Chico Buarque: Budapest

[Flint]

We've recently been talking (on different threads, of course) about Hungarian literature, the Hungarian language, and Brazilian writers. I'd now like to mention one novel by a Brazilian writer about (among other things) Hungary and the Hungarian language: Chico Buarque's Budapest (Budapeste), a novel featuring a professional ghost writer who lives for some time in Budapest. It's a story about language and the difficulties involved in living in a place where a language utterly incomprehensible to you is spoken.

[Liam]

Writer's thread here. It seems other people have liked Budapest too, .

[Flint]

Oh I didn't realize there was a thread about him. Köszönöm szépen!

[Heteronym]

José Saramago was a friend of Chico Buarque and spoken fondly of this novel, which of course made me curious. I'll read it eventually.

[Flint]

José Saramago was a friend of Chico Buarque and spoken fondly of this novel, which of course made me curious. I'll read it eventually.

Do ...............

[Eric]

What does köszönöm szépen actually mean in this context of Brazilian writing, Flint?

[Flint]

What does köszönöm szépen actually mean in this context of Brazilian writing, Flint?

It means "Thank you very much" in Hungarian. Budapest is a book mainly about language and communication, and specifically about the difficulty of learning Hungarian, so I thought I might include one Hungarian phrase. Bocsánat!

[pesahson]

Looks like Jonathan Franzen is a fan of Mr Buarque: "I was taken with a couple of Brazilian novels, not new this year but new to me. Chico Buarque's Budapest (Bloomsbury)is exactly the literary collision it sounds like, South America meets Central Europe, but what a delicious recipe for a story this turns out to be. Buarque's the real deal, hilarious and innovative and deftly profound. The premise of the novel is ridiculous – a Brazilian ghost writer completes his self-effacement by disappearing into Budapest – but Buarque sells it so well that, by the end, your own existence feels equally ridiculous."

Found here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012...ors-favourites

[Daniel del Real]

Looks like Jonathan Franzen is a fan of Mr Buarque: "I was taken with a couple of Brazilian novels, not new this year but new to me. Chico Buarque's Budapest (Bloomsbury)is exactly the literary collision it sounds like, South America meets Central Europe, but what a delicious recipe for a story this turns out to be. Buarque's the real deal, hilarious and innovative and deftly profound. The premise of the novel is ridiculous – a Brazilian ghost writer completes his self-effacement by disappearing into Budapest – but Buarque sells it so well that, by the end, your own existence feels equally ridiculous."

Found here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012...ors-favourites

How funny, I just watched Franzen and Carvalho, both present at FIL Guadalajara 2012.