Welcome to Litsy!

#2023Book21
We need more stories about female friendship! Especially when one of the females is a grouchy old lady who is super nosy but also just wants to be left alone.

Addicting character study about this older cleaning lady.

Book that #BeginsWith #Door Day 12: From my review: What moved me about this novel was how profoundly both women characters loved each other – without ever really loving each other. The die has been cast from the very business-like transaction of their relationship; but there is joy, a sense of pride in each other‘s little accomplishments even though both take pains to deny this fact and defend it against each other. https://wp.me/pDlzr-bXz

As so many before me have said, this book will haunt me. While both women were prone to rages, I confess I understood Emergence‘s more than Magda‘s. I went in blind and am glad. That‘s a good way to experience this book. #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

I started my #bookspin this morning before work, but didn‘t have a chance to post until now. It sucked me right in! @TheAromaofBooks

A troubling, important book. Peasant worker Emerance beats her dog & in parallel berates, belittles, & insults the writer Magda. E & M don‘t understand each other, but for once the working-class person has the upper hand. In a bizarre dance of frustration, they come to accept each other & open up, bringing love but little understanding. The crucial door is the one Szabó opens for us to E, respecting & not patronizing a harsh, pitying laborer.

I could not have loved this book more. The writing and the translation were so perfect for each other, not a word out of place. This is a perfect slow, glittering, quiet book to warm yourself up with in winter. A young writer in Budapest hires an eccentric, veiled elderly woman as her housekeeper and we see their relationship, how much they love each other and never understand each other over their whole lives. Please please please buy this

#BookReport 48/20

I loved The Door. The other two were just okay for me. But I‘m closing in on #ReadingEurope2020 so that‘s 👌🏽

This book! Emerence is a kind of cleaning lady and caretaker of the narrator (Magda) who is a writer, and a good for nothing in her own eyes. Their relationship is the strangest, with Magda always feeling a victim while Emerence, in her rather unique way, only loves her. Nothing good can come of their ongoing mutual misunderstandings. A wonderful book, Magda Szabó is such a great writer.

I‘ve read Iza‘s Ballad; any other recommendations?

#3books #thatgavemeabookhangover
They were so good! ❤️
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

Touching story and beautiful writing. Szabó never disappoints.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

1. Tag. Translated from Hungarian to French by Chantal Philippe
2. Yes, French and English
3. Russian

@ozma.of.oz #sundayfunday

Being unfamiliar with the culture and the times, my reactions to E & M's relationship were first quite appalled, lots of incomprehension. As I read along, I‘ve wondered if M was intertwined within Stockholm syndrome, for the harshness of E was brutal to me. But as I got some insight on E and with some distance and compassion, I now conclude this as an unconditional love story between two flawed women. Interesting for sure! #ReviewJLU #2020JLU

Zoom bookclub tonight!!! I can‘t wait to discuss this somewhat disturbing story.

Also, what will we be reading next?!? 😜

#CLdesCopines

Expression du #partenariatpatient. Elle veut quoi la patiente? Quel est son projet de vie?
#CLdescopines📚

Manière intéressante de décrire la relation de pouvoir.
#CLdescopines?

Ayoye! Le jugement 😳 Un parmi d‘autres!

#CLdescopines 📚

Éloquence de la douleur.
#CLdesCopines?

Page 113: « Il n‘en prenait pas ombrage » qu‘elle belle expression spirituelle ? Il restait lumineux malgré qu‘il était tenu à l‘écart. Il savait que c‘était à propos d‘elle et non de lui. Il l‘acceptait.
#CLdesCopines?

Il n‘en tient qu‘à nous de la reconnaître et de développer notre habileté à la recevoir.
#CLdesCopines?

Centaine de pages de lues, je suis vraiment irritée par la violence envers le chien ? ? #CLdesCopines?

I have not been this sucked into a book in a long time. I think I will think of Emerence often and forever.

Particular in his own way type of book. I liked the choice of words used by the author. A dysfunctional relationship between two women that have a love-hate mother-daughter relationship

Happy leap day ! ☺️

I love to read on the airplane, one the best place to relax and read

#BookReport
I finished The Door this week as I was hoping ... and to be honest I still don‘t even know what to think about it!!! 🤨
Moving on to Ohio and so far it‘s dark for sure, but I am impressed by the perspective that Markley has chosen to write from. I think it has promise!

My #weeklyforecast is pretty simple this week-
I'm about halfway through the tagged book and would love to finish by next Sunday. In the meantime, hoping to get started on Ohio for #booked2019 #bookaboutaddiction 🙃

This book would make a great horror movie. Emerence lives to make others dependent on her and when they disappoint, the revenge is twisted and cruel. Emerence is very contradictory - she loves animals, but beats them and imprisons them. A hard read, but I couldn't put it down till I found out what was hidden behind Emerence's last door. Shudder.

