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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This had me audibly responding to its sad unfolding of events, taught me more about a country I knew nothing about, and left me wanting more.
I feel this will stick with me for a while.
Not sure why I’m not giving it the full 5 stars, perhaps because it hasn’t re-shaped my own imagination. But that’s the only limitation this incredible text has against it. If you can enjoy a slower unfolding of characters and their eccentricities in a way that hurts, this will be a beautiful read.
Either way I will be reading more of the authors oeuvre.
I feel this will stick with me for a while.
Not sure why I’m not giving it the full 5 stars, perhaps because it hasn’t re-shaped my own imagination. But that’s the only limitation this incredible text has against it. If you can enjoy a slower unfolding of characters and their eccentricities in a way that hurts, this will be a beautiful read.
Either way I will be reading more of the authors oeuvre.
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
A good story about old Hungary and New Hungary through the actions of an old woman and stubborn love
It's really a shame that The Door, by the Hungarian writer, Magda Szabó, has not been and will not be more widely read. It's a book in translation It is a work of literary fiction and not a thriller or mystery. These are not the books for which the mass market reading public is clamoring. And that's too bad because it is a beautiful book.
The Door is the story of a writer, who serves as the narrator, and one of her neighbors, the eccentric Emerence, who works as the writer's housekeeper. The two women begin as employer and employee but gradually become friends, and their friendship is unlike any other. It's a relationship marked by heated arguments, sacrifices, misunderstandings, painful growth, and powerful love.
Emerence is one of the most unforgettable characters I've ever encountered in literature. She is the Hamlet or Huckleberry Finn or Atticus Finch of Hungary. She's delightfully cantankerous and completely unpredictable. She baffles and frustrates her friends, neighbors, and family, yet they love her all the same. She seems a simple domestic laborer, but she harbors secrets that reveal her to be so much more. As we engage with Emerence through the eyes of the narrator, we are frustrated and bemused by her, and we readers, too, fall in love with her.
This short novel is word being made flesh. Emerence and the narrator are fully incarnated in the words of the author. Rarely does one find such brilliant characterization.
Now, while I loved this book, it will not be for everyone. There is not a lot of action nor thrills and twists, but it is a tragedy reminiscent of the classical Greek playwrights in the emotions it evokes. The story of these two women is so powerful, so moving. I am so glad I didn't pass over this book, which, superficially, will probably sound dull and boring; it is anything but.
The Door is the story of a writer, who serves as the narrator, and one of her neighbors, the eccentric Emerence, who works as the writer's housekeeper. The two women begin as employer and employee but gradually become friends, and their friendship is unlike any other. It's a relationship marked by heated arguments, sacrifices, misunderstandings, painful growth, and powerful love.
Emerence is one of the most unforgettable characters I've ever encountered in literature. She is the Hamlet or Huckleberry Finn or Atticus Finch of Hungary. She's delightfully cantankerous and completely unpredictable. She baffles and frustrates her friends, neighbors, and family, yet they love her all the same. She seems a simple domestic laborer, but she harbors secrets that reveal her to be so much more. As we engage with Emerence through the eyes of the narrator, we are frustrated and bemused by her, and we readers, too, fall in love with her.
This short novel is word being made flesh. Emerence and the narrator are fully incarnated in the words of the author. Rarely does one find such brilliant characterization.
Now, while I loved this book, it will not be for everyone. There is not a lot of action nor thrills and twists, but it is a tragedy reminiscent of the classical Greek playwrights in the emotions it evokes. The story of these two women is so powerful, so moving. I am so glad I didn't pass over this book, which, superficially, will probably sound dull and boring; it is anything but.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated