The Ninth: A Novel (Writings From An Unbound Europe)

Ferenc Barnas, Paul Olchvary (Translated by)

$16.95

Publication Date: April 10th, 2009

Publisher:

Northwestern University Press

ISBN:

9780810126022

Pages:

176

Description

Set in a sleepy village north of Budapest in 1968, this touching, unsettling novel paints a richly wrought portrait of mid-twentieth-century Hungary. The narrator is the ninth child of a family distinguished by its size, poverty, faith, and abundance of physical and psychological disabilities. His confusion is exacerbated by the strict, secretive Catholic household his parents keep in the face of a Communist system. These dual oppressions propel him toward an inevitable realization of his guilt and desire that speaks to his struggle with a fateful, seamless beauty.

About the Author

FERENC BARNÁS is an acclaimed Hungarian novelist whose books include Az élosködo (The Parasite) and Bagatell (Bagatelle). He is the recipient of two of Hungary’s highest literary honors: the Sándor Márai Prize (2001) and the Tibor Déry Prize (2006).

Praise for The Ninth: A Novel (Writings From An Unbound Europe)

"The Ninth is a masterpiece . . . It is an elegant book and a ruthless one." —Peter Esterhazy

"This coming-of-age novel leaves the reader guessing about the protagonist’s future, while marveling at youth’s resilience. The Ninth is Barnas’ ironic “Ode to Joy.”" —World Literature in Review