Il convalescente

by Jessica Anthony, Stefano Pirone (Translator)

Un romanzo mozzafiato in grado di creare atmosfere e sensazioni assolutamente uniche. Un omino barbuto e muto vende carne da un autobus guasto nel mezzo di un prato in Virginia: il suo nome è Rovar Ákos Pfliegman, ed è l’ultimo Pfliegman rimasto sulla faccia della Terra. L’autobus è anche la sua casa, e l’unica compagnia che ha è un grosso scarabeo domestico. “Il convalescente” è il racconto della vita grottesca e solitaria di Rovar, tempestata di sfortune e acciacchi, e allo stesso tempo è la narrazione di migliaia di anni di storia ungherese, tormentata dalla costante e fastidiosa presenza della inetta tribù dei Pfliegman. Originale, ironico, bizzarro e a tratti commovente, questo romanzo di Jessica Anthony crea un indimenticabile protagonista, fuorilegge improbabile e amatore non ricambiato, nonché narratore della storia del mondo vista attraverso gli occhi di coloro che nel mondo non hanno importanza.

Genres: Fiction, Novels, Literary Fiction, Hungarian Literature, Hungary, Contemporary, Historical

344 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2009

About the author

Jessica Anthony is the author of four books of fiction, most recently THE MOST (Little, Brown & Co. 2024), which was longlisted for the National Book Award in Fiction. Her previous novel, ENTER THE AARDVARK (Little, Brown & Co. 2020), was a finalist for the New England Book Award in Fiction. Anthony is the recipient of the Creative Capital Award in Literature, and her novels have been published in fifteen countries. She lives in Maine.

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most inventive novel by a female writer that I have ever read. Huge kudos to Anthony for breaking the mold on what a woman should write about. Here, we have the story of the Hungarian small person Rovar Pfliegman, an outcast that lives in a bus along a highway in Virgina, selling meat. Woven into his sad story is the sardonic history of the Pfliegman's, from just after the death of Christ. Add an unlikely attraction, the impending cresting of the river Rovar lives next to, the certain doom that hangs over him, a pet beetle? cockroach? and blade of grass, and the diverse voices of Darwin, Carly Simon, and Isaac Asimov in the background; if you are not completely frustrated with this novel, you will fall in love with it, as I did. Despite some rather Rabelaisian details, a Kafkaesque ending that seemed rushed, I still give this a 5. I don't know any other writer who could have pulled this all off. Still in awe...reminded me a bit of the character in Pam Erens's Understory, another brilliant (much shorter) novel.

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, it appears that Jessica Anthony was having so much fun writing her first novel, a zany tale about a sickly Hungarian midget who sells meat out of a bus in field, that she forgot that she would eventually have to end it. And when she realized the 200-plus-page error of her rambling ways, she said to herself "Yeah... I guess I'm just going to have to make it real weird." And apparently, she'd been reading Kafka.
The initial description of the character seems kitschy with a pretentious bent, meant mainly for cover blurbs and write-ups. However, Anthony does a decent job of lending a unique voice to him and fleshes the character out in an entertaining study. But the sudden leap to magical realism in the last chapter was disjointed enough to put me off to the rest of the novel.
I can't really go into the things that bothered me about this book without spoiling its conclusion. While the last chapter might have worked beautifully as a prose poem, I'm not sure what the point was of the oft-repetitive build-up. And why root the entire plot structure in a folk-tale history of Hungary that never quite links up to the modern-day narrative? There is certainly a story here somewhere. It begs, if not a happy ending, at least one that makes sense in the context of the rest of the novel. This should not have been an impossible feat, and it's a wonder why no one listed in the acknowledgements mentioned that to the writer.

[Marc Kozak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had this book under my arm during a job interview this week, catching the eye of the HR manager, who casually asked what I was reading. I hesitated. It's pretty hard to explain in a way that doesn't make you sound insane. The story bounces between two narratives, one being the adventures of a sad sack, hairy, mute dwarf who sells meat out of a bus. The other covers the origins of a disgusting ancient Hungarian tribe who sacrifices people for no reason, of which our meat-selling hero is the last remaining member. Yeah. After stumbling through a version of that explanation, the HR lady really had no choice but to stare back at me blankly. I had no choice but to continue. "Have you read any McSweeney's books? Or David Eggers?" A spark of hope. She had. "It's similar in style to that. Very clever and funny and charming, almost to a fault." I was saved. We talked about David Eggers. Yes, he is cool. He has a new book, have you heard? Crisis averted. At any rate, it'd be interesting to see a line graph of the probability of me getting that job before and after the book was brought up. If I get the job, I will remember this book forever. If not, it gets punted across the room.

