The Storyteller

Fülszöveg

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR
ULe SÍoryÍefier
"Among the numerous memoirs of Central and Eastern European refugees, whether political or literary or fcoiA.'The Storyteller stands out because ojthe unusual sensitivity of its author, as well as because of the often brilliant portraiture of a family and of her gran^ather, who incarnated a now entirely vanished world."
JOHN LUKACS, AUTHOR OF FIVE DAYS IN LONDON
"Enchanting! With a fabulous blend of memory, myth, and mystery, of melancholy, comedy, and irony, Anna Porter conjures up moments of magic. The past comes alive in the only way it should, as suggestion rather than as truth."
MODRIS EKSTEINS, AUTHOR OF WALKING SINCE DAYBREAK
"Anna Porter has written a magical book, worthy of her legendary raconteur and duellist grandfather. Vili Rácz. Something of a Hungarian Cyrano de Bergerac, Vili Rácz could do it both with his words and his sword. His granddaughter does it with words alone."
GEORGE JONAS, AUTHOR OF FINAL DECREE

"His stories... Tovább

Fülszöveg

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR
ULe SÍoryÍefier
"Among the numerous memoirs of Central and Eastern European refugees, whether political or literary or fcoiA.'The Storyteller stands out because ojthe unusual sensitivity of its author, as well as because of the often brilliant portraiture of a family and of her gran^ather, who incarnated a now entirely vanished world."
JOHN LUKACS, AUTHOR OF FIVE DAYS IN LONDON
"Enchanting! With a fabulous blend of memory, myth, and mystery, of melancholy, comedy, and irony, Anna Porter conjures up moments of magic. The past comes alive in the only way it should, as suggestion rather than as truth."
MODRIS EKSTEINS, AUTHOR OF WALKING SINCE DAYBREAK
"Anna Porter has written a magical book, worthy of her legendary raconteur and duellist grandfather. Vili Rácz. Something of a Hungarian Cyrano de Bergerac, Vili Rácz could do it both with his words and his sword. His granddaughter does it with words alone."
GEORGE JONAS, AUTHOR OF FINAL DECREE

"His stories had many tellings, but the first version is the one I always remember the best."
Every nation has its heroes, but in Hungary, mythology, pride and history seem to produce characters of legendary resiUence. As a child growing up in Budapest in the 1940s and 'jos, Anna Porter leamed of these heroes through her grandfather, Vih Rácz. On long walks through the once-grand European capital of Budapest, in confidences whispered in splendid fin-de-siecle coffee houses, ViH shared his wisdom and his stories.
But the storyteller's own story was no less remarkable. Born in 1889, Vih Rácz was a man of many talents, and many secrets. He was a patriot and a prisoner, a philanderer and devoted family man. His name was short for Vilmos, after a centuries-long hne of brave swordsmen.
Vili's stories are the foimdation of this vivid memoir, which follows the changing fortunes of the Rácz family. We meet the three glamorous and enigmatic Rácz sisters: Leah, Sari, and Puci, each with a daughter of her own, each with her own stories and secrets. Their lives are touched by prejudice and pride, grief, frivolity and violence, loves, loyalties and betrayals in the tumultuous years spanning from the Second World War to the Hungarian Revolution and the family's exile to New Zealand. Through yoimg Anna's eyes, we accompany her to prison with her mother, see her beloved Vili unjustly sentenced to hard labour, and witness unspeakable human loss in the streets of Budapest during the failed uprising against the Communists.
As Anna grows up in the beautiful but beleaguered city, her grandfather's stories of strife and survival give her a personal sense of history, and of values in a country the world seems to have forgotten. In The Storjteller, Anna Porter masterfully unfolds the intricate themes of the illusions of memory, the necessity of artifice, and the importance of family. Vissza