Of the struggle for freedom in dark times – and of the resistance of poetry

Like in his novel Die Legende von den Tränengauklern (A könnymutatványosok legendája, Jelenkor 1999, German edition by Suhrkamp 2001), in The Flower Eaters László Darvasi constructs an historical backdrop against which to tell an affecting tale of love and desire, violence and war.

The story centres on the dreamy, sensuous Klára, who marries an emotionally distant botanist and satisfies her sexual desires with other men. Bosnian Roma have settled at the edge of the small Hungarian town of Szeged, which provides the setting for the novel. When the 1848 revolution is brutally suppressed, Klára and her small son are thrust into the heart of the unfolding events. Over the course of five sweeping chapters, Darvasi creates a complex universe populated with a cast of characters, all of whom are trying to struggle against the merciless course of world history that is blindly perpetuated by the actions of small-minded people.

The novel caused a major stir in Hungary: Darvasi’s account casts the Hungarian war of independence from Austria in an ambiguous light, exposing the rampant anti-Semitism that still haunts Hungary today, and presenting the Romani people, who have been subject to increasing discrimination in recent years, as ambassadors of a freedom-oriented worldview.

Winter Morning