Magyar Hírek, 1983 (36. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)

1983-08-20 / 16-17. szám

CHRONICLE

WRITERS AND READERS

The seven days of Book Week are to me a source of yearly recurring personal and shared delight and joy. For an hour or so at a time I sit at a small table under a sunshade in front of a book stall pitched at the beginning of Váci utca, pen in my hand, and straightaway I feel within the magnetic field of the readers. They come up to me, the newly bought book in hand, give me pleasure by telling their names, and I gratify them by writing down their names on the title-page, adding my signature. Mostly just: for N. N.

The beauty of this is that it does not apply merely to me I can speak for the community of Hungarian writers almost all of whom experience the same two-way delight, the encounter of reader and writer.

What overcomes me as well is a sense of wonder, what American critics of my youth used to call that gee whiz feeling. Every year again and again I wonder at the people who make their way to a book stall not only out on a stroll but in the heat of early summertime assemble in a library, a house of culture or a club, just to meet their favourite writer. In the middle of Book Week, on one of the warmest days of this end-of- May summer I travelled to a Danube riparian town north of Budapest. When I descended from my railway carriage, I considered that even if there were ten, or five, or only three of us told in the library, I would happily spend an hour with them, talking. I was expected in two places, and the house was full both times. My sense of wonder only grew when I heard that other writers from Budapest had already come up that book week. They had full houses as well.

At this time every year it occurs to me that my friends abroad, writers and journalists in the first place, ought to be asked here specially for this week. Not only so they could see for themselves how important literature is in Hungary, how many books people buy in spite of higher book prices, but also to convince themselves of how lively and interesting the talks at these writer-reader meetings are. Starting with the speaker’s latest book, readers attending such meetings put questions on the state of the nation and the oddities of the world. There are no too touchy questions. Talking to a writer who has won their confidence with his works and attitudes, people speak up about all those things that are on their mind.

IVÁN BOLDIZSÁR

Over a million and a half books sold in Budapest during Book Week

The annual Book Week was held all over the country in June. Many new books were published for the occasion. Books were on sale in many towns in specially erected booths in streets and squares. One hundred and thirty writer-reader meeting were arranged during Book Week. In Budapest 1,670,000 books were sold, about 5 per cent more than a year before.

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A Hungarian banker addressing the' “Club of Thirty” in Tokyo

The “Club of Thirty”, which assembles prominent figures of political, economic and financial life from all comers of the world, held its 9th plenary session in Tokyo. János Fekete, First Vice-President of the National Bank of Hungary, also attended the meeting, where the current situation of the international economic order and monetary system and the principal problems of their functioning were discussed. In this connection János Fekete stated: It is impossible to treat as equal the debts owed by the developing countries and by the socialist countries of Eastern Europe. The developing countries need to be granted new credits for large sums to allow them to service their debts, while the socialist countries of Eastern Europe managed to close the year 1982 with an active balance of trade anti payments. Most of these countries have reduced the debts they owe to western banks and are well on the way towards an improved situation. During his stay in Tokyo, János Fekete had talks with representatives of leading Japanese banks, and as a result of his negotiations the National Bank of Hungary will open an agency in Tokyo.

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A new Kossuth document in the Hungarian National Archives

A valuable new item has been acquired by the Hungarian National Archives: Mrs. Lucy Zollmann, a resident of England, has donated to the Archives a letter which Lajos Kossuth, the leader of the 1848/49 Hungarian Revolution, had written during his exile in Turin on 22 January 1868. The letter, in Kossuth’s own hand, was addressed to Bertalan Kármán, the donor’s grandfather.

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First performance of Mahler’s 8th Symphony in Hungary

Gustav Mahler’s 8th Symphony, which requires a particularly large number of musicians, had its first performance in Hungary. Árpád Joó, the Hungarian born conductor of the Calgary, Alberta Symphony Orchestra in Canada, was in charge. The Budapest Sports Hall was sold out for the occasion. The work was performed by the Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra, the chorus of Hungarian Radio and Television, the' chorus of the Hungarian state Folk Ensemble, the Budapest Chorus, and the

Choirs of Miskolc and Nyíregyháza schools. The solo parts were sung by eight members of the Hungarian State Opera House ensemble.

