Embers [Paperback]

Krisztina has been dead for thirty-two years and since that time, with the exception of the servants, Henrik has been the estate's only inhabitant. Once he learns of Konrad's impending arrival, he immediately begins making preparations for the visit, seeking to recreate, down to the candles, silver, flowers and food, the last dinner he, Krisztina and Konrad shared together. This dinner followed a long day of hunting that changed the lives of all three persons forever.

Before Konrad's arrival, however, we learn about Henrik's childhood and his first meeting with Konrad at the Imperial Military Academy. It is, in fact, Konrad who introduces Henrik to the beautiful Krisztina.

Henrik believed that he, Konrad and Krisztina comprised an inseparable threesome until the day he is betrayed by both friend and wife, a betrayal he discovers only when Krisztina fails to control herself and utters two revealing words.

Henrik's world falls apart. He retreats to his hunting lodge and he and Krisztina never see each other again; she dies eight years later. Henrik severs his friendship with Konrad, not speaking to him for forty years.

On the night of Konrad's visit, however, Henrik certainly makes up for his forty-year silence. EMBERS is almost a monologue-a rant even-as Henrik unleashes all his long pent up fury and rage. I found this "almost monologue" far too long-winded and melodramatic. I feel the book would have been vastly improved had Marai let Konrad speak instead of writing a long diatribe directed against him. I could understand Henrik's rage, but, my goodness, it's been forty years, I felt like telling him, get over it. Konrad did betray Henrik's trust and friendship but Konrad certainly deserves credit for staying the night and listening to the bitterness of an old man who can't get over the injustices of life and the foibles of love.

While Marai writes elegant, lovely prose, I really can't understand the popularity of this book. The story is terribly predictable and the ranting bitterness of Henrik gets to be "too much." I really wouldn't recommend EMBERS, but if you do read it and, like me, don't like it, be comforted. It's a short book and it really won't take up much of your time.

The General is preparing his castle for Konrad's visit. The friends are going to reunite after 41 years of separation. Although, they remained on the best of terms as the closest of friends for 24 years ... something happened ... it made Konrad leave, without a word. The General needed to know, why did Konrad take off ... no word of good-bye ... to explore the world. Konrad often stayed at the General's castle and dined with the General and his wife, Krisztina. This reader suspected that somehow Krisztina held the key ... to his unexpected and unexplained departure. However there is a deeper unexplained ... primitive ... dark secret ... waiting to be unraveled. It is revealed in elegant prose. The book is deeply moving and filled with suspense ... a mesmerizing experience. Erika Borsos (erikab93)

The General is like Roth's Grandfather Trotta, as he represents the old military code, that first and foremost demanded strict and total subservience to the Emporer and his cause. One's every thought and every waking breath was dictated by tradition and unbroken order. Pitted against him in Marai's work are his best friend and his young wife, who represent spontaneity, passion and modernity. The General comes to the insight that he was the complacent, self assured stalwart slave to convention and that Krisztina and Konrad were "different," and part of the subtext of the story is an almost Derrida like treatment of "the other."

What prevents- this from being a work of the first rank is Marai's partial failure in providing a compelling narrator. The General is just too long winded and formal a figure to sustain the narrative in any truly convincing manner. I did enjoy the way in which Marai unfolds information, however, and thought that the plot was handled masterfully. It reminded me of an Egoyan movie, in which the culminating revelation slowly and gradually comes into focus, while the audience remains in suspense.

I definitely recommend the read. It doesn't take long, and Marai's prose is indeed as elegant as a display of Viennese dressage. I'm happy that the book was rediscovered and adequately translated. I look forward to the promised future Knopf editions of Marai's works.

BEK