No Stopping Train

November 10, 2014
A young couple navigates poverty and revolution in postwar Hungary in this dense, difficult, poetic novel by the late Hungarian-born writer Plesko (The Last Bongo Sunset). Margit and Sandor marry in 1946 and settle in Budapest. Sandor, fresh from service in the war, makes money forging papers, while Margit, who lost her father in the conflict, and her mother soon after, works as a seamstress. Tearing at the fabric of their marriage is Erzsébet, a woman whom Sandor rescued from a concentration camp and with whom he carries on an affair. Plesko whisks readers through the first 10 years of the couple's marriage as the country hurdles toward the 1956 revolution. In snapshot-like chapters that shift perspective, as well as mental letters from Margit "composed" after the revolution breaks out, we watch as the characters' lives, already dreary to begin with, deteriorate. Sandor's forgery lands Margit in a gulag, and as the revolution nears, a string of betrayals leads to injury, heartbreak, and death. While the dialogue is sometimes awkwardly aphoristic, one ultimately comes away seduced by Plesko's prose.

Starred review from November 1, 2014

The writing world mourned last year's passing of Plesko (The Last Bongo Sunset) with an outpouring of admiration for his courage on the page. Refusing to edit his fiction for marketability, the author fought a lifelong battle to see his stories published. Here, the reader will find a masterwork in language and imagery while struggling to piece together the chaotic world of 1956 Hungary. Set during the Hungarian Revolution, the narrative follows the lives of Sandor, Margrit, and Erszebet, who are ensnared in a love triangle, even as they rationalize their own behavior within the double helix of hope and despair promised by the revolution. The novel is written in fragmented chunks, mirroring the shattered lives of each character while creating a narrative whole that hints at resolution without absolution. VERDICT Bearing the weight of his literary career, Plesko's long-awaited novel is a powerful meditation on his country's history and the expansiveness of humanity. Though fans of straightforward historicals will be flummoxed, serious readers of literary fiction will rejoice.--Joshua Finnell, Denison Univ. Lib., Granville, OH

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.