Knight of the Cordon Bleu by Gyula Krúdy / English edition of A Kékszalag hőse / Translated by John Bátki / Corvina Books 2013 / Paperback

Paperback 2013

ISBN: 9789631361261  /  978-9631361261

ISBN-10: 9631361268

PAGES: 349

PUBLISHER: Corvina

LANGUAGE: English / Angol

English Description:

Gyula Krudy's "Rezeda Cycle" of six novels spans his mature creative career from the early success of 'The Crimson Coach" in 1911 to 'Knight of the Cordon Bleu', written in in 1931 two years before the author's death for serialization in a daily paper and unpublished in book form until 1956. All of these works feature the author's alterego, the journalist and poet Kázmér Rezeda, alongside his patron and mentor Eduard Alvinczi, a dazzling figure based on the legendary Miklos Szemere who was a diplomat, politician, successful high stakes gambler and racing stable owner, member of the parliament in Budapest and of the Jockey Club in Vienna. While 'Knight of the Cordon Bleu' is Alvinczi's swansong and apotheosis (as well as that of the half century long somnolent peacetime of the dual monarchy), in it the figure of Rezeda achieves full stature to match Alvinczi in a dialogue that reflects opposing views of social change and Hungary's evolving European identity. An interesting sidelight is cast by Alvinczi's daughter Ilona, a young woman under the tutelage of her governess Margit Rex seeking realization of pioneering feminist strivings for women's education and emancipation within the deceptively old-fashioned social setting of prewar Budapest where the old order is about to be violently disrupted.

About the Author:

Gyula Krúdy was a Hungarian writer and journalist.
Gyula Krúdy was born in Nyíregyháza, Hungary. His father was a lawyer and his mother was a maid working for the aristocratic Krúdy family. His parents did not marry until Gyula was 17 years old. In his teens, Gyula published newspaper pieces and began writing short stories. Although his father wanted him to become a lawyer, Gyula worked as an editor at a newspaper for several years, then moved to Budapest. He was disinherited, but supported his wife (also a writer) and children through the publication of two collections of short stories. Sinbad's Youth, published in 1911, proved a success, and Krudy used the character, a man who shared the name of the hero of the Arabian Nights, many times throughout his career.

Krúdy's novels about Budapest were popular during the First World War and the Hungarian Revolution, but he was often broke due to excessive drinking, gambling and philandering. His first marriage fell apart. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Krúdy's health declined and his readership dwindled. In the years after his death, his works were largely forgotten until 1940, when Hungarian novelist Sándor Márai published Sinbad Comes Home, a fictionalized account of Krúdy's last day. This book's success brought Krúdy's works back to the Hungarian public.

He was called "a Hungarian Proust" by critic Charles Champlin in The New York Times.