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The Dispossessed
The Dispossessed: A Novel | Szilard Borbely
8 posts | 2 read | 5 to read
A literary sensation on its original publication in Hungary, this hypnotic, hauntingly beautiful first novel from the acclaimed, award-winning poet and author Szilrd Borbly depicts the poverty and cruelty experienced by a partly-Jewish family in a rural village in the late 1960s and early 1970s. No one has ever written so beautifully and at the same time so without pity about the suffering in the isolated provincial villages of HungaryHis sentences have a surgical precision, and their sustained rhythm only reinforces the power of what they evoke.Nicole Henneberg, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung In a tiny village in northeast Hungary, close to the Romanian border, a young, unnamed boy warily observes day-to-day life and chronicles his familys struggles to survive. Like most of the villagers, his family is desperately poor, but their situation is worse than mostthey are ostracized because of his fathers Jewish heritage and his mothers connections to the Kulaks, who once owned land and supported the fascist Horthy regime before it was toppled by Communists. With unflinching candor, the little boys observations are related through a variety of narrative voicescrude diatribes from his alcoholic father, evocative and lyrical tales of the past from his grandparents, and his own simple yet potent prose. Together, these accounts reveal not only the history of his family but that of Hungary itself, through the physical and psychic traumas of two World Wars to the countrys treatment of Jews, both past and present. Drawing heavily on Borblys memories of his own childhood, The Dispossessed is an extraordinarily realistic novel. Raw and often brutal, yet glimmering with hope, it is the crowning achievement of an uncompromising talent.
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BookishTrish
The Dispossessed: A Novel | Szilard Borbely
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Pickpick

Some spring blossoms are exactly what is needed to balance out the relentless grinding bleakness of this tale of an impoverished boy in northeast Hungary. If it wasn‘t set in the area my family comes from I don‘t think I would have stuck with it. Nothing much happens per se but the language is incredible: poetic and blunt.

Suet624 What is that plant? Gorgeous! 7y
BookishTrish @Suet624 Those are cherry blossoms. 7y
Suet624 Oh gosh. So pretty. 7y
BookishTrish I‘m sure there will be many more cherry blossom pix on my feed @Suet624 7y
92 likes1 stack add4 comments
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BookishTrish
The Dispossessed: A Novel | Szilard Borbely
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Life is beautiful #audiowalk

Cathythoughts 🧡🧡🧡 7y
77 likes1 comment
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BookishTrish
The Dispossessed: A Novel | Szilard Borbely
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A little something to balance the bleakness #audiowalk

JacqMac Pretty! 7y
Cathythoughts Stunning 💙 7y
76 likes2 comments
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BookishTrish
The Dispossessed: A Novel | Szilard Borbely
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Really loving this book despite the fact that the British narrator mispronounces every Hungarian word and name. I wish someone had paid more attention to these crucial audiobook details. #audiowalk

Chrissyreadit Do you speak Hungarian? 7y
hyacinth Oof, I know this feeling 😬 7y
BookishTrish @Chrissyreadit Not really, but I lived there for a year and my dad is Hungarian from a tiny village. 7y
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Chrissyreadit Wow! I bet you speak some! I would love to go. My dad spoke a little Hungarian. He woke up from a coma speaking the Hungarian of his childhood from his grandparents. 7y
Chrissyreadit I wish I spoke it though! I love languages. 7y
BookishTrish @Chrissyreadit Where are your family from? We‘re from the northeast - the same as the family in this super bleak novel. 7y
Chrissyreadit I can‘t remember- I am going to look through my notes from my grandparents to see- I do know after reading that blurb, I bet that‘s why my great grandparents hated my grandmother- she was raised Orthodox Jewish and they were devout Catholic. She converted. 7y
73 likes8 comments
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BookishTrish
The Dispossessed: A Novel | Szilard Borbely
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Spring has sprung #audiowalk

CouronneDhiver Lucky! 7y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 💛💛💛💛 7y
Tamra Yes, lucky you! Such happiness! 🌞 7y
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Tianarose I wish! We are still currently buried under a lot of snow! (Alberta Canada ) 7y
Lcsmcat 💛🌼🌻 7y
Tianarose I‘m definitely feeling the spring fever! 7y
90 likes7 comments
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BookishTrish
The Dispossessed: A Novel | Szilard Borbely
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Life is tough growing up in a small Hungarian village #onewordtitle #riotgram

BookishTrish I shouldn't post when I'm sick. This is a two word title. D'oh. 8y
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BooksCatsMaine
The Dispossessed: A Novel | Szilard Borbely
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Love this title 😂😂😂

And the best thing is that I'm totally keen to read the book now...Another one for the TBR!

MrBook 😂😂😂👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 8y
28 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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mkladaric
The Dispossessed: A Novel | Szilard Borbely
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Pickpick

Sirov, moćan i realističan roman.