Zoltán Böszörményi

Zoltán Böszörményi, the Editor-in-Chief of Irodalmi Jelen, Novelist and Poet, Answers Tamás Kerekes’s Questions

Why did you wait twenty-five years with your first published novel? Even as a teenager I already knew I wanted to be a writer. Back then though I approached the craft impulsively and emotionally. The content and ideas appeared to have a secondary role. I did not try to learn from the great classics of Hungarian literature. I read poetry primarily with my soul, not my mind. My thoughts and thus my work were shaped by some kind of a universal agony and despair, and it took me a long time to break out of their spell. I read voraciously, everything I could lay my hands on, especially Tolstoy and Dostoyevski. But I also got acquainted with American, French, Italian, and Spanish literature. But from even those masterpieces it was only the mood, the longing, the bitter taste of tragedy that seeped into my consciousness.

Reviews

Far from Nothing

This is a typically – or uniquely – men’s novel. Past the midpoint of a Dante-like guided tour of life, Rudolph makes an average living in a car dealership as a sales manager; not rich but not poor either, married eight years with a seven-year-old son.

Interviews

The Vulnerable Millionaire

Zoltán Böszörményi is a well-turned-out, good-looking Western-style businessman. His appearance shows he attracts not only money but women, too.

Reviews

Not Even the Eternal Woman Is Eternal

Yuppie Life from Existentialist point of view For Rudolph the starched shirt is one of the most essential elements of life, something that gives him a feeling of security – after all, the protagonist of the novel is the hero of our age, a true yuppie, who spends his mornings selling cars and the afternoons taking courses in philosophy. His married life is a boring routine, for excitement he runs to his oversexed Wanda whenever he can take a break. These factors and people define Rudolph’s life – all to his own satisfaction.