Embers - Hardcover

Marai, Sandor

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375407561 ISBN 13: 9780375407567

Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc, 2001

Synopsis

In an evocative novel originally published in Europe 1942, an elderly aristocrat and a friend he has not seen in more than forty years engage in a duel of words, stories, accusations, and evasions that encompass their entire lives and that of a third person, the late chatelaine of the castle. 30,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

In Sándor Márai's Embers, two old men, once the best of friends, meet after a 41-year break in their relationship. They dine together, taking the same places at the table that they had assumed on the last meal they shared, then sit beside each other in front of a dying fire, one of them near-silent, the other one, his host, slowly and deliberately tracing the course of their dead friendship. This sensitive, long-considered elaboration of one man's lifelong grievance is as gripping as any adventure story, and explains why Maáai's forgotten 1942 masterpiece is being compared with the work of Thomas Mann. In some ways, M´rai's work is more modern than Mann's. His simplicity and succinct, unadorned lyricism may call to mind Latin American novelists like Gabriel García Márquez, or even Italo Calvino. It is the tone of magical realism, although Márai's work is only magical in the sense that he completely engages his reader, spinning a web of words as his wounded central character describes his betrayal and abandonment at the hands of his closest friend. Even the setting, an old castle, evokes dark fairy tales.

The story of the rediscovery of Embers is as fascinating as the novel itself. A celebrated Hungarian novelist of the 1930s, Márai survived the war but was persecuted by the Communists after they came to power. His books were suppressed, even destroyed, and he was forced to flee his country in 1948. He died in San Diego in 1989, one year before the neglected Embers was finally reprinted in his native land. This reprint was discovered by the Italian writer and publisher Roberto Calasso, and the subsequent editions have become international bestsellers. All of his novels are now slated for American publication. --Regina Marler

Review:

As masterly and lovely a novel as one could ask for. . . . Embers is perfect. --The Washington Post Book World
A lustrous novel. . . . [with] its powerful undercurrent of suspense and its elegantly wrought armature of moral and metaphysical argument. . . . Triumphant. --The New York Times Book Review
The reader will . . . be . . . very quietly nailed to the spot . . . mesmerizing. . . . In every way . . . satisfying. --Los Angeles Times
Tantalizing. . . .Brilliant. . . . [Marai s] words resonate. The Wall Street Journal"

"As masterly and lovely a novel as one could ask for. . . . Embers is perfect." --The Washington Post Book World

"A lustrous novel. . . . [with] its powerful undercurrent of suspense and its elegantly wrought armature of moral and metaphysical argument. . . . Triumphant." --The New York Times Book Review

"The reader will . . . be . . . very quietly nailed to the spot . . . mesmerizing. . . . In every way . . . satisfying." --Los Angeles Times

"Tantalizing. . . .Brilliant. . . . [Marai's] words resonate." --The Wall Street Journal

About this edition

• Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0375407561
• ISBN 13: 9780375407567
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 213