Ervin Lázár is the creator of a genre we may safely call
Central European folk surrealism, which takes on the quality of a
hallucinatory exploration into that part of the soul where beauty, hope,
and yearning live in close proximity with the harsh realities of life.
The narrative combines the traits of a socio-historical novel with those of a family saga. As a special treat, it also offers a full review of the history of the communist idea in Hungary.
Our interview with Tomas Venclova, Lithuanian poet, essayist and
professor of literature at Yale University, on social and historical
parallels between Eastern European nations, on the notion of home and on
the special meaning of Hamlet in our region.
"Slips of paper fell to the ground when the little girl impatiently shook the boxes open. The first one said, NO!, the second said, YES!, and the third said, MAYBE! Klára whispered hoarsely to herself, like someone holding untold wealth. 'Yes, no, maybe, and it’s all mine, mine, mine!'"
After a year at Goldsmiths College, London, it was teaching work, children, Hertfordshire and the long struggle to make a reputation – a six-year struggle that seemed like sixty.