In Praise of Older Women

A thin book, easy reading, which i chose because i wanted a book set in Hungary under stalin which wasn't just all about the horror. It was that. Erotic without being pornographic, set in an opressive world without being too concerned with opression, it gave some feel for the way life was carried out during those years.
but then.. the postscript. and profound and thoughtful reflection on the function of story and moral, on freedom and despair, on sexuality and community in the 20th century. it's only 7 pages long but worth finding the book just to read it.

The best book about sex ever written, since there is almost no description of sex itself - because who needs a description? Besides, sex is never truly about sex, is it?

The notion that older women make the most interesting and satisfying lovers is one of the most persistent in the general understanding of human relationships, and there are several reasons for believing in its veracity, particularly in cases where their partners are either virginal or barely experienced. This well-established novel explores the possible reasons in the form of an autobiographical account of the amorous progress of a young man from his early pubescence in his native Hungary during the transition from post-Nazi to Soviet occupation. The low priority of sexual mores during such times emerges as a clear influence on him. For me the book recalled the social situations described more ably by the similarly nationally occupied show more Czechoslavakians Skvorecky and Kundera, even though these authors eschewed the narrow focus of erotic education that dominates Vizinczey's novel. The supposed subject eventually leaves Hungary to pursue an academic career in Canada, opening a broader landscape of human relationships. The sociological backgrounds of the women who contributed to the education of the young narrator, necessarily twisted by their own, possibly atypical, experiences may well have influenced his analysis of their relationships with him, but their variety certainly adds richness to the descriptions of their needs and emotions. It's an interesting book, relatively clinical rather than erotic in its narrative style. show less

Un livre assez inattendu, au titre trompeur, le sous-titre l'est moins: "Les souvenirs amoureux d'Andras Vajda". Voilà, c'est plutôt ça. Avec une petite louche d'arrière-plan historique, guerre en Hongrie, libération des moeurs, etc. C'est pas inintéressant, mais bon, ce n'est pas non plus le livre de l'année, quoi.

Delicado, tierno, agudo.

Great literature

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