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Postcard from London: and Other Stories
The first comprehensive volume in English from one of Hungary’s most popular twentieth-century writers.
Iván Mándy (1918–1995) has been called “the prose poet of Budapest,” and this volume of short stories presents the first comprehensive collection of his work in English. His early oeuvre created an urban mythology full of picaresque characters inhabiting the seedier neighborhoods of the its flea-market stalls, second-run cinemas, and old-fashioned coffeehouses. The stories from the later decades of Mándy’s life, often bordering on the absurd, introduce many autobiographical elements spun around the author’s alter-ego, János Zsámboky, whose hapless adventures on a rare trip abroad constitute this group of stories, including “Postcard from London.” Mándy’s unique style at times borrows techniques from films and radio plays, his quirky cuts creating a flicker of images seen in the mind’s eye. Memory and perception, time and place spin in narrative legerdemain that invites and rewards the reader’s active participation.
Iván Mándy (1918–1995) has been called “the prose poet of Budapest,” and this volume of short stories presents the first comprehensive collection of his work in English. His early oeuvre created an urban mythology full of picaresque characters inhabiting the seedier neighborhoods of the its flea-market stalls, second-run cinemas, and old-fashioned coffeehouses. The stories from the later decades of Mándy’s life, often bordering on the absurd, introduce many autobiographical elements spun around the author’s alter-ego, János Zsámboky, whose hapless adventures on a rare trip abroad constitute this group of stories, including “Postcard from London.” Mándy’s unique style at times borrows techniques from films and radio plays, his quirky cuts creating a flicker of images seen in the mind’s eye. Memory and perception, time and place spin in narrative legerdemain that invites and rewards the reader’s active participation.
356 pages, Hardcover
Published January 3, 2022
21 people want to read
About the author
Iván Mándy
45 booksKossuth Prize-winning Hungarian writer.
He wrote screenplays, appeared in films, and wrote children's books, too, one of the best known of which is the Csutak series, of which several have also been made into films.
He wrote screenplays, appeared in films, and wrote children's books, too, one of the best known of which is the Csutak series, of which several have also been made into films.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 27, 2022
I really had no idea what to expect from this large collection of short stories by Hungarian writer Iván Mándy but I was drawn in from the first pages. The stories fall into two general categories along with some miscellaneous pieces. From the early 1970s, a series of stories featuring Mándy's alter ego János Zsámboky, involve his parents—primarily his engagement with his memories of his eccentric unreliable father and his quieter mother and their ghosts. A later series of stories from the late 1980s and early 90s follow János once again, now married to the patient Zsuzsi. His narratives weave in and out of reality, dreams and memories in a seamless manner. And in the later stories János, or other unnamed writer protagonists are typically haunted by earlier acquaintances, characters, and a compulsive tendency to turn distracted moments into the daydreaming invention of possible literary fodder.
A longer review can be found here: https://roughghosts.com/2022/10/27/th...
A longer review can be found here: https://roughghosts.com/2022/10/27/th...
Displaying 1 of 1 review