“City and Park”: an exhibition with

surprises in Budapest An exhibition showing the lifework of architect Hermann Grub of Munich was arranged in the assembly hall of the Budapest University of Technology. The exhibition was jointly opened by Kálmán Ábrahám and Oscar Schneider, Ministers for Building Construction in Hungary and the Federal Republic of Germany respectively. Photographs and maquettes presented what was done in the way of reconstruction in several WestGerman cities, inspiring ideas of how townspeople can be made to join in the work of shaping their environment. Hermáim Grub gave Budapest strollers an interesting surprise that is likely to make them think. A busy street of the Inner City, Semmelweis utca, was converted into a park by sweetsmelling turf spread over the pavement, covering even tho cars parked there. The 24-hour show was intended to make people realize that they should take more conscientious care of their environment, doing so in an enterprising way.

1.2 million cars are registered in Hungary. According to date published by the Traffic Safety Council the number of cars in Hungary has grown by 120,000 in a year, reaching a total of

1.2 million; 97 per cent are privately owned, 37 per cent of adult Hungarians, more than 2.4 million persons, hold a driving licence. The number of accidents somewhat declined in 1982, fatal accidents by 1.9 per cent. Nevertheless Hungary compares unfavourably with many other countries. Therewere 85 deaths per 1000 accidents as against 34 in West Germany and 56 in Sweden.

Ikarus assembly plant in Canada. The Ikarus Bus Works and the Mogiirt Foreign Trading Enterprise have contracted with Ontario Bus Industries for the assembly and marketing of articulated busses. Favourable experiences in the U.S. with Ikarus busses have prompted the Canadians to employ Hungarian articulated busses in solving the public transport problems of major cities.

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World Esperanto Congress in Budapest. Almost 5000 delegates from seventy countries participated at the 68th World Esperanto Congress held in Budapest. It was opened by Grégoire Maertens, the President of the World Esperanto Federation. Sándor Gáspár, the General Secretary of the National Council of Trades Unions, welcomed the visitors. Richard E. Butler, the General Secretary of the International Telecommunications Union, gave the keynote address on timely problems in communications. It weis followed by a lively discussion. There were many fringe events including cultural programmes and an Esperanto Forum where the leaders of the World Esperanto Movement answered questions put by the public.

PARTICIPANT SPORTS ON THE UP AND UP

Hungarian football likes to keep its disEistera on record. The defeat, by Egypt, at some Olympic Games over half a century ago, has received the aura of myth and legend, the lost Final at Berne, nearly thirty years ago is better remembered by most in this country than the great victories against England that preceded it, and the last almost-great generation of Hungarian footballers evokes the Marseilles disaster, tho 4—1 defeat by Czechoslovakia, which meant failure to qualify for Mexico, rather than the splendid game and famous victory against Brazil in the 1966 World Cup. Will the recent home defeat by Greece (2—3 in the Népstadion, in Budapest, in May 1983) enter that illustrious list ? Pundits like Róbert Zsolt doubt this. A disaster can only be memorable if it follows the expectation of success if, as it were, it breaks the habit of success, and things nowadays have really gone wrong with Hungarian football.

The footballers are not the only ones who are not doing well. This year Hungary came eighth in the waterpolo World Cup, a game where not so long ago anything worse than second place was regarded eis a major calamity. A tale could be told about fencing and the modern pentathlon eis well. The successes of Balázs Taróczy and the promise of Andrea Temesvári offer some compensation to those who play their tennis vicariously. What seems more important is that there are signs of a revival of participant sports. I do not mean that, wherever there is a bit of space—the housing estates have a number of proper pitches, but also in the parks, on empty lots, and it quiet streets—boys and young men will kick a ball about at this time of the year, midst much noise and shouting: that has ever been so, and will stay that way, whatever the state of the football some pay to see, and that swimming pools, lidos, river and lake beaches are crowded when the weather is right, but even jogging is gaining in popularity. We have not reached the stage of a Budapest Mass Marathon yet, but no doubt that will come too, in a year or two. FUTAPEST, an acronym suggesting that all Budapest is running, a little more than a fun run, a little less (much less) than a marathon, has caught on for young and old, plump little schoolgirls as well those whom the unfit middle-aged, with ill-concealed envy, call geriatrics.

Pentathlon for the Olympics involves a hill walk in winter, a half-marathon, a bicycle road-race, swimming across Lake Balaton, and rowing. Originally, and pessimistically, the idea had been that all who completed all five at a certain standard would be given a free trip to the Olympic Games. The response was that good that the prize had to be changed to the right to participate in a draw where those who will travel will be selected. Enthusiasm was in no way dampened. Indeed many suspect that participants are true amateurs who need no prizes. The attraction is more likely to be the chance to take part in the event as such.

RUDOLF FISCHER

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