Sunday Salon - Decisions and Embers

My pets (4 cats and a dog) don't have a clue about weekends, or what it means to sleep in a little longer.  They stay on the week day clock, which is to get up at 4:45 a.m.  Although I did not have a particularly late night yesterday evening (I was home by 10:30 p.m.), I am very tired from not having slept well all week.  Combine that with something weird going on with my blood pressure and a very hectic week at work, I'm not feeling quite up to par.  So I wanted to sleep in.  My dog and cats (who at 5:00 a.m. were wondering why I hadn't gotten up yet) succeeded at getting me out of bed at 6:00 a.m.  Following the morning routine, I decided to start the final story in Colm Toibin's collection, Mothers and Sons, entitled 'The Long Winter'.  (Funny, that's exactly what I'm thinking today - how long of a winter it seems we've had this year.)  I haven't finished it yet (I was able to go back to sleep for an hour or so), but so far it is my favorite.  Toibin is such a beautiful writer.  More on this later after I've finished the story.

As you know, my latest book obsession is cookbooks.  I've started the Soup's On challenge and am having a terrible time deciding which 6 cookbooks I want to review.   I've bought several recently from The Good Cook , and I checked out some Nigella Lawson and Lidia Mattichio Bastianich from the library yesterday.   I want to do them all!  (I can't wait to see what cookbooks the other participants review, as I am sure I will have to have all of them.)  My plan was to go to Half Price Books this morning and check out their cookbooks, as they usually have a good selection.  But since I still wasn't feeling well, I've decided to put that on hold.  Maybe later today.

In spite of the week I've had, I did get in a fair amount of reading.  I finished The Sixpenny Debt and other Oxford stories which I enjoyed very much.  Some stories weren't quite as good as others, but all of them were enjoyable to read and gave me a good sense of Oxford, where I've never been (unfortunately).  I would imagine this collection would be of special  interest to those who live nearby or who have attended university there.  But even though I've never been, the stories were descriptive enough to give this outsider a good mental image of the streets, shops, colleges, and even an underground tunnel!

I also read Embers by Hungarian author Sandor Marai.  This is the April selection for booksintranslation, and I was also hoping that this would count towards the Orbis Terrarum challenge.  (I need to recheck the beginning date of the challenge to make sure it qualifies.)

The story takes place in a castle deep in the Hungarian forest.  The castle's owner, Heinrik, is a General of the Army.  He is elderly now and lives alone, almost as an invalid.  The only people he sees are his servants, including his nurse from childhood, Nini, now 91 years old.  One day the General receives a letter.  It is from his best friend from childhood, Konrad, whom he has not seen in 41 years.  The last time he and Konrad were together was following a hunt at the castle, where the two dined with the General's wife.  Konrad left the next day without a word, not to be heard from again for 41 years.  What could have happened during the hunt and afterwards during dinner to irrevocably separate two friends who were more like brothers?  And what would cause one to contact the other after 41 years?

Here is the General's initial reaction after reading the letter from Konrad informing him he will be at the castle later that evening:

"Now that the first surprise had passed, he suddenly felt tired.  One spends a lifetime preparing for something.  First one suffers the wound.  Then one plans revenge.  And waits.  He had been waiting a long time now.  He no longer knew when it was that the wound had become a thirst for revenge, and the thirsting had turned to waiting.  Time preserves everything, but as it does so, it fades things to the colorlessness of ancient photographs fixed on metal plates.  Light and time erase the contours and distinctive shading of the faces.  One has to angle the image this way and that until it catches the light in a particular way and one can make out the person whose features have become absorbed into the blank surface of the plate.  It is the same with our memories.  But then one day light strikes from a certain angle and one recaptures a face again." (pgs. 16-17)

Marai spends the first one-third of the book providing the background and nature of the relationship between the two boys, which started at school in Vienna at age 10:

"But he [the General] could not live without love, either, and that was also part of his inheritance.  Perhaps it was his French mother who had brought with her the yearning to share her feelings if even with only one other human being.  In his father's family, one never spoke of such things.  The boy needed someone to love, whether it be Nini or Konrad.  His fever went away, as did his cough, and his thin, pale child's face flushed with delight and rewarded trust...Childhood was no longer a cramped place, it no longer intimidated them, because they were no longer alone." (pgs. 39-40)

