решт, вона завершила переклад, передала мені останню його версію на редагування саме напередодні свого відбуття до пологового будинку і, коли вже я почав редагувати останні частини тексту, вона народила сина. Таким чином, її робота над перекладом тривала дев’ять місяців, тобто ми можемо вважати Петера Зілагі одним із батьків її сина.

[Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Олександр Бойченко

«Остання Вікножирафа» — це, перефразовуючи Тимофія Гавриліва, наслідок чудової зустрічі карнавалу з постмодерном. Причому Петер Зілагі, як уже натякалося, був приречений на цю зустріч від першого класу: будь-яка абетка демонструє постмодерний принцип співіснування складників, але Петерова мала ще й карнавальну назву. Залишалося підрости, опинитися у потрібному місці в потрібний час («Белградці радісно прощаються з минулим, тому я тут») і переконатися, що карнавал (а заразом і вся Дунайська монархія) добре надається до розташування в абетковому порядку. З��ештою, хіба карнавальний натовп на площі не демонструє словникової цілісності? Люди, які ніколи б не перетнулися в «нормальному» житті, зустрічаються на карнавалі, як слова у словнику: «Словник — місце випадкових зустрічей, випадок він зводить у закон».

P.S. Бахтін, як відомо, вважав, що епоха справжніх європейських карнавалів залишилася в минулому. Та не менш відомо й те, що справжній карнавал демонструє відносність будь-якої людської істини про світ. Навіть виголошеної самим Бахтіним.

[Reiza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tidak begitu menikmati. Entah penerjemahannya yang kurang begitu pas, atau memang gaya bahasa Peter Zilahy yang melompat-lompat kurang begitu nyaman bagi saya.

Buku ini menceritakan tentang pengalaman Peter Zilahy selama mengikuti demonstrasi mahasiswa di daerah pecahan Yugoslavia. Nah, ada juga yang menurut saya kurang pas. Diceritakan bahwa buku ini menggambarkan kehidupan di bawah kekuasaan negara yang otoriter (Peter lahir dan besar di Hungaria pada masa kekuasaan Partai Komunis) tetapi hampir sebagian besar isi dari buku ini menurut saya tidak begitu memperlihatkan itu. Alih-alih, yang diceritakan lagi-lagi adalah pengalaman Peter mengikuti demonstrasi mahasiswa di negara pecahan Yugoslavia.

Sebenarnya banyak sudut pandang penceritaan yang cukup menarik menurut saya, tetapi kembali lagi. Entah karena terjemahannya yang kurang pas atau memang gaya bahasa Peter memang seperti itu, saya jadi agak bingung mengikutinya.

Jadi....ya, dua bintang.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Od abecede do žirafe. Posljednji prozor u svijet oslanja se na slikovni rječnik za djecu Abiak-Zsiraf (Prozor-Žirafa), u vrijeme komunizma vrlo popularan u Mađarskoj; sve je u toj knjizi bilo objašnjeno jednostavnim riječima, sve je imalo svoje mjesto i za sve je probleme uvijek postojalo rješenje. Zilahy se tom hibridu početnice, dječje enciklopedije i slikovnog rječnika iz svoga djetinjstva vraća mnogo godina kasnije, i tako shvaća na čemu se temeljio svijet u kojem je odrastao: istočnoeuropski režimi tretirali su sve ljude poput djece. Svi su živjeli u proširenoj državnoj verziji slikovnog rječnika za djecu. A Zilahy je, naprotiv, u svome djelu ispisao leksikon svega što je bilo izostavljeno iz svih režimskih leksikona.

[Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Destinato a essere libro-cardine nell’educazione delle nuove generazioni europee, e manifesto anti-comunista, questo primo romanzo di Zilahy è un testo assolutamente imperdibile: onore ed ogni elogio alle edizioni Alet di Padova per aver regalato al pubblico italiano un frammento di storia, e di grande Letteratura. Senza spargere sale sulle rovine del passato, ma semplicemente raccontando e illustrando – con innocenza e intelligenza – la sua infanzia e la sua adolescenza, e la giovinezza e la nuova maturità del suo popolo, Zilahy ha scolpito una rappresentazione stupenda e unica del nostro tempo, e della corrosione e della caduta dei falsi idoli del dogma rosso.