one minute stories

By Istvan Orkeny

Book Overview

A classic in Eastern Europe, these minute-long stories, designed to inspire profound reflection, have been reduced to their essence, some brimming with humor and the absurd and others addressing the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9631347834
• ISBN13: 9789631347838
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Corvina
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Humor, very dry

Like fine dry wines, red or white, the satirical stories of Hungary's Istvan Orkeny (1912-1979), seemingly require something of an acquired taste. And in that vein, they come complete with the author's "Handling Instructions," in which Orkeny notes that while the stories all have some literary merit, they "have the added advantage of saving us time." Although reading one requires a minute, at most, Orkeny warns, "Do pay attention to the titles!" In striving for brevity, he explains, he assumed a special responsibility to choose the correct titles, which constitute "an organic part" of each. But then, "do not stop at the titles," for next reading the story "is the only proper manner of handling." Moreover, if something is unclear, "dump the story, the fault lies with the author. There are no dimwit readers, only badly written one minute stories." The stories are all keen-witted swipes at totalitarian regimes of one stripe and another, many with droll references Life here is so boring that resurrection from death is akin to a death warrant, so much so that the ancient beneficiary prefers going back to sleep. In another, an artist living on Lake Balaton in Hungary's West prefers rowing beyond view of the shoreline to "take a little walk" on the water. Life in Hungary was dangerous, such that it was better, for much of the 20th century to be remain safely bored. ---Alyssa A. Lappen

A mixed bag of short prose

The author of these stories was a popular Hungarian author (1912-1979). If these stories are representative, his range of style was impressive - some pieces are quite satires on the Communist regime, others are humorous looks at human nature, others absurdist in a mode that reminds me most of Barry Yourgrau. A few of the tales fail, several are gems, the rest fill out the continuum.In one tale, the sand in an egg-timer "hour" glass bemoans his career choice as he has developed a tendency to clump.In another tale, a simple request from his sick wife to pick up bread and cold cuts becomes a shopping frenzy.In another a woman is resurrected and after brief conversations with the witnesses, walks back into her grave.Or a man, reheating potatoe puree, mistakes his neighbor's fight for a TV show. People are not who they seem to be - a "tramp" is an Olympic star, a noted professor ... Einstein, Lenin, Eva Braum all make appearances. Through the mayhem, one gets a taste of life in Budapest, the strengths (and weaknesses) of the Hungarian people, and of a style of writing that was permitted to note the foibles in a period where, at least as an American, I thought writing to be more strictly censored.