Magda Szabó (1917-2007)was Hungary’s foremost woman novelist (it is not me who placed the gender qualification in that title!).  All I know about her is that The Door is a very fine novel and makes me want to read more of her novels – a desire sadly thwarted by the lack of English translations.

While [...]

I’ve enjoyed looking at some Telegram books recently, and found Metropole in a local bookshop.  In this unusual novel, Hungarian linguist Budai travels to Helsinki for an international conference but inadvertently is placed on a flight to an un-named and unidentifiable city, where he finds himself whisked away to an hotel without his baggage.  He [...]