A gifted reporter for one of Budapest's daily newspapers, she picks up the trail in Palermo-and of course an international gang is soon hot on her heels. When a Hungarian detective is apparently liquidated and the oily Schönberg Belmonte begins insinuating his way into Mrs Anderson's hotel, things start to look very dangerous indeed.
This fast-paced crime story and lighthearted romantic comedy, set against a backdrop of Mediterranean scenery and fascist menace in Italy and Hungary between the wars, is Miklós Bánffy at his best. Now published in English for the first time, translated by Thomas Sneddon
A gifted reporter for one of Budapest's daily newspapers, she picks up the trail in Palermo-and of course an international gang is soon hot on her heels. When a Hungarian detective is apparently liquidated and the oily Schönberg Belmonte begins insinuating his way into Mrs Anderson's hotel, things start to look very dangerous indeed.
This fast-paced crime story and lighthearted romantic comedy, set against a backdrop of Mediterranean scenery and fascist menace in Italy and Hungary between the wars, is Miklós Bánffy at his best. Now published in English for the first time, translated by Thomas Sneddon
Born in 1873 into one of Transylvania's longest-established noble
families. He studied law and embarked on a political career
(serving as Hungary's Foreign Minister in 1921-2) but his
inclinations were always artistic and he made a name for himself as
a literary editor, as manager of the Hungarian Opera and as a
talented designer of theatre sets and costumes. It is as a writer
that he is best known: his Transylvanian Trilogy is one of the
great works of twentieth-century European literature. When Europe's
borders were redrawn after the First World War, Transylvania was
assigned to Romania and though Bánffy took Romanian citizenship, he
lost his land after the new national reforms. Following the Second
World War, the communist regime blocked his ability to publish his
writings. In 1949 he left Romania for Budapest, where he died in
1950. These are the first published works by an exciting new
translator, Thomas Sneddon. Born in Ireland, he completed an MA in
translation at Queen's University, Belfast. He currently lives and
works in Budapest. Tom Sneddon's translations are endorsed by
Thomas Barcsay, Professor Emeritus (Department of History) at
Ryerson University, Toronto. He is the great-nephew of Miklós
Bánffy. Praising the quality of the translation, Barcsay says:
"Hungarian is a notoriously concise language and Miklos Bánffy's
prose is more compact than most. To discover the subtle layers of
meaning underlying the text and to render these in English without
ignoring the hint of lyricism which infuses them requires both
talent and sophistication. Thomas Sneddon's outstanding translation
shows that he possesses these qualities in abundance."
Thomas Barcsay is a Professor Emeritus (Department of History) at
Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. He is the great-nephew of
Miklós Bánffy.
No mere aristocrat with a penchant for writing, but a writer who
has earned his place in Hungarian literature.
--Antal Szerb on Miklós Bánffy
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
