Do You like book Under The Frog (2001)?
It is a good book in some respects but it is an extremely difficult read. The writer is telling us the story for 250 pages. Virtually no dialogue. Metaphor after metaphor, he must have spent a month rehearsing one sentence. So many times I found myself stuck having to re-read because I had no idea what was going on or what time period we were in. The chapter headings are worthless unless you are in the last chapter. This is because he switches gears so many times in a chapter you can't remember where you started or what direction you are in. But it was research for my own up-coming historical fiction and I did get a sense of what the times were like between 44-56 in Hungary. I can safely say that mine is a much easier read and you won't be at all confused with the time period or the characters. Now, having said all of this you will note that I do NOT like Salman Rushdie's books as I could not get past the first chapter. It ws not required reading or research thank God! Well, his comments are on the front cover of this book. Also, this is a book about men, so if you are a man or a fan of SR, guess what, you will probably like it. This book was referred to me by a man on FB who I had chatted with.
—Jeannine
From the table of contents, it's clear this story will progress toward the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and there is a lot that's appealing about the story. The absurdity of the communist rule is wittily played out through humor, the black comedy of the subtitle. Even though the writing is sometimes overdone (e.g., obscure words and strange metaphors), the narrator's arch tone works for me. And for all it's absurdity, the book creates a sense of being in on an important historical moment.But there are some not so successful aspects of the book as well. Though the grand story, the revolution, ultimately progresses toward it's climax, the stories of the two characters, Gyuri and Pataki, wander from event to event with seemingly little direction. And Jadwiga, Gyuri's love interest, who is clearly drawn as a revolutionary, is however sketchily drawn as a person, and their affection for one another is more puzzling than real.So on the plus side, the book presents some interesting history in an unusual narrative tone, but on the negative side, the narrative arc for the characters could be more coherent, and the love story could be more touching.
—Mac
“Does it help being the clever pig on the way to the abattoir?”Totalitarian regimes comprise those who serve them and those who hate them. Those who serve try to destroy those who hate. But when the number of those who hate amounts to the critical mass there is an explosion.“I expect some of you will be committing suicide. Indeed I will consider my work a failure if some of you turds don’t try a bit of wrist-slashing. And if you don’t do the job properly, we’re willing to help; attempted suicide is punishable by death.” A life in a totalitarian state is an absurdist comedy but it is utterly tragic.
—Vit Babenco