Magda Szabó (1917–2007)
Author of The Door
About the Author
Disambiguation Notice:
The native Hungarian form of this personal name is Szabó Magda, so the Legal lastname, firstname name is Magda, Szabó. The Western (including English) Canonical lastname, firstname name is Szabó, Magda.
Image credit: goodreads
Works by Magda Szabó
A Balada De Iza 4 copies
Béla Király 1 copy
Căprioara 1 copy
YAVRU CEYLAN 1 copy
Saaresinine : [jutustus] 1 copy
Řekněte Žofince 1 copy
Ballo in maschera 1 copy
Paulan tähden 1 copy
Eleven képét a világnak 1 copy
La porta 1987 1 copy
Dyrnar 1 copy
Ki hol lakik? 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Szabó, Magda
- Legal name
- Magda, Szabó
- Birthdate
- 1917-10-05
- Date of death
- 2007-11-19
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- Hungary
- Country (for map)
- Hungary
- Birthplace
- Debrecen, Hungary
- Place of death
- Kerepes, Hungary
- Places of residence
- Debrecen, Hungary
- Education
- University of Debrecen, Hungary
- Occupations
- writer
teacher
novelist
poet
essayist
translator - Relationships
- Szobotka, Tibor (husband)
- Awards and honors
- Baumgarten-díj (1949, visszavonták)
József Attila-díj (1959, 1972)
Kossuth-díj (1978)
Pro Urbe Budapest díj (1983)
Debreceni Református Teológiai Akadémia díszdoktora (1993)
Déry Tibor-jutalom (1996) (show all 15)
Szép Ernő-jutalom (1998)
Nemes Nagy Ágnes-díj (2000)
A Miskolci Egyetem tiszteletbeli doktora (2001)
Corvin-lánc (2001)
Gundel Művészeti Díj (2003)
Prima Primissima díj (2003)
Femina-díj (2003)
Hazám-díj (2007)
A Magyar Köztársasági Érdemrend nagykeresztje (polgári tagozata) (2007) - Short biography
- Magda Szabó (October 5, 1917 – November 19, 2007) was a Hungarian writer, arguably Hungary's foremost woman novelist. She also wrote dramas, essays, studies, memories and poetry.
Born in Debrecen, Szabó graduated at the University of Debrecen as a teacher of Latin and of Hungarian. She started working as a teacher in a Calvinist all-girl school in Debrecen and Hódmezővásárhely. Between 1945 and 1949 she was working in the Ministry of Religion and Education. She married the writer and translator Tibor Szobotka in 1947.
She began her writing career as a poet, publishing her first book Bárány ("Lamb") in 1947, which was followed by Vissza az emberig ("Back to the Human") in 1949. In 1949 she was awarded the Baumgarten Prize, which was - for political reasons - withdrawn from her on the very day it was given. She was dismissed from the Ministry in the same year.
During the establishment of Stalinist rule from 1949 to 1956, the government did not allow her works to be published. Since her unemployed husband was also stigmatized by the communist regime, she was forced to teach in an elementary school within this period.
It was during the years of this involuntary silence that she felt the frames of poetry too tight to express her thoughts and turned to prose.[citation needed] Her first novel, Freskó ("Fresco"), written in these years was published in 1958 and achieved overwhelming success among readers. Her most widely read novel Abigél ("Abigail", 1970) is an adventure story about a schoolgirl boarding in eastern Hungary during the war.
She received several prizes in Hungary and her works have been published in 42 countries. In 2003 she was the winner of the French literary prize Prix Femina Étranger for the best foreign novel.
Her novel Abigél was popularised through a much-loved television series in 1978. Abigél was also chosen as the sixth most popular novel at the Hungarian version of Big Read. Her three other novels which were in the top 100 are Für Elise, An Old-fashioned Story and The Door.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szabó_M... - Disambiguation notice
- The native Hungarian form of this personal name is Szabó Magda, so the Legal lastname, firstname name is Magda, Szabó. The Western (including English) Canonical lastname, firstname name is Szabó, Magda.
Members
Reviews
A revelation; I’ve known about this book for years and for no good reason kept putting it off. Among other achievements, I think Szabo has created one of the most singular, most indelible characters I’ve ever encountered. The story of a young writer and the old woman she hires to clean her house. That’s it. But the old woman (whose name is Emerence) is used to having things done her way. The book, in brief, is about their relationship. The writer is often so obsessed by her interactions with Emerence that she can’t work. There are times that the writer wonders whether Emerence is insane. Indeed, to describe Emerence as a force of nature is likely insufficient. But the book is so much more: about life, about dying and how to die, about memory. To say much more would be too much. But make no mistake: if I haven’t made it clear already, this is an extraordinary book.… (more)
Magda is a mature, well-established writer looking back on her twenty year relationship with her housekeeper, Emerence. The two were very different, despite coming from the same rural region. Magda is well-educated, married to an academic, and religious. Emerence has been in service since the age of thirteen and is outspoken, abrasive, and rigid in her opinions. She believes she was slighted by some well-meaning but condescending churchwomen and has turned her back on God and the church. The relationship between the two women was very important for them both, but fraught with disappointment, broken trust, and betrayal.
