Skylark, Dezső Kosztolányi, and Central European Classicous Things

I was looking for some László Krasznahorkai in a bookstore in Burlington, Vermont. I didn't find any of him, but I did find a book entitled Skylark by fellow Hungarian Dezső Kosztolányi. Which is kind of an odd coincidence, but we'll let that slide. The book's cover was completely boring and non-descript, but I picked it up anyway, and when I read a bit about the author and an overview of the novel, it was enough to get me to read a few pages, and that, in turn, was enough to get me to buy it.

And I just finished reading it today. It was so good, so fiercely honest, that it made me want to read a lot more of Mr. Kosztolányi's work. Which won't be easy, as the library only has one other book, and it looks like a lot of his stuff hasn't been translated into English. Man, I knew I should have taken that left at Hungarian 101. I guess it's too late now. Maybe. Hmm. That would be scanned.

ANYway, Skylark is a lot of things, but the part that cut me to the quick was the story about the two parents who realize that their daughter, whom they love dearly, has whittled their worlds down to almost nothing and caused much of their joie de vivre to evaporate. It was hard to admit to myself that there was some resonance there with my own experience. (Though I hasten to admit that for the most part, my daughter and youngest son bring me great joy, despite the fact that the responsibility of caring for two adult autistic people is sometimes quite a heavy load.) But I think any parent could identify with the cost of sacrificing to make a better life for your child, and parents who have children who have some kind of handicap (in this case, the daughter is very ugly, and thus cannot find a husband) will really feel this book. Especially when the girl's parents actually look the truth of their situation right in the face. It's cathartic, really.

Továbbá, Skylark was a part of a publishing venture with the umbrella title Central European Classics, and my OCD is burning hard on this for some reason. There were 17 books published under this banner in two different series (first series 7 books, second series 10), and this morning I went on the hunt to see what I could see. Here's what I found: 

Central European Classics

Old series

The Adventures of Sindbad

Gyula Krúdy
Ekstrom Library Book Stacks (4th floor)PH3281.K89 S913 1998

Be Faithful unto Death 

Zsigmond Móricz
Amazon print only

The Birch Grove and Other Stories

Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz
Amazon print only

The Doll

Boleslaw Prus
Ekstrom Library Book Stacks (4th floor)PG7158.G6 L33

Prague Tales 

Jan Neruda
Bellarmine University Level A FictionNERUDA

Skylark 

Dezsõ Kosztolányi

I bought it & finished reading it on 9/10/17.

The Sorrowful Eyes of Hannah Karajich

Ivan Olbracht
Ekstrom Library Book Stacks (4th floor)PG5038.Z35 O213 1999

New Series

The Coming Spring

Stefan Zeromski
Better World Books print only
Bellarmine Online Access

Martin Kacur – The Biography of and Idealist 

Ivan Cankar
Amazon print only--kind of expensive
Bellarmine Online Access

The Poet and the Idiot

Friedebert Tuglas
Amazon print only
Bellarmine Online Access

The Slave Girl and Other Stories on Women

Ivo Andric
LFPL

Tale of Two Worlds 

Vjenceslav Novak
Amazon print and Kindle
Bellarmine Online Access

Three Chestnut Horses 

Margarita Figuli
Better World Books--very expensive

The Tower and Other Stories

Janis Ezerins
Amazon Kindle Unlimited

Whitehorn's Windmill

Kazys Boruta
Amazon Kindle Unlimited
Bellarmine Online Access

The Prose of the Mountains – Three Tales of the Caucasus

Aleksandre Qazbegi
Amazon Kindle or Print

The House of a Thousand Floors

Jan Weiss
Amazon print only--kind of expensive
Bellarmine Online Access

So the entire series is more or less accessible to me, and most of the books can be had for little or no money, which is becoming a necessity in these Retirement Days.

More Central European Classics News as it happens.