(Zsuzsának, főleg. :))
“Let me be. I don’t like it when you lecture me. If I ask for something and you give it, do it without preaching a sermon, otherwise there is no point…… I didn’t like my own secrets. I liked other people’s even less.”
The Door is the second book I read by the Hungarian writer Magda Szabo. The first one was The Ballad of Iza which I had mentioned here before: http://booklover.tumblr.com/post/3719898528/the-ballad-of-iza-or-ballade-diza-la
The Door combines the story of two women, a writer and her housekeeper. The housekeeper Emmerence is quite a character. She is full of surprises and secrets. She is maybe one of the most surprising characters in literature written in such a brilliant way, you can see her one of a kind character in absolute clarity.
While the narrator of the book enters the door of her soul, we see how vital the essence of privacy is in a human life. Everyday life details are combined with psychological elements and the story flows in a very captivating way; not to mention the fact that the narrator questions her own existence in life via Emmerence. While everything seems to look so simple and ordinary, the flow of events becomes striking.
The Door is one of the books that may be called “hauntingly beautiful” and “kafkaesque” as well. Magda Szabo is a wonderful author and worth your attention.