This is second only to the time I had to try and explain The Hearing Trumpet to a guy on the train (An elderly woman in a nursing home has a hearing aid device that transports everyone to a magic world with gnostic...fuck it, I give up, just shuffle away quietly.)

Moving on, It's hard not to feel let down by this book, for a few reasons really. The first two pages contain one of the finest openings to a work of fiction that I can remember - a sprawling synchronicity across time and space introduces our main character in such a way that you have absolutely no idea what to expect next. The rest of the book isn't even bad (it's quite good, actually) but there was no way it could ever live up to those first two pages.

The narrative keeps the pages turning, is paced well, and skirts whimsy and tragedy at an expert level. Anthony has at least one sentence per page that will make you stop and take notice of its lovely prose. Rovar, our sickly bus dweller, is pathetically charming, and it's hard not to end up rooting for him in the end. The tactic of connecting a modern character with traits and travails of his ancient ancestors isn't spectacularly original, but it is well done, and honestly quite fun.

However, you are denied the magic of Rovar's character change due to an out-of-left-field ending that is just....bad. I can't say much without spoiling it, but the blurb on the back compares the writing to Kafka's, which isn't at all apparent until the ending, and then it is SUPER apparent. Disappointing.

At any rate, this is an immensely entertaining, quick, and mostly well written first novel from an author who I will be keeping an eye on. Depending on how this job thing goes, it's sheer oddness could reach legendary status for me personally.

[Lolly K Dandeneau · Rating 4 out of 5]

What we have here is a strange twisted dwarf-like man who does not speak and sells meat outside of his bus. Being a full blooded Hungarian myself, I admit that regardless of my biased opinion, this is really an interesting story. We get an eccentric history of his family origins, a tribe of foul, savage, Hungarian outcasts. A little cannibalism and a lot of failure, this novel makes you a tad twitchy with disgust for Rovar and all his medical maladies. The strange thing is, you warm to the little cretin. The history of Rovar's family is hilarious and equally disgusting. I have to say, this was a hell of a quirky little read. I loved it, even the things about Rovar that made my skin crawl. Novel is not for everyone, it isn't a light read and the ending merges with the bizarre but for me, that is what gave it charm.

[Stacia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like reading bizarre books & this one certainly fits the bill.

It's at times touching, imaginative, funny, gross, & fascinating. However, by a third of the way in, I already had an inkling to the ending & I wasn't far off in my guess. I'm not sure if it was that blatantly obvious or if I've just read too many odd books, but I felt a little let-down at already knowing the direction the book was going. Still, it was a quick & mostly entertaining story.

A worthwhile read for fans of bizarro fiction.

[Kathrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthony has successfully created a surrealist landscape that, within only a few pages, a reader feels utterly comfortable inside, empathetic with its protagonist, without fully understanding him, awed by his story and his history, trusting that the author will bring it all together, and she does. Rovar is perhaps one of the most memorable characters I've encountered in fiction recently; I know him so well, maybe because there's a little bit of him inside of me that I recognize, and still he holds a secret that surprises me, a secret he doesn't hold out of maliciousness, not even a secret he's unwilling to tell, since he tells it, bit by bit, on every page, but perhaps a secret I was expecting in words, in big chapter headings, in ALL CAPS. Silly, Rovar doesn't speak, but what you want to know, you already know, you just don't know you know it.
It amazes me that this is Anthony's first book. She's smart, practiced, smooth, and reliable. Reviewers are comparing her to Kafka, Grass, some other big names, but I think that's because she's stolen a few character elements from those greats, but her style is completely her own, and extraordinary.

