or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
More Buying Choices
15 used & new from $20.91

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
A Little Hungarian Pornography
 
See larger image
 
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

A Little Hungarian Pornography (Hardcover)

~ Peter Esterhazy (Author), Judith Sollosy (Translator)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Price: $30.00 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Usually ships within 1 to 3 weeks.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

10 new from $22.10 5 used from $20.91

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover $30.00  
Paperback $19.00  

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with The Book of Fathers by Miklós Vámos

A Little Hungarian Pornography + The Book of Fathers
Price For Both: $40.85

One of these items ships sooner than the other. Show details

  • This item: A Little Hungarian Pornography by Péter Esterházy

    Usually ships within 1 to 3 weeks.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details

  • The Book of Fathers by Miklós Vámos

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although presented as a novel, this book (completed in 1983) by acclaimed Hungarian author Esterhazy (Book of Hrabal) reads more like a series of journal entries, political jottings and reminiscences. But the fragments are linked by the use of pornography as a metaphor for yielding disgracefully to--and becoming complicit in--oppression. Lascivious acts are made to stand for cowardice, compromise and the mendacious quality of life in the era of Janos Kadar, Hungary's pro-Russian Communist leader. Images of the body, notably those of seductive, compliant or degraded women, occur frequently as Esterhazy juggles the languages of power (the officialspeak of the state and of those who comply with it) and freedom (sexuality and relief from the lies of words). Figures from Hungarian history--literary, political and mythical--make appearances and are occasionally explained in footnotes. At the end of the book, Esterhazy explains why he writes: ``In short, I write for pleasure, out of fear, for freedom and out of freedom.'' Perhaps that goes as far as anything can toward explaining this book, a strange, often provoking manifesto written with extreme indirection, as if the very idea of clarity itself were obscenely coercive and an affront to the idea of an unfettered self.

Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Hungarian

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 216 pages
  • Publisher: Northwestern University Press (November 10, 1995)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0810113406
  • ISBN-13: 978-0810113404
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.1 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,279,506 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

More About the Author

Péter Esterházy
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Visit Amazon's Péter Esterházy Page

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

A Little Hungarian Pornography
58% buy the item featured on this page:
A Little Hungarian Pornography 3.5 out of 5 stars (2)
$30.00
She Loves Me
17% buy
She Loves Me 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
$12.71
Celestial Harmonies: A Novel
14% buy
Celestial Harmonies: A Novel 4.0 out of 5 stars (4)
Celestial Harmonies: A Novel (P.S.)
11% buy
Celestial Harmonies: A Novel (P.S.)

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

 

Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
5 star:    (0)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars An Extended Metaphor That Goes Nowhere, March 23, 2001
As a Hungarian-American, I was puzzled by this book. It attempts to show the tenor of life under Janos Kadar, who served as Magyar leader from 1956 until the fall of Soviet Communism in the late 1980s. Kadar walked a delicate tightrope between pleasing Khrushchev, Brezhnev, and Gorbachev -- and pleasing his people. Esterhazy depicts this period as an era of pornography: One appears willing to enjoy like the nubile beauties in a porno movie, but in reality one is appalled by the fact that one is being used.

The difficulty with a long extended metaphor is either that it breaks out of its shell and goes somewhere; or, in this case, it just spirals around and sputters out inconclusively.

At times, Esterhazy sounds like a Hungarian William Burroughs in THE NOVA EXPRESS. I would be curious to see how the original reads in Hungarian, because the rendition into English seems to always be just a bit unidiomatic. There are numerous English slang phrases that make it look as if the translator has a tin ear.

The only reason I rated this book a 3 is that every once in a while, it seems right on target, especially in the opening section. But, as in any book that contains no characters and no story, it slips out again. The Section entitled simply "?" seems particularly endless and painful, with its endless interrogatories.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Sophisticated pornography, August 2, 2000
By A Customer
The book is a part of a longer novel, it`s a pitty that the rest is not translated. It focuses on the discourse of sexuality and in the same time the communist rule in Hungary. I like it very much since it can speak about sex and communist mass murder in witty brilliant language! It is clear that what is at stake is not history, politics or private life but the style itself.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums


Listmania!


So You'd Like to...


Create a guide

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)


Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.