Lily's Blog

Kati who works with Denis in Hungary sent me this book for Christmas. It was a very enjoyable read – the only book I managed to get read over Christmas.

Set in the autumn of 1899, this is a portrait of provincial life in the Austro-Hungarian empire at the turn of the nineteenth century.
The book describes one week in the uneventful life of an elderly retired Hungarian couple. Their unattractive, (my word, the book uses the word ugly), spinster daughter, nicknamed Skylark has left them for an unprecedented week’s holiday with relatives. At first the couple, whose entire existence revolves around their daughter, are devastated by her absence. Slowly they rediscover a life in their small-town society doing things they normally didn’t do when their daughter was there; eating out in the local restaurant, going to the theatre. The husband, Ákos, meets up with the members of his old club, who despite their advancing years, meet weekly for a lively session of drinking, dinner and card playing. The night before Skylark returns, the elderly couple reach the shocking conclusion that their daughter is a burden to them.

The beauty of this book is in its descriptions of the minutiae of everyday life, in its character descriptions, in its pace. From this vignette of Mr and Mrs Vajkays’ life, we get a great glimpse of life in this provincial town, all those years ago.

The Times described the book The most original, economical and painful novel I have read in a long time

Kosztolányi was born in 1885 in Szabadka, a town which today belongs to Serbia. Sárszeg, the fictional town in which this book is set is based on his hometown. He studied at the University of Budapest and then for a short time in Vienna before quitting to become a journalist, a profession he stayed with for the rest of his life. In 1908, he became a reporter for a Budapest paper. In 1910, his first volume of poems brought him nationwide success and marked the beginning of a prolific period in which he published a book nearly every year. He died from cancer at the age of fifty one.

His last finished novel Anna Édes is also available in English. I’ll add that to others by Hungarian author Sándor Márai to read.

Now all I need is time, lots of time!

Denis, Tommy, Work … do ye want to go on unprecedented week’s holiday?

Thank you Kati for introducing me to two great Hungarian authors.

Blogging has been haphazard over Christmas owing to the buachailly bó being home, and lots of family and friends visiting. Recipes and saucepans have been well-used, all great fun.

Yesterday, (New Year’s Day), the said buchailly bó left from Dublin airport. I love the arrivals. I hate the departures.

It appears that the East of the country has had worse weather than the Mid-West since Christmas. Below are some photographs of yesterday on the M7. I was really surprised to see that this motorway had not been gritted.

Near Kildare town

A little further on

Near Kill (my home village )

It didn’t appear to me that we were at all prepared for this cold weather if primary routes weren’t kept clear.

Paul Cullen reported in today’s Irish Times:
Transport companies and local authorities have defended their preparedness for the extended spell of cold weather after snow and ice caused widespread disruption to services on New Year’s Day … Dublin airport was closed for up to four hours, at least 14 flights were cancelled … and thousands of air passengers endured lengthy delays yesterday after snow disrupted services.

The boys got away with just a few hours delay. I was envious of them going to sunnier climes.

The weather was so bad that in order to visit various family, we decided to stay over rather than risk the N7 after dark. My sister, an A&E nurse told us they are inundated with fractures. This concurs with a report in last Tuesday’s Irish Times:
Emergency departments are trying to cope with between five and 10 times the usual demand for treatment of broken bones as the cold weather continues into another week.

This fella is also feeling the cold

Happy New Year everybody.