The remainder two-thirds of the book concerns the meeting of the two after 41 years.  The General makes sure everything is in the dining room exactly the way it was 41 years before.  Marai explores several questions through what amounts to a monologue spoken by the General and addressed to Konrad.  What is passion?  What is revenge?   Can the differences between people both pull them together and then tear them apart?  What is life?  The events during the hunt and the subsequent dinner 41 years prior are slowly unveiled during the monologue, which also provides some interesting responses to those questions.

I loved this book.  As usual, I cannot do it justice, writing about it here.  Marai's writing is beautiful, eloquent, and very thought-provoking.  Once I started it, I could not put it down.  This book gets a 5/5 rating from me.

While I was at the library yesterday, I found two more titles by Marai:  Casanova in Bolzano and The Rebels.  I am going to add both books to my reading list for this year; if Embers doesn't qualify for the challenge, then one of these will.

I will return later for more on 'The Long Winter' and thoughts on Mothers and Sons by Colm Toibin.

Comments

[Wendy]

Sharon,

You are not alone - my pets also stay on their weekday schedule and despite my best efforts, they keep me on it as well!

So glad to see you loved Embers...I am almost finished reading this one too! And it is astounding and beautifully written. I've also added his other two books to my wish list!

Have a great day :)

[Andi]

I feel your pain. Daisy usually stays on a 5:00 schedule, but the blessed girl let us sleep until 7:00 this morning. Joy! Bliss!

[Ann Darnton]

Tobin is such a magnificent writer, isn't he? Have you read 'The Master'? A friend of mine has a dog who gets him up at 6.15 on the dot every morning and then gives him no peace until they've been for a walk. Stan is very healthy, but his temper isn't always the best first thing!

[Megan]

Sounds like you have had a very productive reading week. I am very jealous!

[J. Kaye]

Just wanted to drop by and say hi from a newbie who is still trying to get the hang of this Sunday Salon! BTW, love your blog!

[Ex Libris]

Wendy: Isn't it amazing how animals have their own internal clocks? I'm so glad you are enjoying Embers - I loved it!

Andi: Glad you were able to sleep in! My animals know exactly what to do to get me out of bed :(

Ann: Yes, I've read 'The Master' and was astounded by Toibin's writing. Unfortunately, it left me scared to death to read any Henry James.

Megan: I just happened to luck out this week :) It isn't always that way.

J. Kaye: Welcome, and thanks! Feel free to stop by anytime.

[Literary Feline]

My dog and cat do not know the difference between week days and weekends either. My cat was the one who woke me up oh so early this morning. My husband always manages to sleep right through the mews or the nudges from the dog somehow.

Embers sounds like one I might like to read. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on it!

Have a great week!

[Teresa Brader]

Hope you are feeling better, Sharon, and if not, then I hope you are all better very soon.

[Ravenous Reader]

I was smiling at the story of your early rising pets. I have the opposite difficulty with mine, who have to be dragged under protest from their nest of covers every morning.

I'm so interested in you Soups On challenge ...what a interesting concept, and very different. I told myself "no more challenges," but this is one the whole family could benefit from, isn't it? After all, it involves not just reading, but cooking too!

[Ex Libris]

Literary Feline and Teresa: Thanks!

Ravenous Reader: I'll send you an invitation to the challenge blog :)

[bethany canfield]

Embers...I keep hearing good things about Embers. Glad you loved it. If I see it, I guess now I must grab it. yay!

[Stewart]

Hmmm! This looks like Embers is finally going to the top of the To Be Read list as there's far too much praise for it both on the World Lit Forum and in other blogs that I've found this evening in an extended blogosphere wander.

Yes, there's two more Márai Sándor books available at the moment. He may have shot himself a number of years back, so will never see his stock rise, but it seems he wrote loads of books and, over the next however many years, we are finally going to reap the benefits of these in English translation.