I love this. I wish I could get a poster version!

York library. Rather nice.

#SongsOfSummer Day 24: #IfYouLikePinaColadas and reading on the beach. My piña colada while in Maldives three years ago. Unforgettable trip.

I loved Katalin Street, so I had to read The Door ASAP. It‘s even better than Katalin Street! -Becca

A few books from my TBR that I‘m hoping to read in March. I‘m in the middle of Small Country right now and really enjoying the writing. What‘s on your list for this month?



#readtheworld #2019reads #readdiversely #tbr #bookstack #bookpile #marchreads #springreads #botm #bookofthemonth

Next to Brad Thor in the right hand bottom corner is my copy of Magda Szabo's The Door. This is the first time that I give away a book that I liked😉, the first time I leave a book in a little free library and the first time I write a short note to whoever picks the book. AND I did not take anything 🙄

What a strange little book. I neither could relate to the narrator nor Emerence but was drawn into their story centering on their weird relationship and power games.

Even as I spoke I was thinking that I had never believed those nineteenth-century novelists who compared a character's face to a lake. Now, as so often before, I felt ashamed to have dared question the classics. Emerence's face resembled nothing so much as a calm, unruffled, early-morning mirror of water.

I have a yellow cup to consecrate, and won't get up and move before the last half of this masterpiece is read through. 💛

#Hungary #literarytriparoundtheworld

I think I would have read this differently if I were younger- that we are meant to idolize Emerence, the enigmatic caretaker at the center of the novel, just as the narrator does, along with the entire town. In effect, this would justify the narrator's crushing guilt at what transpires. But I think examining that guilt, when its object is a figure who dispensed devotion and cruelty in roughly equal measure, is the real purpose. 👇

I hated Emerence and didn‘t see how there was any kind of friendship on either side. I would, in fact, call Emerence a crazy old b**** - seriously crazy. She had temper tantrums that she took out on everyone around her, including the narrator‘s dog, Viola. Not sure why Viola liked Emerence so much, when Emerence periodically beat Viola for no reason to do with the dog. Though the book was pretty slow-moving, it did pick up a bit toward the end.

Episode 4 is now out. @Jus_de_fruit and I talk about the Hungarian modern classics The Door by Magda Szabó (translated by Len Rix) from NYRB Classics
Link in the bio
#witmonth #womenintranslation

Earlier this year, I noticed that @thetirelessreader is also another NYRB Classics fan, so I asked her if she was keen on a buddy read and maybe a meet-up. We picked The Door and The True Deceiver, both are of coincidentally similar themes involving a dog and 2 ladies. We finally met up for the discussion today and spent hours talking about books. If you are in Singapore, join our reading society (see next post)

@vivastory recently surprised me with a gift certificate to The Strand, which resulted in the #bookhaul shown. Two hours at the Strand is a gift in itself- made for a perfect activity on my day off today. Thanks again for the generous gift! 😃

Thank you so much for the book, @ReadOrDieRachel ! 😘 It was such a lovely surprise to get this in the mail and I love the card and bookmark ❤️❤️

The story, which is limited to one street and its inhabitants, is the story about friendship between an unusual housekeeper, who is very mysterious about her past (and with unusual approach to the life), and the writer who is after years of publishing ban again successful, but above all, this is a story about mysteries of human connections, personal priorities and sacrifices in the name of friendship. #backpackEurope

I was drawn in immediately and read this quickly. A Hungarian writer reflects on the oddly intense relationship she develops with her secretive, moody housekeeper. The housekeeper, Emerence, is a fabulous character: a bit rough and odd, with a cynical view of the world that I really responded to. She has some great monologues.

This was selected for my office book club by my Hungarian coworker. Looking forward to hearing his take on it ☺

#EmojiMadness Day 11: Today‘s 🏖 prompt reminded me of my idyllic one-week birthday vacation in Maldives exactly two years ago - gorgeous place to read and celebrate turning forty.

Thank you @ItsAngel ! I returned home from a painful dentist visit to this surprise, so this is not "late" but perfect timing! My library doesn't have The Immortalists - great choice! As for the other book, I don't usually read outside my preferred genres unless it's recommended so I'm excited to try this. The soap smells heavenly - a light, pleasant scent. Such thoughtfulness ? I'm so glad we shared a group and one day, I hope to meet IRL!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Some readers found this book as dark and boring; to me this is what clever writing is. Through the relationship between the writer and the housekeeper, we are shown the reality of life - both the beautiful and the ugly sides of humanity.

This is an incredibly astute, haunting, beautiful book about friendship and love, particularly with someone very different from ourselves. Szabo knew what made us human. Highly recommended.