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The Swimmer by Zsuzsa Bank
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The Swimmer (original 2002; edition 2005)

by Zsuzsa Bank, Margot B. Dembo (Translator)

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22313120,005 (3.91)9
Hungary, 1956. Without a word, Katalin leaves her family and sets out for the West. Her husband, Kalman, abandons the family farm and begins a long and circuitous journey through Hungary with his two young children, Kata and Isti. Staying briefly with distant relatives in unfamiliar cities and villages, Kalman keeps his family on the move and shuns anything resembling a home or a steady life. As their father sinks into depression, Kata and her brother create their own imaginary universe: Kata invents relationships with the people they meet during their long journey while Isti converses with the world around him-houses, stones, snow, skies. It is only in rare moments, on riverbanks and lakeshores where Kata and Isti swim with their father, that they experience a semblance of calm and happiness. Moments that feel as if life is just beginning for them . . .… (more)
Member:SqueakyChu
Title:The Swimmer
Authors:Zsuzsa Bank
Other authors:Margot B. Dembo (Translator)
Info:Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2005), Edition: 1, Hardcover, 288 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:
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Work Information

The Swimmer by Zsuzsa Bánk (2002)

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    A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (cometahalley)
    cometahalley: Una bambina che attraverso la capacità d'immaginazione riesce a superare le ristrettezze della vita e a conservare i propri sogni.
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» See also 9 mentions

German (6)  English (4)  Dutch (1)  Italian (1)  Danish (1)  All languages (13)
Showing 4 of 4
Ungarn 1956: Die Panzer rollen, der Aufstand schlägt fehl, die Hoffnung scheitert, daß die Welt eine andere hätte werden können. Ohne ein Wort verläßt Katalin ihre Familie und flüchtet über die Grenze in den Westen. Ihr Mann Kálmán verkauft Haus und Hof und zieht fortan mit den Kindern Kata und Isti durch das Land.
Während Kálmán in Schwermut verfällt, errichten sich Kata und ihr kleiner Bruder Isti ihre eigene Welt: Isti hört, was die Dinge zu erzählen haben - das Haus, die Steine, die Pflanzen, der Schnee -, während Kata den Geschichten der Menschen zuhört, denen sie auf ihrer jahrelangen Reise begegnet. Der genaue Blick der Kinder trifft auf eine Welt, die sie nicht verstehen. Nur wenn sie am Wasser sind, an Flüssen, an Seen, wenn sie dem Vater zusehen, wie er seine weiten Bahnen zieht und wenn sie selber schwimmen - nur dann finden sie verzauberte Momente der Leichtigkeit und des Glücks. Beide ahnen, dass ihr Leben erst beginnt.
  Fredo68 | May 14, 2020 |
Another hidden little gem that I would never had found if not for this site. Hungary, 1956, Kata and Isti's mother leaves them, their father proceeds to take them from relative to relative all over the country. There is very little conversation in this novel and it is narrated by young Kata which makes the novel even more poignant. Everything seen and heard is related by this child, and her thoughts and emotions, are at times extremely honest but often misguided. She simply does not understand what is going on around her. Only around water, swimming with her father and brother does she feel her father cares about them, that they still have a home. Most of the time she feels that she and her brother are just impositions, "I had the feeling that Isti and I were just two add-ons, stuck to him, to his life, that he could never get rid of. We were part of him, in some vague way that's how it was, and he put up with us the way he put up with everything, no matter what is was -- with indifference. So incredibly sad and at one point Itsi, who is the youngest, says after leaving another family home that he wished he could unlearn crying. Although there is virtually no action and we never actually find out what happened to their mother, the war we learn about only a little and in a round about way, yet we learn and see how it has affected these children nonetheless. ( )
1 vote Beamis12 | Jan 6, 2013 |
A haunting story told through the words of a young girl who wanders around occupied Hungary with her father and brother after her mother leaves.

Zsuzsa Banks is a German author with Hungarian roots. In this, her first novel, she writes about Hungry in the 1950s. The political environment of Soviet
occupation provides the background for her novel, but the focus is on one family; a father and two children left behind when the mother suddenly and unexpectedly leaves. The daughter, Kata, tells the story of how the remaining family members wander around Hungary temporarily living with various relatives.

Read the rest of my review at my blog. mdbrady.wordpress.com
1 vote mdbrady | Jun 14, 2012 |
Often heartbreaking. Touching characters. ( )
  bertonek | Oct 25, 2007 |
Showing 4 of 4
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» Add other authors (4 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Zsuzsa Bánkprimary authorall editionscalculated
Maaren, Nelleke vanTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Wallenström, UlrikaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Für Erzsébet und Lidia.
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Ich hatte wenige Erinnerungen an meine Mutter.
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Hungary, 1956. Without a word, Katalin leaves her family and sets out for the West. Her husband, Kalman, abandons the family farm and begins a long and circuitous journey through Hungary with his two young children, Kata and Isti. Staying briefly with distant relatives in unfamiliar cities and villages, Kalman keeps his family on the move and shuns anything resembling a home or a steady life. As their father sinks into depression, Kata and her brother create their own imaginary universe: Kata invents relationships with the people they meet during their long journey while Isti converses with the world around him-houses, stones, snow, skies. It is only in rare moments, on riverbanks and lakeshores where Kata and Isti swim with their father, that they experience a semblance of calm and happiness. Moments that feel as if life is just beginning for them . . .

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