Book Review - The Circumcision

 The Circumcision
 György Dalos
 translated from the Hungarian by Judish Sollosy 
 Brandl and Schlesinger 2001
 157 pages
 
 A book review by Danny Yee
 http://dannyreviews.com/h/Circumcision.html

Robi Singer is a half-orphan -- his father died soon after the war -- who
spends his weekdays in a Jewish orphanage in Budapest and his weekends
in a small apartment with his grandmother and mother.  His mother is
agoraphobic and hypochondriac, but his grandmother is a tough old lady
who holds down an unskilled job and knows how to work the system; they
manage to cling to a middle-class lifestyle, even if they can't afford
a proper winter coat for Robi.

A teacher at the orphanage inspires him with stories about the heroes of
Jewish history, but on Sundays his mother takes him to prayer meetings
of Jews for Christ -- and his grandmother is a communist.  So when the
time comes for Robi's _bar mitzvah_, it's not clear that his belated
circumcision really will be "just a formality"...

The tribulations of Robi and his family, and their relationships with
others, offer a fascinating view of life in Hungary under Rákosi and
Stalin.  But _The Circumcision_ (_Körümetélés_) is a simple, unpretentious
story of a teenager growing up, facing the common confusions of sex and
love and family as well as those peculiar to his religious background.
Apart from occasional Yiddish terms (explained in a glossary), the
background never intrudes: Dalos delivers short, punchy episodes in
lucid prose, with a quiet but effective humour.

--

%T      The Circumcision
%A      Dalos, György
%M      Hungarian
%F      Sollosy, Judish
%I      Brandl and Schlesinger
%C      Sydney
%D      2001 [1990]
%O      paperback
%G      ISBN 1-876040-25-4
%P      157pp
%K      world literature, Eastern Europe
%Z      a Jewish orphan in post-war Hungary faces a choice

16 November 2003

        ------------------------------------------------------
        Copyright (c) 2003 Danny Yee       http://danny.oz.au/
        Danny Yee's Book Reviews      http://dannyreviews.com/
        ------------------------------------------------------