Skylark (1923)

A one day read, a little over 200 pages. Translated from the Hungarian. The author lived 1885 to 1936. Takes place in 1899. An old couple’s old maid of a daughter goes away for a week, to visit family. The old couple, at first bereft at the absence of their unexciting and uninteresting daughter, soon surprise themselves by discovering a social world outside of their reclusive home. They rediscover old friends, restaurants, the theatre. It is a comic novel — his descriptions of the daughter in particular are cutting, yet all done in a style of “I calls ‘em as I sees ‘em” A gently comic novel, with unerringly accurate and insightful descriptions of motives, relationships. Best of all were his descriptions of the ugly old maid daughter of the old couple. ( )

A silhouette of life in early 20th-century Hungary. People are carried along by what they do. Kosz has tender and precise prose. ( )

We'll be traveling to Hungary soon and this book is one of the few available in translation here by a popular Hungarian writer of the early 20th century, Dezső Kosztolányi.

So first I'll say that the writing was very enjoyable, that I came to really like characters that I thought at the beginning would bore me to tears the whole book, and that the book can be incredibly funny at times. But, by God, this book was depressing to me. At the end I wanted to scream "Affect change! All of your lives could be so much better! So much more!" Silly American that I am.

So there is a small family. An "ugly" daughter--a spinster at 35, and her two adoring parents. She maintains the house and their lives. The parents adore her. She is to go on a short trip to the country. They are all devastated. What in the world will they do for the whole week? The answer turns out to be, have a freakin life. So they get dragged back into their social connections and personal interests and have a delightful week. She spends a week in the country not getting the husband and family that she so desperately wants or enjoying the company of her extended family, and then she comes back. They go back to being shut-ins with bland food instead of awesome goulash and palinka parties.

According to the introduction, Kosztolányi found it pretty much impossible to write about anything but the fact that we are dying. The examples of personal suffering are poignant, no one in the book is NOT suffering the daughter's fate as all of their hearts break along with hers. But myself, free from the 20th-century Magyar's baggage and saddled with my own American millennial mindset was so angry at them for not doing something to make things better. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want or expect her to get a makeover or marriage prospects. (I would have been way more angry at the end.) I just want them to do something to make their lives better instead of suffering so much, but I guess, realistically or fatalistically, that's generally not how life is.

PS - We are all dying. Thanks, Kosztolányi. ( )

I liked part of this book, and the writing style was simple but pleasing. However, some of it is sad, and I expected more to happen at the end. ( )

A 30-something ugly spinster leaves her old father and mother for a week's vacation with her aunt and uncle. The parents are devastated and lost at first, but soon discover the joys of being able to do as they please: go to a restaurant, visit the theatre, go out with friends, meet new people. While they enjoy these little pleasures, there's always the feeling of guilt and they often feel uncomfortable. When the daughter gets home, everything gets back to normal and they take up their dreary lives as usual. All three think life is lead as it should be and they seem unaware of the fact that they make themselves and each other unhappy. The image of the ugly bird in the cage at the end of the story is magnificent in that respect
This book is a little gem. The characters are somewhat sinister and tragic, the story sometimes humorous, sometimes sarcastic and it leaves the reader with plenty to think about. While the first book I read this year was all about looking for one's purpose that God has created and the joy that comes with it, this book is about the tragedy of people who don't even realize they have a purpose in life and take life as it comes. Recommended if you like literary, slow reading of quality. ( )