Another Love

Another Love’ by Erzsebet Galgoczi was a mysterious trip into Hungary during the 1950s. Many of the main character’s experiences mirror the author’s life. There is a biography of the author in the back of the book.

Eva Szalanczky, was found shot by the Hungarian border patrol in September 1959. She was a journalist who wanted to speak the truth, not the party line in her articles. She came from a peasant background, graduated with very high grades in college and then could not get a decent paying job. She was lesbian and this book tells of her love affairs with men and women but it seems like her peasant background is her biggest nemesis.

First Lieutenant Marosi had been a school friend of hers and wanted to figure out why she would show more try to cross the border. Was it suicide, murder, or a genuine try to defect? He took off time from his post to doing a personal investigation of her friends and lovers.

I had a difficult time deciding on the rating of this book. The mystery was very strong and kept me turning the pages. Her life was tragic and complicated. Just at the time when you think we will find out more about her, the book stops. There was no explicit sex. The book gradually builds a portrait of Eva and her struggles and the mystery is the main reason that I ended up with giving this book four stars.

If you are very disappointed by books that don’t have endings, do not read this book. If you want to get a feeling for the life of Hungarian peasants, and the oppression they faced, read this book. show less

The premise for Another Love is intriguing: a female journalist named Eva is shot dead in an apparent attempt at an illegal border crossing in Hungary. The border patrol officer soon realizes that this isn't just any random woman but the long lost infatuation of his school days. Bewildered and befuddled by this senseless act of escape, the officer sets out to uncover what in this woman's past led her to such an unfortunate end.

And what is the story? Turns out that Eva was plagued by parallel troubles in both the political realm (the story takes place following the famed 1956 Hungarian upheavals/trials/regime changes) and in her love life involving a married woman. As we learn more about her we see that Eva is both a sympathetic and a show more plain old pathetic character. She becomes the story of a born victim, which frankly isn't that compelling. The afterword to the book suggests that Another Love was partly autobiographical, and this makes sense. The unfolding of Eva's character feels self-indulgent on the part of the author, and while the turmoil in Eva's life is mildly interesting, the story of how she became a sort of forgotten martyr is not. show less

This is an entangled love story that can only be from Revolutionary Hungary. Although many of the intertwined and entangled relationships, gay, straight and otherwise, are played out everywhere... the backdrop of the Communist party, the oppressive government and the fears that both engender add a dimension almost incomprehensible in 21st century USA!

Even with little historical background of 20th century Hungarian history, the fear and frustration of trying to live and love in this environment are visceral.

The use of diaries, letters and interviews allows for the book to be almost entirely in first-person narrative - and this is the only criticism I have of the book. It sometimes seems a little awkward and forced (concise, verbatim show more conversations written by a drunk, crazed, suicidal woman seems a little unlikely). It also got a little confusing to know who's doing the talking - the stories begin to sound very similar - and I had to keep flipping back several pages to see who the narrator of any given section is.

A short, quick read - definitely worth the read show less

En stormig septembernatt 1959 skjuts en ung kvinna ihjäl vid den ungerskjugoslaviska gränsen. Vem var hon? Varför försökte hon fly? Den officer vars soldater gett eld beslutar sig för att finna svaret på frågorna. Under några hektiska semesterdagar i Budapest utför han ett detektivarbete som för honom långt: ner i ett gemensamt förflutet, på andra sidan de ödesdigra höstveckorna 1956. Med denna intensiva och spännande roman om den 28-åriga journalisten Eva Szalånczkys öde, präglat av hennes homosexualitet och politiska oräddhet, introduceras Erzsébet Galgöczi (f. 1930) för svensk publik. Hon är partilös ledamot i det ungerska parlamentet, belönad bl. a. med Kossuth-priset — och väckte 1980 stor show more uppståndelse med Innanför lagen: en roman genomsyrad av psykologiska och politiska spänningar, balanserande på gränsen till vad som kan och får sägas om Ungerns inflammerade gårdag. show less