raskolnikov

Sándor Marai, the best author you have never heard of —existentialism from another angle. (Warning: spoilers)

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Sandor Marai – El matarife

Last Summer, when I returned from Budapest, gushing with excitement from my visit, my sister gifted me Sandor Márai’s first novel, El matarife (The Slaughterer, The Butcher). I had never heard of him, but I was quickly absorbed by the Joseph Roth-like, turn of the (20th) Century style, which I love, and you can read about here.

Most protagonists in Existentialist literature have either lofty or uncertain, questionable motives. Yes, they might be murderers, think of Raskolnikov or Meursault, but either they try to justify their motives or, following Existential absurdity, they simply do not care. Other, more lofty existentialists, such as Don Quixote or Unamuno’s San Manuel Bueno, are not afraid to stand up for their beliefs.

In El Matarife (A mészáros in Hungarian) (1924) —which has yet to be translated into English! Marai creates a different narrative. Otto, who, as the title implies, will become a slaughterer, a butcher, enjoys killing, firstly cattle in Berlin’s market, then enemy soldiers and civilians during WWI. And eventually, as expected, he becomes a serial killer, who then kills himself.

The beauty of this book lies in Marai’s buildup of the narrative. We know Otto is a little different when, as a child, he enjoys seeing an ox get slaughtered. I remember being traumatized as a child seeing my neighbor’s pigs slaughtered, and that was a festive, community event! We also notice Otto is a detached fellow, no real friends, no girlfriend, no wife. Otto seems conscious of his behavior, which even earns him an Iron Cross from the Emperor himself!

Enough spoilers, if you can get your hands on some Marai, it will not disappoint. You are welcome.

Embers, originally published in 1942, was eventually published in English in 2001. It did garner critical acclaim, and I have it on the reading list.

Marina District, my new neighborhood

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It has been about six months since I moved to Raskolnikov’s apartment (it is far from it, but I like the analogy, and I am sticking to it!)

Yes, the apartment is small, less than half the size of my previous quarters, but, paradoxically, the bathroom is much bigger than the old one. I do miss having an oven (apparently the first floors of the building were supposed to be some sort of luxury resort apartments, but that did not work, so now they are “regular” apartments), but being in a bit more of a neighborhood trumps the negative aspects.

The building itself has all the bells and whistles: steam bath, sauna, gym, two pools (a lap pool and a “regular” one), etc. Unfortunately, the owners tend to be old, cold, paranoid New Yorkers, or Northerners in general, so you need a digital key fob to move anywhere around the building: to operate the elevators, to get to the mailroom, etc.

The main benefits are being walking distance to the beach, to my favorite pizza in Boynton Beach, Café Frankie’s, to the dry cleaners, Paola’s great Fran’s Sew N Sew, to a bunch of other restaurants like the famous Two Georges, or Banana Boat, Scheurer’s the delicious chocolate maker, a hardware store, a breakfast diner, DJs, even the public library is walking distance. But probably the handiest feature is how close it is to my parish, St. Mark… across the street. Sunday mornings I just cross the street to get to church!