[Laura M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most surprising reads in years. It's the story about a "near-midget" Rovar Ákos Pfliegman who "sells" meat out of a bus in Virginia. He is sick with all sorts of strange illnesses, so he goes to see a pediatrician Dr. Monica, who asks him to "write how he feels." This is the essence of the novel. Since his parents died in a car accident, he has not only buried his voice but his emotions. We are not allowed to relate to Rovar in the same way that Rovar cannot relate with us--yet by the end, his transformation into the "real" again is so spectacular it literally caught my breath. This novel is like a long poem which challenges all of us to question what is truth and myth. Highly Recommended.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the one hand, fantastic. In the literal and lateral definitions of the word. Mythmaking on a Vonnegut scale, meaning squirrelly and capricious and where the bizarre alt-history of the world actually seems a heap more likely than the histories we’re given. On the other hand, the ending lost me completely. Had it stuck the landing and not just written Kafka on post-it notes, I’d be singing more praises right now. 3.675 stars.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Just minor spoilers follow... I don't give away anything important!)

Fascinating! Well, it definitely doesn't remind me of anything else I've ever read, that's for sure. I really enjoyed this book so much. Jessica Anthony's writing is fabulously creative and strange, and I love it. I laughed out loud at a couple parts of this book, and cringed during others. The protagonist is very different than most... I *think* I sympathized with him...? Actually, that ambiguity, that "do I really care about *that* thing?" feeling is exactly what you're supposed to feel, I think, because that's what the story is about. The forgotten, unnoticed, different people that we don't always notice or care about.

I doubt I will ever read another story about a small Hungarian mute who sells meat out of a broken down school bus and has a large beetle, Mrs. Klipner, for a friend. Just that basic premise alone is enough to pique my creative interest; but then throw in the history of the Pfliegman clan and the way the truth slowly, slowly, s-l-o-w-l-y is revealed, and it becomes a must-read book. If you appreciate great writing... you have to check it out!

And the ending... WOW. I closed the book and just sat and thought about it for a long, long time. I wish I could say I completely "got" it, but I'm not sure I did. I'm still trying to figure it out. I don't know what the imaginary characters (the Indian, Charles Darwin, Carly Simon) had to do with transformation and Rovar's condition; and I am still trying to figure out the stuff with water/rivers in this book. I know there is some heavy meaning there, and maybe it's clear to everyone else who reads it, but I'd be lying if I said I understood and appreciated all of the subtle metaphors sprinkled through the book. I'm just not that intelligent. :)

But Jessica Anthony is, and I can't wait to read whatever else she writers. She's found a way to tell a story in a completely unconventional manner, with incredible description and a powerful confidence in her voice. It's a beautiful book (not to mention the cover painting is amazing!) and I have to say, it's worth reading just for the Hungarian "history" (?) chapters. Fantastic stuff.

(4 out of 5 stars only because of my own comprehension problems; if I thought I had it all figured out, I'd give it a 5.)

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

an attempt at a Middlesex-type narrative, but full of really repulsive and repetitive descriptions of physical decay. a bit boring and full of forced weirdness.

[Alex Anacki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahhhhhh. This book! I love Jessica Anthony’s writing. Enter the Aardvark was one of my 2020 favorites. The Convalescent reminds me at times of Aardvark (the parallel interconnected stories) and also of The Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith, a YA favorite of mine.

This book is bizarre. The ending to me did not feel rushed, but still incoherent. She is a masterful writer, and you can tell that this book is a product of some very weird, quirky things she read about and desperately wished to put together. Her addition of invisible characters (Carly Simon?!) is difficult to grasp, and much of Rovar’s life makes no sense. How his presence is permitted at the pediatrician’s office is beyond me, and how he has been successfully thieving meat for years from the supermarket ... and selling it to people out of a rusty old school bus ... makes no sense. The level of detail is elaborate, the premise very YA but sexualized and weird, and it is clear that whatever is in Jessica Anthony’s mind simply cannot be put on paper in a way that does it justice.

The Hungarian storyline is the more coherent of the two. To me, the characters seem more three-dimensional than their modern counterparts. Mrs. Himmel is a caricature, Dr. Monica is too empathetic, and Rovar’s interactions with the people of Virginia are odd.

Yet, even with these faults, I agree with another reviewer — if my brain were big enough to grasp the ending and everything Anthony attempts to accomplish in this book with its accompanying symbolism, this would be a 5/5. In the absence of that brain capacity, I remain so intrigued by this book, would love to sit down with Jessica Anthony and attempt to understand what exactly is happening in her brain, and give it a 4/5.

