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Embers (Hardcover)

by Sandor Marai (Author), Carol Brown Janeway (Translator) "In the morning, the old general spent a considerable time in the wine cellars with his winegrower inspecting two casks of wine that had begun..." (more)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Viking (3 Jan 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0670910996
  • ISBN-13: 978-0670910991
  • Product Dimensions: 20.5 x 13.5 x 2.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 292,944 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

In Sándor Márai's Embers, two old men, once the best of friends, meet after a 41-year break in their relationship. They dine together, taking the same places at the table that they had assumed on the last meal they shared, then sit beside each other in front of a dying fire, one of them near-silent, the other one, his host, slowly and deliberately tracing the course of their dead friendship. This sensitive, long-considered elaboration of one man's lifelong grievance is as gripping as any adventure story, and explains why Maáai's forgotten 1942 masterpiece is being compared with the work of Thomas Mann. In some ways, M´rai's work is more modern than Mann's. His simplicity and succinct, unadorned lyricism may call to mind Latin American novelists like Gabriel García Márquez, or even Italo Calvino. It is the tone of magical realism, although Márai's work is only magical in the sense that he completely engages his reader, spinning a web of words as his wounded central character describes his betrayal and abandonment at the hands of his closest friend. Even the setting, an old castle, evokes dark fairy tales.

The story of the rediscovery of Embers is as fascinating as the novel itself. A celebrated Hungarian novelist of the 1930s, Márai survived the war but was persecuted by the Communists after they came to power. His books were suppressed, even destroyed, and he was forced to flee his country in 1948. He died in San Diego in 1989, one year before the neglected Embers was finally reprinted in his native land. This reprint was discovered by the Italian writer and publisher Roberto Calasso, and the subsequent editions have become international bestsellers. All of his novels are now slated for American publication. --Regina Marler



Review

Embers recreates the lost world of the old central European aristocracy (here placed at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains) within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with all its human interdependence. Its compact intimacy reminds one afresh of one antidote to today's bloated blockbuster: the literary novella, containing much pleasure within a relatively short span. Marai (a refugee from Communism who committed suicide in 1989) wrote this cultured drama back in the 1940s, although it wasn't discovered by English language readers until last year. The action is set during the passing of one night, as an old aristocrat greets a friend he has not seen for a generation, and at heart is a story of unrequited love. Old fashioned maybe, but very rewarding.
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In the morning, the old general spent a considerable time in the wine cellars with his winegrower inspecting two casks of wine that had begun to ferment. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

39 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (39 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Grand Rediscovery, 21 Nov 2002
By taking a rest - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
The good news is that a substantial body of work from Mr. Sandor Marai of Hungary has been found once again, in a manner of speaking, and for those who love brilliant writing; the Publisher Knoph is translating his work into English. His novel, "Embers" is one of the better books I have read this year.

An old castle in The Carpathian Mountains is the setting for what approaches a monologue. The mood of the book is consistent with another who hailed from these mountains as Vlad the Impaler. The book is not a horror novel; rather a disturbing psychological thriller that explores what is truly at the heart of an issue after it has been examined for over 4 decades. Coincidentally the age of the author when he wrote the work, and the time that expires between one dinner between the closest of friends and its sequel, are both 42 years. The book is remarkable as he writes of the view of life from the perspective of people in their 8th and 10th decades of life, and the prose reads as authoritative and appropriate. It reads like a man who has lived twice as long as the author had lived when he penned this work. The writing is wise.

Mr. Marai takes a familiar theme that would normally result in rapid responses from those involved, and instead suspends any conclusion for over 4 decades. He presents two boys that grow up together and form bonds that are so absolute; there is no manner by which their friendship may improve. Their bond is complete; their backgrounds are polar opposites, which may give rise to their fall. There is an intentional breach, and then there is an event that never gets beyond the "almost" stage. Had it occurred it would have been the greatest of tragedies.

The injured party, whether through right or the power of family and position, could have done anything he chose to his friend and betrayer. For over 40 years he could have easily sought him out, but yet he never did, he never even contemplated seeking a traditional revenge. When the faithless friend comes to visit, dinner is served with a meticulous eye for the reproduction of every detail of the dinner 42 years before. There are only two at the table as opposed to three, and yet the missing third is a tangential issue, important but not the focus. The host queries his guest about events of which he knows all the details save for one. He already knows what happened, and is comfortable as to motive. The author builds such expectations in the reader that you will wonder if the final act can possibly match the first.