"You'll get something when I'm gone, and it won't be just anything. That should be enough. And don't forget that I let you in where I never allowed anyone else. Beyond that, I've nothing else to offer you, because I've nothing else in me. What more do you want? I cook, I wash, I clean and tidy. I brought Viola up for you. I'm not your dead mother, or your nursemaid, or your little chum. Leave me in peace."
Metaphors abound in this well-crafted novel, and there are many dichotomies that create tension. Locked doors that should have remained closed are opened, doors are boarded up and broken down, Magda is tormented by dreams of doors she can't open. Several characters are paralyzed and unable to make crucial decisions or act when they need to, yet at other times impulsivity leads to disaster. Rural family members are estranged from urban ones, animals are loved and abused, and people are protected and betrayed under the various regimes during and after World War II. It's not always clear who is good or where the truth lies.
The character of Emerence reminds me a bit of Alina Bronsky's older female protagonists. Difficult to love, but with a strength and passion that is hard not to admire. I found this a hard book to read because I wanted it to be simpler, for their relationship to become easier, for there to be a happier ever after. Instead I was left with life as it often is: messy, complicated, and unresolved. I have a feeling these are characters that will stay with me for a long time. I will definitely be reading more by this talented author.… (more)
"You'll get something when I'm gone, and it won't be just anything. That should be enough. And don't forget that I let you in where I never allowed anyone else. Beyond that, I've nothing else to offer you, because I've nothing else in me. What more do you want? I cook, I wash, I clean and tidy. I brought Viola up for you. I'm not your dead mother, or your nursemaid, or your little chum. Leave me in peace."
Metaphors abound in this well-crafted novel, and there are many dichotomies that create tension. Locked doors that should have remained closed are opened, doors are boarded up and broken down, Magda is tormented by dreams of doors she can't open. Several characters are paralyzed and unable to make crucial decisions or act when they need to, yet at other times impulsivity leads to disaster. Rural family members are estranged from urban ones, animals are loved and abused, and people are protected and betrayed under the various regimes during and after World War II. It's not always clear who is good or where the truth lies.
The character of Emerence reminds me a bit of Alina Bronsky's older female protagonists. Difficult to love, but with a strength and passion that is hard not to admire. I found this a hard book to read because I wanted it to be simpler, for their relationship to become easier, for there to be a happier ever after. Instead I was left with life as it often is: messy, complicated, and unresolved. I have a feeling these are characters that will stay with me for a long time. I will definitely be reading more by this talented author.… (more)
Abigél was originally published 1970 by popular Hungarian author Magda Szabó then finally translated into English and republished in 2020. The main character is 13 year old Gina Vitay, who lives a life of luxury in Budapest with her father, a General in the Hungarian army. She is then abruptly and secretly removed to an austere and somewhat eerie and bizarre Lutheran boarding school, The Bishop Matula, in Árkod. The story is in part a coming of age tale in which Gina begins by rejecting the games and traditions of the boarding school girls, not recognizing these are their means of exerting their limited power against the dictates and authoritarian regime, and of forming some camaraderie amongst themselves. She is then completely shunned by the boarders, becoming an invisible victim to petty cruelties. Her world is broadened as the book progresses, and the realities of the war begin to encroach on Hungary, and bring danger right to the doors of the prison-like school. It is also a book of mysteries: why did the General leave her at Matula? Who is behind the statue Abigail that the girls revere as a friend and helper in times of need? And who is the dissenter of Árkod, secretly posting anti-war slogans and truths? The girls become very engrossed in watching the interactions of their teachers, the upright Susannah, the heroic and handsome Kalmár, and the feeble, bumbling König. Gina eventually learns that all is not as it appears, and heroes are not always the strong and the handsome. The answers to the riddles are fairly obvious early on, but nevertheless this is a great read.… (more)
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Statistics
- Works
- 82
- Also by
- 2
- Members
- 3,686
- Popularity
- #6,874
- Rating
- 4.1
- Reviews
- 157
- ISBNs
- 352
- Languages
- 19
- Favorited
- 16
One of those character studies that asks, "How well can we know another person?" And in this case, readers have two to figure out, not just one, in Magda and Emerence. Do we trust our narrator, or do we think she isn't always aware herself of what's going on between them? What does Emerence keep behind closed doors? Magda is troubled by dreams, and the whole narrative has a dreamlike quality where we're not sure exactly how much time passes where in the story, until the very end where we know about twenty years has passed since the women first met. They have a very strange relationship, but at the same time, I found myself remembering a friendship I had with an older patron for many years, and the ways in which we knew or didn't know each other up until her death. An interesting story on the surface with much to ponder for readers willing to take up the challenge.… (more)