Reading 1001 discussion

I listened to this book on audio recently for a “read the world” challenge, and I found it both enjoyable in an adventure epic sense, and historically interesting and noteworthy. I gave it 4 stars.

One of Hungary’s most famous and renowned pieces of literature, it was written in the 1890s about the 16th century. Sweeping over 20 years- mostly in the life of national hero Gergely Bornemissza and his fictional wife Éva Cecey- it mainly portrays the conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and Hungarians (notably the holding of Buda and the siege of Eger). It provides those epic siege and battle moments notable of the historical epic, but also does a great job of illustrating the less epic monotony and uncertainty in the day to day life of the Hungarian soldiers, and the ambiguity of alliances at the time.

There is certainly some obvious xenophobia and nationalistic overtone in the book (not surprising given its era and intent), but, it does also present with complex Austrian/Germanic and Ottoman characters and interactions. I also find it funny that the characters keep referring to Muslims as “pagans”, but I’m not sure the average 16th century Hungarian villager would have a super nuanced view of other cultures and beliefs, so I’m mostly okay with this aspect of the book.

Another noteworthy thing about it is that Gergely Bornemissza’s story in this book is mostly fictionalized. I knew nothing about him to begin with, so this didn’t bother me when reading. I also loved the relative autonomy and adventure his wife Eva gets as well- despite the fact she wasn’t real. The way various historical elements were changed does remind me of exactly the way it would play out in a Hollywood movie made recently.

I had just finished teaching a bunch of AP world history exam prep before reading this book: and I was teaching about the Ottoman wars in Hungary, the reformation (there is a noteworthy encounter with a Lutheran priest in this novel), Janissaries, etc. So to delve less technically and more romantically into this world immediately after was cool to me.

A 19th-century Hungarian war/adventure historical novel focusing on Turkish invasions of Hungary and especially the siege of Eger in 1552. The main character is Gergely Bornemissza, a real officer with an important role in holding the city of Eger against the invaders. The novel begins with a story of his life up to that point, which is mostly fiction, then the siege is covered in convincing detail with many elements of human interest.

War and adventure stories are not my favourites, but I found this interesting and entertaining. I didn't know anything about the early modern history of Hungary and the incursions of the Ottoman empire, so I was grateful for the introduction in my edition which made it clear how much was history and how much was fiction here.