The Kiss

by István Bart (Editor)

English (translation)
Original Hungarian

Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

three stars because you simply can't win with every entry with this wide of an array of writers between two covers. there are pieces here that i immediately re-read and will likely read over and over, and others that failed to hold my interest. as magyar is reputed to be an especially difficult language to translate from, in most cases these stories seem to be interpreted admirably, evidenced by clear differences in style, word choice and nuance.

plenty of hungarian cultural insight covered throughout. many of the stories are very concerned with classism and social graces, some take place in the countryside, many more in budapest. there is very little spiritualism and a dark but not pessimistic element in many of the protagonists, somewhat evocative of kafka and other central/eastern european writers.

have been further inspired by this volume and a recent trip to budapest to read the work of gyula krudy, sandor marai, frigyes karinthy, peter nadas, istvan orkeny, (more) laszlo krasznahorkai and others. recommended as an introduction to hungarian lit.