Between Words and Silence [Paperback]

Zsuzsa Beney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 31, 1999

These seven essays are not so much essays as prose poems, or at least poetic explorations of metaphysical subjects. They are an extraordinary introduction to the isolated otherness of Hungarian culture. Originally published in Hungary in 1993, these ""intuitions,"" or poetic reflections, hark back to Thomson's City of Dreadful Night, to the Duino Elegies, to The Four Quartets. They deal with the following philosophical juxtapositions: poetry/prose; dawn/morning; autumn/ winter; dying/death; creation/birth; love/madness; and fate/destiny.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Hungarian

Product Details

• Paperback: 126 pages
• Publisher: Mare's Nest Pub (December 31, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1899197508
• ISBN-13: 978-1899197507
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,643,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a cult book, May 29, 2000

By 

Nina de Ruiter (the Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Between Words and Silence (Paperback)

Beney's book is not like any other book I have ever read.

It is hard to explain to someone who has not read the book. She takes you on a trip into deeper consciousness of the world around us. This may sound bizarre. It is. After finishing it is like having been brainwashed into an intense realization of nature and environment, waking up all the senses in you.

This is not a cult book.

This is a must for anyone who is looking to understand (and accept?) why certain questions are difficult to answer.

Hate the book or love it, it took me two readings before it sunk in. For me it has changed the meaning of 'literature' and 'philosophy'.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Otherness of Hungarian culture", June 9, 2000

By 

Naomi Nagy (Finland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Between Words and Silence (Paperback)

I found "Between Words and Silence" a brilliant piece of contemporary Hungarian literature.

It is a collection of essays about emotions. Melancholic, passionate, sometimes surreal. The author uses beautiful metaphors expressing the theme of each essay. E.g.: Between Love and Madness. Between Fate and Destiny, Between Poetry and Prose.

The translator says that this book is "an extraordinary introduction to the isolated otherness of Hungarian culture". I could not agree more. Art is the way a culture can truly express itself. This book is a good example.

"Between Words and Silence" is the first translation of Zsuzsa Beney. I hope that with this book Zsuzsa Beney will be acknowledged internationally as one of the great Hungarian authors of our time. She deserves to be right up there with Esterhazy and Konrad.

The final chapter has not been written down on paper. As the author says: "Please, if you read this book through to the end, try, without the words existing there in front of you, to listen for the final, unwritten chapter: Between Silence and Muteness".

I hope you do read it to the end. Even if sometimes the sentences seem to have no end to them. Hang in there, a verb is on the way!

PS: If you are interested in Hungarian culture, I also recommend "Now you see it, now you don't" by Marion Merrick. This autobiography describes the life of a British couple living in Budapest in the communist era. Not a great work of literature, however the anecdotes are very recognizable and very enjoyable to anyone who has ever lived in Hungary or has ever had any kind of (business) relationship with a Hungarian. Very interesting!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Do not enter the labyrinth, August 19, 2000

By 

jean-marie bertillon (Lille, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Between Words and Silence (Paperback)

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Another of these short, enigmatic books I have been lent in recent months (twice...) by one of those people with an unnerving gleam in their eye.

So it is supposed to contain hidden clues, riddles of "secret learning" only passed down millennia by word of mouth? Something "older than the kabbala" said my first, more disturbing, acquaintance. Having read it, I can say, yes, all too possible.

Please be careful what you look for. Those seeking power have a terrible way of finding it. Do not enter the labyrinth.