- Paperback: 220 pages
- Publisher: YouWriteOn & Legend Press (8 Dec 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1849231583
- ISBN-13: 978-1849231589
- Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,415,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Ears, too many of them, catching any accidental voicing of free thought… The tragicomedy of spraying trees with green paint during the Leader's visits… The deadly denial of the existence of serious 'imperialist' diseases… Three hours of TV broadcasts per day, food rationing, power cuts… Then, the Romanian Revolution of 1989, which replaced communism with democracy, artificial stability with chaos, external threats with internal tensions, power with corruption, religion with greed… and one dread with many fears. It is a personal journey of a Transylvanian Hungarian ethnic child of Ceausescu's dark '70s, a teenager during the suffocating Romanian '80s, a student during the surreal '90s and an emigrant of recent years. His journey from a world that Kafka imagined, but Ceausescu created, to a society that still fights with numerous ghosts also reveals unexpected parallels between that past totalitarianism and the disturbing transformations of his recently adopted home.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A memoir- and much, much more,
By Palmyra (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ears (Paperback)
There are a number of aspects that are immediately noticeable whilst reading this quite unique memoir.
I do use the word unique, because after many desiccated accounts of various dictatorships, it is truly refreshing to read something that combines the memories of a child's personal experiences with the subtle humour of the reminiscing adult, genuine literary craftsmanship, a gentle lyrical tone of remarkable restraint even when writing about everyday experiences we can't even imagine to live through once. To quote a part of the synopsis, "It is a personal journey of a Transylvanian Hungarian ethnic child of Ceausescu's dark `70s, a teenager during the suffocating Romanian `80s, a student during the surreal `90s and an emigrant of recent years. His journey from a world that Kafka imagined, but Ceausescu created, to a society that still fights with numerous ghosts also reveals unexpected parallels between that past totalitarianism and the disturbing transformations of his recently adopted home." On the other hand, it is not just a memoir of years spent during an infamous totalitarian regime - it is also a sensitive and deeply observant description of what came after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. The tableaus of a society going through the most disorienting tectonic shifts, seen from `street level', are simply remarkable. What is novel for what seems to be `just' a memoir, is that in the final chapters there are revelatory parallels drawn between the author's former and his later adopted home. Whether the dumbing down and exquisite propaganda tactics are used by a communist dictator or, years and miles apart, a free democratic country's government seeing itself in the second line of a so-called `War on Terror', it becomes evident: the context and details may differ in certain methods used by radically different powers, but the essence and intent of those classic methods can be remarkably similar. This is a memoir of someone who not only hasn't taken for granted what his past and present homeland has offered to (and/or forced upon) him, but also, despite all the fast and slow traumas, kept a fascinatingly clear analytical eye for the very different worlds he experienced. If you want a stunning picture of former and current Romania, coupled with an analysis of how a formerly free country's powers ended up adopting alarmingly familiar `classic' methods to achieve their political goals, read Ears...
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Unique and revealing account of Romania in the 80s,
By
This review is from: Ears (Paperback)
Disregard the review above, this is a fascinating and absorbing book, from an author who succinctly and powerfully describes the many values lost in the transition from a collective society under Ceausescu to the new individualised western mode of existence. Chiefly what comes across is the lost camaraderie the author senses between people, brought on by the necessity of sharing things that were virtually unobtainable or very scarce under the regime - books, films, food, whatever. We have lost this in the West because everyone can have everything now. His pages on the anti-Hungarian violence in Tirgu Mures is also eye-opening, as well as the many incredible anecdotes about life under the RCP. The corruption that followed in the 90s is also described in a very revealing way. Yes, the book could do with a good editor to iron out the many mistakes in English, but as it stands the writing gives you a sense that this is coming from a very genuine and sensitive source with little inteference. Mr Vandor is clearly an intelligent man and we are lucky that he has taken time to put his observations and thoughts into writing. Romania in the 80s and the period of transition after the revolution is a subject that has received scant attention from serious authors with first hand experience of it and this makes the book all the more valuable. Highly recommended.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
hard work indeed,
By Scribula (Devon, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ears (Paperback)
I have valiantly managed to read the first few pages of this book, and have found them largely unintelligible. I'm sure that in Romanian the author writes like a dream, but the resulting mess in English makes for a laborious read to say the least. Clear evidence of frenzied Thesaurus use makes for some hysterically tortuous sentences. At times I found myself imagining a travelogue of Kazakhstan by Borat. I will continue with this book because the subject matter interests me (the style quite honestly frightens me), but I fear it will defeat me before I get half way. It comes as no surprise that it is "published" by a self publishing online place with no editorial control.
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