Sunflower recap and next book picked

April showers bring May flowers, so the saying goes. We've had flowers for a while in this part of the country due to some unseasonably warm weather, but no sunflowers in my garden, sadly. Thinking about the seasons brings me back to our wandering discussion about Krudy's novel, Sunflower. I'll only speak for my thoughts on the novel -- leave comments about your own perspectives, fellow readers!

The story of Eveline, the romantic, young ingenue; her parasitic, wastrel lover; her outspoken best friend; her lighter than air admirer Almos-Dreamer; and her earthy, fleshy neighbor Pistoli never pulled me in. This is not a novel focused on plot, however, and many discussed their love of Krudy's prose and way with a metaphor. I felt that the translation was subpar, however, with some real clunkers. Surely the Hungarian version of the names Almos-Dreamer and Kalman Ossuary are more subtle? And hot diggity dog and son of a gun as an exclamation and description? Really?

I also couldn't get beyond the character's view of women. We get most of this view from Pistoli, and what a rotten view it is. To him all women are mad and no not what they do, and if they aren't, if they are like Eveline, they are destined to become hags or harpies like Maszkeradi:


"Up on one mountaintop in the far distance sat Eveline. Her benevolent face was distorted, her curls hung in grizzled knots, her dear eyes were veiled by cataracts, night had descended over her lips, like a madwoman’s...And this hag had been her, once: the kind, noble, lamblike, dove-hearted one...This ancient, deranged crone had once been Eveline Nyirjes...Pistoli covered his eyes and sobbed. But even through his tears he could see the other mountaintop on the horizon, where Miss Maszkerádi bobbed like a crazed belly dancer. Her tresses undone, her voice screeching, her talons curving, her eyes spitting flames and knives, her legs like a wolf’s, her neck ringed like a serpent’s."

Krudy, Gyula (2010-09-15). Sunflower (Kindle Locations 3841-3845). Random House Inc Clients. Kindle Edition.

Perhaps someday I'll go back and reread and view it differently. But there are so many books to read and so little time!

Kyle has picked our next book, Tim O'Brien's In The Lake Of The Woods. We'll be discussing this at the shack on Tuesday, June 5th.

Happy reading!

Sunflower

Ah, I've been a terrible blogger, forgive me! Our next book club meeting is Wednesday, April 18, and we'll be reading Sunflower by Hungarian author, Gyula Krudy. Get ready for a novel where, according to the New York Review Books, "the plot twists and turns; elemental myth mingles with sheer farce: Krúdy brilliantly illuminates the shifting contours and acid colors of the landscape of desire."


It'll be an interesting discussion in our return to fiction, especially tackling the fact that this is a translation (and luckily for us, there is only one translation).

Happy reading all!