Metropole (Paperback)

~ Ferenc Karinthy (Author), George Szirtes (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Review

'A masterpiece.' Magazine Litteraire'A stunning novel.' Liberation'With time, Metropole will find its due place in the twentieth-century library, on the same shelf as The Trial and 1984.'G. O. Chateaureynaud

Product Description

“A Central European classic to be discovered and relished.”—Eva Hoffman

“A stunning novel. Funny, nightmarish and jubilant.”—Libération

"Although it took almost 40 years for Metropole to be translated into English, the book holds up well. In the same way that Kafka becomes relevant again every time you renew your driver's license, Karinthy captures that enduring, horrifying and exhilarating state of being at the mercy of an unfamiliar land."—Jessa Crispin for NPR

Budai finds himself in a strange city where he can’t understand a word anyone says. One claustrophobic day blurs into another as he desperately struggles to survive in this vastly overpopulated metropolis where there are as many languages as there are people.

Metropole is a suspenseful and haunting Hungarian classic, and a vision of hell unlike any previously imagined.

Ferenc Karinthy was born in Budapest in 1921. He was a translator and editor, as well as an award-winning novelist, playwright, and journalist.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 279 pages
• Publisher: Telegram Books; Later printing edition (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1846590345
• ISBN-13: 978-1846590344
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #79,258 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Little-Known Modern Classic, December 3, 2008

By	E. L. Fay (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ferenc Karinthy (1921-1992), a trained linguist, was the son of famed Hungarian writer playwright Frigyes Karinthy. Not surprisingly, then, the complexity and confusion of language is the central theme of Karinthy's 1970 novel "Metropole" (originally entitled "Epépé"), the Kafkaesque tale of a hapless narrator stranded on the top floor of the figurative Tower of Babel.

The plot builds upon a basic but very ironic premise: Budai, a linguist, seems to have boarded the wrong plane on his way to a conference in Helsinki and has now ended up in a mysterious city in an unknown country with a singularly incomprehensible language. It is packed to overflowing: human congestion spills from the lobbies out into the streets and Budai is rudely rushed down sidewalks and through lines. Even the solitude of the hotel room he manages to acquire is afflicted by the alien alphabet he encounters in a framed printout presumably of hotel regulations. The overwhelming effect is one of claustrophobia reinforced by a rambling syntax that pushes headlong from page to page in lengthy paragraphs. A harried Budai roams from place to place in time with the narrative rhythm, attempting unsuccessfully to find . . . a way . . . out . . . OF . . . HERE! The very density of the urban dreamscape - its unyielding masses of humanity and mazes of streets, alleys, passageways, myriads of neighborhoods - seems to compress into a solid wall, entrapping Budai as effectively as any stone-and-mortar fortification. The mounting tension is palpable, even as it superficially plateaus when Budai settles into his hotel room, finds some work, and even acquires a sort of girlfriend. Obviously such fragile comfort cannot possibly last: it must prelude some catastrophe, which, when it comes, seems naturally inevitable as the expected fate of a stranger in a wholly strange land.

Yet strangely enough, however, Budai's demeanor throughout his ordeal is not one of panic or outright desperation; on the contrast, he is more perturbed than anything else. He is similar in that respect to many of Kafka's protagonists, particularly Gregor Samsa the giant bug, as an individual whose reaction to a grotesque or extraordinary situation is one of bemusement or annoyance rather than shock or terror. This lends a greater element of realism to "Metropole" that might have been otherwise submerged in emotional bombast. "Metropole" is frightening because it comes across as a probable scenario - not because it is a horror novel in the Stephen King or Dean Koontz sense of the term. In fact, it reminded me, oddly enough, of "Johnny Got His Gun," as a tale of a man locked in a nightmarish scenario and desperate make himself understood. What "Metropole" also does quite effectively is to unearth the subliminal fears of anonymity and invisibility in contemporary society. Indeed, it is a story of individuality and subjectivity taken to their greatest extreme: if each citizen of "Metropole" is actually uttering a verbal articulation of their own private language, as Budai comes to suspect, then maybe the driving force behind modern isolation is precisely this teeming urban obscurity, in addition to Western culture's emphasis on personal independence, personal ambition, personal expression, personal gratification, ad infinitum. If Budai is jarringly cool about his predicament, then perhaps that is because his situation is merely a farcical extension of the realities of modern life.

Despite its relatively unknown status in the United States, "Metropole" is actually considered a modern classic. Its unspecified setting and multilingual protagonist contribute to a greater international, cross-cultural appeal, especially as the nameless city is described as both a wanly generic and strikingly diverse place that any reader anywhere can envision for themselves. The bizarre nature of the story is itself an attraction, since one cannot help but wonder where all this could possibly lead to. "Metropole," therefore, comes highly recommended.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Kafkaesque Nightmare, March 1, 2009

By	Donald Hunt - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Metropole is a 2008 English translation of the Hungarian author's 1970 novel. The word "Kafkaesque" doesn't do justice to this novel. It is not "esque," it is more Kafkaesque than Kafka. What is it about Central Europe?

Metropole depicts a waking nightmare. A Hungarian linguist named Budai boards a plane to travel to a linguistics conference in Helskinki. He falls asleep in flight and wakes up when the passengers are deplaned in a strange city. Not Helsinki. The passengers are taken to a hotel where the protagonist, depite knowing ten languages, cannot make any sense of the spoken or written language. Nor can he find anyone who speaks any of the languages he does. They don't use Roman letters but luckily they use Arabic numerals. At the registration desk they take his passport, and they can't understand a word he says when he asks for it back. Budai is given a room and some local currency in exchange for what cash he has and the story begins.

The city is large and crowded with aggravated, unpleasant people. The people are of reconizably mixed racial types and wear recognizable clothing. The food is similar but all has a sickly sweet taste as do their alcoholic beverages. Budai can find no airports or any place that will have people speaking recognizable languages. There are churches but of no recognizable religion.

The hotel room gives Budai a comfortable base from which to explore and try to find a way out. What will happen when his money runs out? Will he ever make it back home? I won't spoil it for you.

Metropole is a well-written, readable yet highly disturbing allegory. The Cold War Eastern Bloc origins of the novel are obvious. But the fact that it disturbs us today speaks to something about the human condition that hasn't changed.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than Kafka, June 15, 2009

By	joe vadalma "Joe Vadalma Author of the Book o... (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews

If you are a fan of Franz Kafka, you'll love this book. An absent minded man on his way to a conferenc gets on the wrong flight and finds himself in a surrealistic city from which there is no escape. Intense, fast paced and thought provoking.