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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
How children suffer for their parents, and parents for their children. The heartbreak of a parent’s love. I resonate with this story so much. In some way, I feel like I am Skylark and Skylark’s parents at the same time. Will reread. Beautiful told.
This is an utterly beautiful book. The writing is stunning, at times simple but always clever and perfectly assembled, and each of the characters were gorgeous in their own tragic ways. A premise such as this, where the daughter leaves home, usually produces a book about her and of her own coming of age story, which is what I was expecting. However, Skylark herself is scarcely in this novel and yet she is, in the minds of her parents who simultaneously miss her and don't. The themes of this are sombre and yet there is a lot of lightness and humour to it as well, which Kosztolanyi balances masterfully. Some will find the ending abrupt and purposeless, almost as though the book could have carried on for another hundred or so pages, but I loved that about Skylark. This story doesn't really have a resolution, nothing is really mended come the final sentences, but I feel this is genius. It isn't out of laziness that Kosztolanyi did this. There was purpose behind it and that is tangible in every word, making it a poignant book.
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Before Skylark, I don’t think I’ve ever read any type of Hungarian literature, and definitely never heard of Dezso Kosztolányi. To be honest, how much I enjoyed Kosztolányi’s story and style of writing was a surprise to me. The setting of Sarszeg was meant to be a bit bleak and uninviting but by the end of the novel, it was a place I wanted to visit myself. I also felt a connection to this story because as I began it, I was actually on the way to Germany, leaving my parents alone for the first time since I left for college. The situation the Vajkays were left in reminded me of my parents. However, they were left only for a week, which is how long the time-span of the novel, is.
Within a week, it’s clear the Vajkays, both Mother and Akos have rediscovered themselves in a way, eating heartily, drinking heavily, enjoying the company of high society, their old friends. Kosztolányi is able to paint such a vivid picture of the local restaurant scene and the gentleman’s society that I imagined the storyline as a rich movie in my head. I feel like I always learn so much about Austria and Vienna during this time that getting a thorough glimpse of Hungary was very satisfying. What was particularly satisfying was the descriptions of food by Kosztolányi. There are too many mouth-watering examples to cite here. However, the significance of a home-cooked meal in Hungarian culture is apparent, along with the importance of restaurant culture.
A majority of the story was following Akos and Mother around, and their struggle of reintegrating into society while Skylark is away. However, Skylark’s letter and then return was not only an emotional roller coaster ride, but such a heavy hitter in terms of the way I’d wish the book ended (happily, sappily and perfect, I suppose). I hoped Skylark would end up with a boyfriend of sorts and that she might move out and everyone would be happy and free. But, Kosztolányi brings reality back full force, revealing how truly dependent this family is on each other, in an almost unhealthy way.
Skylark’s unhappiness that is revealed to the reader is not the most upsetting part of this story to me. Akos’s admitting of how he finds Skylark to be ugly really got to me, and was definitely surprising in the midst of how the story was going. I wouldn’t have thought that was going to be his drunken confession. I think honesty is a part of the Hungarian culture and people that can be seen everywhere from art to music to politics even. While everything seems like a deception, I feel like most things are actually just out in the open, for people to deal with, if they want to. The judge’s wife’s affairs is one example along with the rest of the personal lives of the Panthers, of the awkward relationship between honesty and honor in this society.
I’ll conclude with a quote from Skylark that I feel lucky to have read, if not for meaning, just for the way it was written. It’s a bit strange out of context but I thought it was simply but still beautifully written:
“I,” she began in her thoughts, as we all do when thinking of ourselves. But this I was her, something, someone whose life she really lived. She was this I, in body and in soul, one with its very flesh, its memories, its past, present and future, all of which we seal into a single destiny each time we face ourselves and utter that tiny, unalterable word: “I.”
Within a week, it’s clear the Vajkays, both Mother and Akos have rediscovered themselves in a way, eating heartily, drinking heavily, enjoying the company of high society, their old friends. Kosztolányi is able to paint such a vivid picture of the local restaurant scene and the gentleman’s society that I imagined the storyline as a rich movie in my head. I feel like I always learn so much about Austria and Vienna during this time that getting a thorough glimpse of Hungary was very satisfying. What was particularly satisfying was the descriptions of food by Kosztolányi. There are too many mouth-watering examples to cite here. However, the significance of a home-cooked meal in Hungarian culture is apparent, along with the importance of restaurant culture.
A majority of the story was following Akos and Mother around, and their struggle of reintegrating into society while Skylark is away. However, Skylark’s letter and then return was not only an emotional roller coaster ride, but such a heavy hitter in terms of the way I’d wish the book ended (happily, sappily and perfect, I suppose). I hoped Skylark would end up with a boyfriend of sorts and that she might move out and everyone would be happy and free. But, Kosztolányi brings reality back full force, revealing how truly dependent this family is on each other, in an almost unhealthy way.
Skylark’s unhappiness that is revealed to the reader is not the most upsetting part of this story to me. Akos’s admitting of how he finds Skylark to be ugly really got to me, and was definitely surprising in the midst of how the story was going. I wouldn’t have thought that was going to be his drunken confession. I think honesty is a part of the Hungarian culture and people that can be seen everywhere from art to music to politics even. While everything seems like a deception, I feel like most things are actually just out in the open, for people to deal with, if they want to. The judge’s wife’s affairs is one example along with the rest of the personal lives of the Panthers, of the awkward relationship between honesty and honor in this society.
I’ll conclude with a quote from Skylark that I feel lucky to have read, if not for meaning, just for the way it was written. It’s a bit strange out of context but I thought it was simply but still beautifully written:
“I,” she began in her thoughts, as we all do when thinking of ourselves. But this I was her, something, someone whose life she really lived. She was this I, in body and in soul, one with its very flesh, its memories, its past, present and future, all of which we seal into a single destiny each time we face ourselves and utter that tiny, unalterable word: “I.”