(If you’re interested in a stylistically similar book that’s a lot more coherent, read The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara.)

[avery · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

wacky

[Corinna Bechko · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems like this book would be right up my alley, full of surreal jaunts into the personal and family history of the unreliable narrator at its core. And I did enjoy it as I was reading it for the most part. The narration becomes a bit repetitive at times though, and occasionally I wished that this filthy little man selling meat out of a bus would do something the least bit unexpected. Alas, he did not. The ending was "odd", but quite what I thought it might be, just as I assumed that his personal history would come around to explain everything else. And indeed it did. If you're a fan of quirky characters, by all means give this book a shot. Just don't expect it to give you much more than that.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Violated my own rule, which is if the book is not at least average, why finish it? I wanted this one to rise above, but it failed me finally. The author took a pretty good premise, that we fail to take proper notice of the "small things," the marginal among us, etc ... and just beat it to death! As much as I like the idea of a mute lame Hungarian-American midget as the protagonist, I couldn't hang with him. I did finish the book out of stubbornness, but it was a hard slog between the clever sections.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is an absurdity to much of this book that I really respond to. There is definitely a lot of delight to be found in it. The narrator is oddly compelling. Some of the elements of magical realism are interesting. Some feel a bit tired--The Metamorphosis--really? As much as I enjoyed some aspects of the novel, its eccentricities seem to spill over into...pretension? No, not really that. It is like a precocious child, amusing and full of promise, but a bit too hungry for attention and a bit too full of self-satisfaction to be truly endearing.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book left me in awe, breathless and confused. So many forces combine to make us who we are. The main character reminds me of a homeless person I knew briefly, years ago, who roamed the streets coated in motor oil and feces, his protection. I wonder if anyone was able to care or connect long enough to discover--protection from what? I admire Rovar. He was a survivor of extraordinary measure, who loved fiercely.

Found even more gems on this second reading.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Golly but this was seriously strange. Also profound, funny, and perplexing. Kafkaesque? Geek Love-ish? I read the first half on an airplane and the unexpected oddness and immediacy made me forget I was sitting in the middle seat, and that's saying something. Also quite beautiful cover-art on my paperback edition.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one quirky, bizarre, almost disturbing book. I found the Hungarian history more readable than the main plot. In an odd way I liked the book, but wish that I hadn't read it.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tired of the same old books? This one will challenge and surprise you.

[Megan Fahey · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good, especially if you like books about dwarves who steal meat and live in vans mixed with Hungarian mythos.

[sabine · Rating 3 out of 5]

i read this on the family kindle, which i haven't used since ninth grade, maybe? but i was getting sick of plodding political philosophy (turns out that even if you agree with rawls, it's difficult to get through a theory of justice without yawning), and i didn't really want to read the first half of vanity fair for the third time... so i manned up and, despite the imaginary rodrigo fresán living in my head, bought an e-book.

i've been meaning to read the convalescent for a long time. anthony's third book, enter the aardvark, is one of my all-time favorites, so i had high hopes. (i also have a tendency to enjoy debut novels, however unpolished, from authors whose later work i admire -- for example, i love this side of paradise and like the broom of the system.)

some of these hopes were certainly fulfilled. the story is inventive, with funny and often lyrical language. anthony has the ability to come up with unique similes that still make perfect sense. a dejected husband is described snapping his fingers "like he's trying to snap éclairs." gazing at his beloved's eyes, a lovesick peasant thinks "he saw something inside of them that he already knew of the world, something long and low and pulling, but triggered only for the quickest second, like a slippery memory of a smell."

sometimes, though, these virtues (originality, humor, lyricism) turn into pretty significant flaws. anthony seems enamored with her own ability to Make Up Shit -- here's a story of the danube river forming! there's a group of ghosts speaking to a man inside an mri machine! -- but her compulsion to make the book (a compact 240 pages) as chock-full of said Made Up Shit as possible often comes at expense of the plot. the ending is both rushed and, more disappointing given the rest of the book, unoriginal.

overall, though, i enjoyed and would recommend to people who like somewhat bizarre books they can read in a day.

[Charles Cohen · Rating 4 out of 5]

WHAT DID I JUST READ.

Books can do a lot of things. They can move you, they can challenge you, they can make you laugh or cry or scream, they can dazzle you etc. etc. etc. But one of my favorite things a book can do is surprise you, and this. Was. Surprising. I know the sections of the book were very explicit, but still, I just didn't anticipate where Rovar would end up. I finished this last night and I'm still shook. The only reason it's not 5 stars is that the back story of the mythical 11th proto-Hungarian tribe, while interesting, just didn't match up to the depth of Rovar's story. But I'm a sucker for the McSweeney's house style - one reviewer called it "comic expressionism". It's a little ironic, and that distance, while amusing, took me a little out of the Pfliegman portions of the book.

Still. Bananas.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an absolutely unforgettable character Anthony has created. By giving us not only his current situation but also his ancestral tale the reader really falls for Rovar Pfliegman and his pet beetle Mrs. Kipner. (I like bugs but this is the first time I actually got nervous for the life of one.) Even when some less-than-savory details of Rovar's existence are revealed it's hard to blame him and even harder not to keep wanting him to be understood.

I loved pretty much every part of this - until the ending. I can't say I didn't like the ending, I just didn't get it. Somewhere I missed the subtext that would give me some understanding of it. Even so, it doesn't diminish how much I loved the rest of this read.

[Taryn Fink · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was weird, revolting, and disturbing. The few descriptions of this book I saw before reading it barely scratch the surface of the bizarreness contained within. The book goes through Hungarian history, while at the same time telling the most useless, random, appalling “story” I’ve ever read. I don’t actively hate many books, but this was awful. I kept hoping everything would come together and make sense, so I kept plugging along, only to arrive at the end with no resolution, scratching my head, and wondering why I wasted my time. Do NOT recommend.

[Nathaniel Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, this book is definitely on my list of top 5 favorite covers. It is stunning.

Second, I am staggered by Jessica Anthony's ability to humanize and revolt, to portray the grotesque with grace and nausea. Her utilization of the disenfranchised and contemptible was appropriately complex. She offers no straightforward axiom or hamfisted moralistic rebuke. Everyone appears more tawdry through the eyes of this book and yet everyone seems a bit more resplendent as well.

Third, I can't decide how I feel about surprise magical realism elements. Come back to me on that one.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book I picked up because at some point after it came out, Chuck Palahniuk recommended it on his page/blog or in an article or something somewhere. It certainly calls to mind the writing style of Palahniuk but it's content spans between engaging history, and unlikely protagonist who is a ball of pity while still incredibly interesting and undertones and passages reminiscent of Kafka; specifically Metamorphosis.

[Batul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between a 3 and a 4. Anthony's writing captivates with a melange of brilliant place-making prose, magical realism, and downright disgusting detail. You end up caring for the protagonist while also being exceedingly revolted. A point and half(ish) off for the ending. Yes, it fits given the beginning of the book, but it borrows too heavily from Kafka without tailoring it to the book's own narrative ark.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

At some point in the last 10 years I bought a bunch of McSweeneys books on sale. Some sat on my shelf til now. Finally took this one down: I was not missing much.

This is typical McSweeneys contempo-lit fare. All wackiness, no emotional substance, no compelling characters, no compelling plot. Just wackiness.

It's impressively creative, but the narrative hopscotching gets old pretty fast and none of the stories really go anywhere. The ending is a dud.

[Wen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unexpected.
Laugh aloud moments.
Trauma.
Magical realism.
Myth and history.
An unreliable, oftentimes hallucinating narrator named Rovar living in a not-so-fancy, defunct school bus out of which he sells meat.
Mrs. Himmel, the beetle.
Dr. Monica, the pediatrician.
Surprise appearances by Carly Simon, Isaac Asimov and Charles Darwin.

Imago.

To give specific details means spoiling the fantasy of it all.

Recommended reading: enjoy!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 maybe? What an odd, strange, bizarre little book. This will definitely be the weirdest book I’ll read this year. I was looking for Anthony’s latest novel (novella?) The Most and came across this, her debut. Eye-catching cover, sounded interesting, I figured what the heck. I’ll be thinking about this one for a bit, for its weirdness if nothing else. But I enjoyed her writing, so I’ll definitely check out her other books.