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János Székely
You can’t do that to Svoboda
A novel
220 pages
Original English Text Available!
Foreign Rights sold to:
the Netherlands (Ambo Anthos)
Israel (Keren Publishing)
“A rediscovery that is truly worthwhile.” Rainer Moritz about Temptation
János Székely’s brilliant visionary parable about the Bohemian porter, Svoboda, appeared as a novel for the first time in 1943 in New York, and was a triumph on Broadway in 1944 in its play form. It is through the eyes of Svoboda, the good-natured fool, that the political madness, if it has method, is illuminated in the harshest of light.
A quiet small town in Bohemia where one would probably die of boredom if it weren’t for a few eccentric characters who provide the stuff of conversation. One of them is Svoboda, the village idiot who has been hanging around the railway station for quarter of a century waiting for one of the rare travellers who have strayed this direction to ask him to carry their luggage. But one snowy day in March 1939 the German troops invade and out of the blue the porter is accused of planning an attack on Hitler…
Tracing the destiny of the good-natured simpleton, Svoboda, this masterful novel which describes its characters both with warmth and satirical bite, brings to life a short, but fatal epoch which could happen again, anywhere, anytime. Through the eyes of a fool the truth behind the major events of the world seems shockingly clear: contempt for mankind produces cowards as well as martyrs.
Janós Székely, born in Budapest in 1901, moved to Berlin in 1919, and then to the USA in 1934 where he worked with Ernst Lubitsch; he won an Oscar in 1940. During the McCarthy era, years of exile were spent in Mexico, and in 1957, at the invitation of the DEFA, Székely returned to Berlin where he died in 1958.
His novel Temptation (Kisértés*) republished by Schirmer & Graf in 2005 has enjoyed great success with critics and readers alike.
*Foreign Rights sold to:
the Netherlands (Ambo Anthos)
Italy (Adelphi)
Spain (Lumen)
Estonia (Tormikiri)
From the reviews:
“In his crystal clear style János Székely addresses, almost casually, the most fundamental themes of life. The story is set in the Czechoslovakia of 1939, but it is us he is talking about.”
Jean-Christophe Buisson, Figaro Magazine
“…not since Anatole France has there been a story that bears comparison…”
Herald Tribune, 21.3.1943