Customer Reviews

El Ultimo Encuentro / The Final Meeting (Spanish Edition)

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4 star:		(2)
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This book was written by Sandor Marai more than 50 years ago, in Hungary, and was banned. It was then published in 1999, and in 2004, its 23rd edition was published. This itself made me pick it up. A book that has been edited 23 times in 5 years must have something.....

El Ultimo Encuentro deals with a couple of old men, who were absolutely inseparable during their younger years, and are now meeting again, after not seeing or hearing from each other in more than 40 years. The entire novel revolves around the mysterious reason why they separated.

Life, friendship, loyalty and truth are deeply explored in the meeting between these two men, who in spite of not having any type of contact in 40 years, have thought about each other every single day of their lives.

The book is beautifully written, and is very hard to put down. Two men are bearing their souls, dreams, and memories....

In some ways, El Ultimo Encuentro reminds me of Hermann Hesse's writings....

Definitely worth your time.

I was eager to read this book after I got it as a present. The summary on the back page anticipated an interesting reading. However, what I found was a very dull book. What was described as the story of two old friends meeting after 40 years, was in fact the monologue of a resentful old man who waited 40 years for an opportunity to tell his former bestfriend that he was guilty of all his sufferings. The poor guy has to listen to all these of accusations and remains almost silent for a hundred pages (and I say 'almost' because he adds sentences like 'Please, go on' or 'Yes, I'm listening to you'). Sorry, but couldn't he have had a more decent role? Did he defend himself in sign language? Or is this what the 'geniality' of the author is about? Maybe I missed something...

El Último Encuentro no se lee, se digiere lentamente como los buenos vinos, como los chocolates que dejas derretir lentamente en tu boca... su prosa, de verdad fue para mi un verdadero hallazgo cargado de metáforas, de imágenes alucinantes y únicas... Si vienes de leer una novela ligera, El Ultimo Encuentro se convertirá en un freno, ya que en su lectura hay tantas ricas imágenes, tantas bellos pasajes que es imposible no leerlo en voz alta. Un "in crescendo" silencioso marca una de las grandes novelas del siglo xx.

It is one of the best books I have ever read. The talent of the writer in the describing the complex dynamics presented between the main three characters, their history, emotional ambivalence, love and hatred, tolerance and despair is outstanding. Although is a short book, it is very dense in meaning, full in descriptive detail and emotional depth. It takes place on the day two old friends meet after 30 years of not seeing one another. On is a solder and the other is an artist. The background is the communist revolution and political turmoils in Hungary. The books is a jewelery. The author transpire in the book his own philosophical views that led to his own exile in the USA and his own suicide.