Sándor Márai: A gyertyák csonkig égnek (Embers)

The latest addition to my website is Sándor Mára‘s A gyertyák csonkig égnek (Embers). Hendrik is a seventy-five year old general, living alone, with his servants, in his castle in Hungary. He had had a successful military career, starting at the age of ten when he was enrolled in the military academy in Vienna. There he met Konrad and they had become close friends and remained that way for twenty-four years, despite their differences. Hendrik came from a rich family and enjoyed hunting and the military life, Konrad came from a poor family and was passionate about music. Nearly forty-two years before the start of the novel, Konrad had visited Hendrik and his wife, Krisztina. The two men went out hunting. Something happened on the hunt, for Konrad left immediately afterwards and left town without saying goodbye. There had been no communication between the two men since. And then Konrad comes to visit. It is Hendrik who explains his view of what happened and Konrad does not disagree. The event scarred the lives of both men. This is a classic Hungarian novel about honour and integrity but also about love and passion.

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