The Door

After loving Magda Szabo's "Iza's Ballad", I ordered this work on the strength of it, but didn't quite enjoy it as much.Like the other, this book takes as its theme old age. Here the elderly protagonist is the driven (but in no way subservient) Emerence who is a housekeeper / snow shoveller etc for several homes. Narrated by a writer who hires her, we follow the difficult relationship that grows up between them. The maid is outspoken in her scorn for church and politics; little snippets of her life come out, but no one is ever invited behind the door to her home. She relishes her independence, the invaluable position she occupies in the neighbourhood, her animals. But no one can go on forever... And, as the narrator realises, doing the socially accepted things to assist may not be what the subject actually wants...Well written but I was glad to get to the end.

Fast service, clean copy

One of the best novels I've read in years. It's haunting, beautiful, and true--I almost couldn't bear reading parts of it because I got so emotionally involved. It's a gorgeously rendered story about how two friends can love each other deeply and yet completely misunderstand each other at the most perilous moments. I'm an avid reader, but it's been a very long time since I was so engrossed in a book that I spent three hours devoted to it in the middle of a Saturday and could not leave my couch until I was done. Novels with white female narrators/protagonists these days are starting to feel predictable: They're about the death of a child; the return home to be at a dying parent's bedside or to attend the funeral; childhood sexual abuse; an affair/divorce; or an examination of a friendship between two women, one very beautiful (the latter is often "brittle" or "cold" and might meet a bad end). The women in these books are comfortably well off or wealthy; they live in NYC or in a lovingly refurbished old farmhouse in Vermont or (for a stab at something radical) Iowa. The protagonists do not ever have brooms in their hands. They are not wretchedly poor. (Wretched poverty is for memoirs). Szabo breaks the mold. The Door is gorgeously written, taut, moving, and completely fresh, set in a small town in Hungary, with scenes and dialogue so vivid they almost certainly must be autobiographical. The story not only brings the two women to life, but also illuminates class differences and a country's hideous war past. In many ways The Door is reminiscent of the wonderful books by Elena Ferrante, which I'd also recommend to anyone. Thank you, Magda Szabo.

This story takes place in Budapest, Hungary, where a woman writer, unnamed, lives with her academic husband and a dog named Viola. Because her writing is taking up much of her time, she requires a housekeeper. A former classmate tells her about Emerence Szeredas, who works for her brother. She is hardworking and excels in everything she does. She makes herself indispensable to her employers. If she likes you, she will shower you with gifts. The writer then speaks with Emerence and tells her what her chores will be. However, it is Emerence, who will decide whether she wants to work for her. She is taking her time to answer. One day, she just shows up and tells them she will try it out. She will start the next day and in a month, it is she who will decide the salary depending on how much work there is and if she likes it there.Emerence is a tall, big-boned, muscular old woman in her 80s, who always wears a headscarf. She is a peasant, illiterate and controlling. She is surrounded by a shroud of mystery. She never talks about her past life. She lives alone in a flat with her cat and always keeps her door locked. She entertains her guests on the porch. Emerence is also the caretaker of her building in lieu of rent. She does all the repair jobs, the shoveling of snow off the street and the building walkway. She will give abandoned animals food and shelter and at the same time beat them, if they disobey her. One may think she's insane for her changing moods and her bizarre way of thinking. However, she is well-liked by the street people.Emerence once worked for the Grossman family, who were taken out of their home and put on a cattle truck taking them to the gas chamber. People say she looted their home and is keeping their possessions behind the locked door. You wonder whether she did or did not loot their home. She detests education, religion and anything to do with politics, yet she is intelligent enough to be a politician. Emerence is saving her money for a crypt to be built in the Taj Mahal, so that all her family can be together.This is the story of love and friendship between two very different women from high and low cultures. They have a long-lasting and life-changing relationship as you will come to find out. The Door could mean an actual door like Emerence's locked door in Emerence's flat or a psychological look at aspects of their own lives.Magda Szabo's writing is intelligent and complex. The Door is an outstanding novel. Because of the intense writing and storyline, you will remember it long after the last page. It is written on the back of the book that the unnamed character in the book is Magda.Magda Szabo won the Josef Attila Prize in 1959, after she went on to write The Door and many other novels, verse for children, plays, short stories and non-fiction. She died in 2007 in her home town with a book in her hand.Len Rix was awarded the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize for his translation of The Door.

Szabo is Hungary's most esteemed writer. This is a partly autobiographical novel spanning 20+ years in Post WWII in Pest. A woman writer hires an older woman to clean so she can concentrate on her writing. A story of their relationship, of peasant vs proletariat, old Hungary vs new....I am glad that I read it, it was well written, interesting, not hard to read but there was too much angst from the writer and their relationship was weird. So, I can't say I loved it.

An interesting if unpleasant story, seemingly allegorical and reflexive in nature, concerning the complex conflict between new & old and between the writer & her surroundings. Given that this new translation/edition is intended to bring Szabo to an English-speaking audience, it's puzzling that there isn't a fuller introduction. I would have liked to see more supporting material, including a note from the translator.