Picked this up by sheer chance a few months ago and have already read it three times.

Sindbad is the arbitarily chosen name of the main character, the ghost of a three hundred year old Don Juan figure who revisits old loves in the country round fin-de-siecle Budapest. These hypnotic little tales prefigure Surrealism and Magic Realism in their superbly atmospheric recreation of the dying Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Krudy was apparently a prolific writer - I, for one, want to see more of his work in English.

Hungarian author uses deep metaphor to set quest for meaning in a world of political struggle, chaos, and greed - Difficult and intensely rewarding. Definitely not an easy read. The basic story is of a small contemporary Hungarian town. Work is scarce and society is disintegrating, when a strange circus touting the world's greatest whale arrives and draws a large and dangerous crowd of unemployed men. This is the book that the Hungarian film, the 'Werkemeister's Harmonies' was based upon. While that was an extraordinary movie, the book surpasses it in depth and nuance.

/

Another of these short, enigmatic books I have been lent in recent months (twice...) by one of those people with an unnerving gleam in their eye.

So it is supposed to contain hidden clues, riddles of "secret learning" only passed down millennia by word of mouth? Something "older than the kabbala" said my first, more disturbing, acquaintance. Having read it, I can say, yes, all too possible.

Please be careful what you look for. Those seeking power have a terrible way of finding it. Do not enter the labyrinth.

After reading it many times, I still can't do justice to its beauty and subtlety; its mix of lyricism and metaphysics; its sense of wonder and mystery: the pathos of its philosophy and prose.

Not enough weirdness in your life? This book is totally unlike anything else I have ever read.

Other reviews here summarize the plot, so I'll go with personal reaction here. Kosztolanyi is one of my favorite authors from anywhere in the world. This novel doesn't get highest marks, though. My chief objection is that the climactic murder doesn't seem sufficiently motivated (I have the same problem with the regicide in Macbeth). Mrs. Vizy is picky and cruel and frankly just a bit weird, but there's never a sense that Anna is in a situation she can't escape from, and the lack of tension kills the climax. Mrs. Vizy isn't intentionally malicious, I don't think. It seems Anna's willingness to serve is as much the problem as the Vizy's demands. Her affair with Jancsi goes much the same way: she has ample opportunity to avoid it. But she seems to go along, simplemindedly. I ended up with less sympathy for her than I might have. I may be missing the point; if you understand this better than I do I'd like to hear from you.
That aside, I'm sure this book will get you thinking about the intricacies of the master-servant relation, sort of like the recent movie Gosford Park did, actually. It also got me thinking about control issues in theology. There's no doubt if you can convince a couple of friends to read it you'll have plenty to talk about. The prose is great as always (Kosztolanyi should be called the Hungarian Hemmingway) and it's a neat peek into recent history, too.
On a textual note, Anna isn't the same as Anya, but it's close enough to have connotations, and the author makes it explicit by having young Bandi mispronounce her name as Anya.
Among Kosztolanyi novels I like Pacsirta (Skylark) better than this one; the short stories are absolutely the best, though.

Anna Edes "Sweet Anna" and not "Sweet Mother" as someone has translated is a shocking story of a young maid. She is shy, quiet and hard-working and nobody seems to realize that she has feelings just like everyone else in the house or probably more feelings than the family she is surrounded by. As she is continously hurt emotionally by several people and taken advantage of physically she commits a horrible deed. She can not deal with it all in any other way. It is a shocking story. Kosztolanyi provides us with a psychological case study in just a short story. He does a wonderful job at it.

The main character Anna Edes, or "Sweet Mother" (anya edes) is the perfect maid. she expresses restraint of all of her desires, eating, stealing, and sex, but what will come of this suppression? Something that will blow your mind! It is a must read! Kosztalany is brilliant!