Set in 1970s Budapest, this novel tells the story of a group of artists who form an underground collective dedicated to opposing the repressive Communist regime. The club disbands when the founder mysteriously disappears, but are reunited 17 years later when the police make a discovery.
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Amazon.com:
3.7 out of 5 stars
3 reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hugely popular with young European intellectuals.
July 7 2000
By Mary Whipple
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
If you check www.amazon.co.uk, you will see that this is a popular book among young European intellectuals who delight in finding the parallels between aspects of this book and the writings of lesser known European philosophers. Many indicate that they come back to this novel again and again. I found myself thinking, however, that this might not have been necessary if the author had been less ambiguous, more specific. Ostensibly the story of four students, one of whom has disappeared, during a time of political tumult, the book explores philosophy, politics, social upheavals, the characters and their inner lives, the historical past and its effect on the present, the specific mystery of Immanuele and her fate, the relationship between love and death, the connections between physical and idealistic love, the effects of fear, the relationships between dreams/reality/nightmare/fantasy, the bird and water "symbols" and their possible meanings, etc.
Though I liked the book and admired the "reach" of the author, I felt that in many ways the reach was greater than the grasp and that the book was not successful as a novel in its own right. Alternating between ambiguity and stark reality, between moral conundrums and fleeting nightmare, between staccato sentences and ethereal moods, I found myself looking for more coherence. Readers who consider buying this book would do well to seek an alternate opinion on www.amazon.co.uk.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
cerebral, ambiguous
April 24 2000
By Sheena McGrath
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I liked it. It's about four Eastern European dissidents after the fall of Communism, and how they cope with the new conditions. There's a mystery element, since one of their number has disappeared, some time-shifting and ambiguity, allusions to Kafka, and lots of wordplay and imagery. In paticular, there's the symbol of the black seagulls that keep dying (some deliberately) all the way through the story. The woman Immanuelle is a great character, I wished more of the book was devoted to her.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
cerebral, ambiguous
April 24 2000
By Sheena McGrath
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I liked it, but I'm not sure if everyone would. It's like amurder mystery...[T]here's some wonderful, almost poetic use oflanguage and images, and some of the most surreal conversations I'verun across in novels.
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Go to Amazon.com to see all 3 reviews
3.7 out of 5 stars
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