Battlefields and Playgrounds

By János Nyíri

Book Overview

The story of Jozsef Sondor, a tough, irreverently witty Jewish boy growing up in World War II Hungary, carries readers into the whirl of everyday life in war-torn Budapest, from the eve of the Holocaust in Hungary to Russian liberation in 1945. Through his eyes, we witness history, or, as he sees it, the adult world gone mad. What is this Jewish problem, he asks. And what can God be thinking of? Jozsef soon finds that his questions have no simple answers, but they do lead him on a journey to understanding the war, politics, religion, and, in the end, the complexity of human nature.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374109184
• ISBN13: 9780374109189
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux
• Length: 536 Pages
• Weight: 2.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 2.0" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

The Last Word

Battlefields and Playgrounds is the last word on humanity's darkest hour. A masterpiece of modern fiction, this novel is more than a novel, more than a chronicle, a memoir, a tribute to victims of persecution, holocaust and genocide. It is a celebration of life in all its glory and vulnerability, a portrait of childhood, human suffering and divine redemption. The exquisite prose, even in English translation is like a latter-day Gray's Elegy, sounding the curfew of Europe's vastest graveyard, with angels' trumpets echoing in the shadow of Death, heralding a last chance for humanity. This book restored my faith in literature, humanity and God. An unmitigated triumph of modern writing. Janos Nyiri's authorial voice rings true in a world ravaged by cruelty, bitterness and injustice. His genius lies in recording the greatest agony and evil, while reaffirming beauty, humor and innocence at the same time. By this life-affirming masterpiece, the author of Battlefields and Playgrounds restores Love, Beauty and Hope as only a child-survivor of the Holocaust can. Battlefields and Playgrounds should be required reading in every home, school, government and religion. An unforgettable book.

Unusual Fictional Perspective

Fast, entertaining read. Focused entirely on a young boy and his family. More a narrative than a fact filled historical fiction but worth reading. Seeing WWII through the sometimes limited, sometimes seeing larger than life, view of a 8-12 year old child is interesting. Characters are fascinating, realistic and far from perfect. Jozsef fluctuates between innate maturity and the ability to see clearly through situations and adults to childish desire and emotions in a dangerous and desperate time. All facets of people during war are demonstrated here- the villains, saviors and the apathetic. Jozsef's many friends and teachers are hysterical but you sometimes flinch at Jozsef's cruelty.

A BITTERSWEET CHILDHOOD IN WAR TORN EUROPE

The self-indulgent, narcisistic nature of the protagonist is the undisguised and tragic ego of the writer laid bare, both pathetic and heroic, in this brilliant if flawed Hungarian novel. An at times gripping, and always informative work, which rightly earned its place in PW's Best Fiction of 1995. An uneven masterpiece which would most probably benefit from a more literate and professional English translation. Nonetheless, the author's distinctively Hungarian, tragicomic voice is still audible despite a rather cumbersome and precious English rendition.