There is only one question; however there are two sources for the truth. The host for most of his life has held one and he has never violated the seal, his friend alone can provide the answer if the book remains closed. The resolution of the tale is brilliant. It is complex, and also beautifully logical when expressed as this one character of fiction has decanted it for most of his life. There is no written sleight of hand. This is a completely new approach, a unique response to what should seem cliché.

Absolutely wonderful reading.

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars "We have to endure our characters. . .as best we can.", 22 Dec 2002
By Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)   
As full of dramatic tension as anything written by Poe, this masterpiece of character development idealizes the personal values of a lost world, and celebrates the rewards and obligations of friendship. Henrik, a former Austro-Hungarian general and member of the aristocracy, is approaching the end of his life, having lived 75 years according to the "male virtues: silence, solitude, and the inviolability of one's word." He is awaiting a visit from Konrad, his former best friend, a man he has not seen or heard from in 41 years and 43 days, a man he believes betrayed him and upon whom he has yearned for revenge for more than half his life.

The simple narrative framework allows Henrik to tell the story through his own meditations and his one-sided conversation with Konrad after his arrival. Touching first on the lives and marriages of Henrik's parents, his wife's parents, and then Konrad's parents, Henrik slides obliquely and seductively into the story of his friendship with Konrad, his courtship of Krisztina, and the first four years of his own marriage. As tiny details emerge and build upon one another, the dramatic irony grows. Henrik's vision of himself, his motivations, and his actions appear in sharp relief against the conclusions being drawn by the reader. Henrik is, above all, an aristocrat, imprisoned by a value system he also embraces.

As the parallel dilemmas he imposes on his wife and Konrad emerge ironically from Henrik's narrative, the reader is simultaneously fascinated and frustrated by Henrik's view of his own dilemma and his desire for Truth. A heart-stopping climax and Konrad's dramatic reply to his interrogation, along with numerous breath-taking descriptions of nature, leave the reader awed by Marai's talent and grateful that this very clever and sensitive study of character and values has been reclaimed for posterity. Mary Whipple

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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully-written but slow, 12 Jan 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Embers (Paperback)
This is a beautifully-written piece of prose, with the descriptions of surroundings and emotions tending towards prose poetry rather than dramatic narrative. It was extremely beguiling until it arrived at the long and very dull dinner conversation in which Heinrik has a virtual monologue, some of which tells Konrad what Konrad must surely already know, lasting several chapters. I have to admit the tale lost me at that point and I began to skip through paragraphs whereas before I'd been gripped.

The ending regains lost ground though, in spite of the symbolic actions of the two men at the end being rather too casual for my liking.

An interesting but not a perfect piece.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe a Masterpiece
This is a complex, gripping, masterfully told story. The setting of an old forgotten castle in the Carpathian Mountains sets the gothic ambience of the story and adds to the dark... Read more
Published 28 days ago by Sean Gainford

1.0 out of 5 stars Never got the chance to read it as it has still not arrived
I have to say I am very disappointed to say that I never received this book. I know there was some mixup with the Post Office returning the book to the sender but I did contact... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ms. M. Hanratty

2.0 out of 5 stars Book club purgatory.
A boring waste of time that I am delighted now to find myself released from. This author was no Joseph CONRAD!!

Don't imagine that you will learn ANYTHING.
Published 5 months ago by Mr. R. T. Haynes

5.0 out of 5 stars 40 years of soltitude
This book is not for everyone. It is not a hard read, but the way it tackles some of the problems and in the end doesn't really wrap up and give any solid answers does not appeal... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mihael

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, but...
As another reviewer said, this book is a difficult one to review, not least because it is a very different kind of novel. Read more
Published 8 months ago by F. M. M. Stott

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful but leaves you wondering. . .
To review EMBERS is actually quite difficult - in one way I loved the book but in another, there were elements of it which were unsatisfying. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Brida

4.0 out of 5 stars Oh, for the good old days of Austro-Hungary
It is always interesting when a book from the past - Embers was written in 1942 - gets rediscovered or translated for the first time. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Trevor Coote

4.0 out of 5 stars Great novel by Hungary's Sandor Marai
This is the third book I have read from Hungarian author Sandor Marai, after Eszther's Inheritance and Divorce in Buda (neither of which is translated into English, as far as I... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Andres C. Salama

2.0 out of 5 stars get to the point.
What would you say to your old best friend if he had suddenly disappeared, and then had re-appeared forty-odd years later?
Probably 'Where the hell did YOU go? Read more
Published 20 months ago by Mr Valentino

5.0 out of 5 stars Facts are not the whole truth
This short novel tackles fundamental problems like truth, the real nature of man or the importance of human relations. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Luc REYNAERT

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