The Burning of the World

Posted on 11 November 2018 by Béla Zombory-Moldován

Publishing during the 100th Anniversary of World War I An NYRB Classics Original The budding young Hungarian artist B la Zombory Moldov n was abroad on holiday when World War I broke out in August 1914 Called up by the army, he soon found himself hundreds of miles away, advancing on Russian lines or perhaps on his own lines and facing relentless rifle and artillery fire Badly wounded, he returned to normal life, which now struck him as unspeakably strange He had witnessed, he realized, the end of a way of life, of a whole world.Published here for the first time in any language, this extraordinary reminiscence is a deeply moving addition to the literature of the terrible war that defined the shape of the twentieth century. Read The Burning of the World – kino-fada.fr Last year I read nine novels about World War I from authors of the various participant countries None of them captured the act of death in war as vividly as this abbreviated memoir.B la Zombory Moldov n was a Hungarian artist, called up as the War begins He was made an ensign, in command of troops, although nothing except class seems to be the prerequisite for his assignment He acquitted himself well, if only because he did not run at the worst of it Wounded, a head wound, and he leaves th Last year I read nine novels about World War I from authors of the various participant countries None of them captured the act of death in war as vividly as this abbreviated memoir.B la Zombory Moldov n was a Hungarian artist, called up as the War begins He was made an ensign, in command of troops, although nothing except class seems to be the prerequisite for his assignment He acquitted himself well, if only because he did not run at the worst of it Wounded, a head wound, and he leaves the War But no one really leaves the War.His body would heal, ev...Many thanks to the New York Review of Books for letting me read this book ahead of its publication in exchange for an honest review.As a historical document and personal testimony, I think this text has enormous value but I m not so sure it stands on its own as a piece of literature I don t know if the writing s constant choppiness and abruptness is due to the translation or the fact that this piece of writing is a personal journal that was never kept for publication, but the overall effect is Many thanks to the New York Review of Books for letting me read this book ahead of its publication in exchange for an honest review.As a historical document and personal testimony, I think this text has enormous value but I m not so sure it stands on its own as a piece of literature I don t know if the writing s constant choppiness and abruptness is due to the translation or the fact that this piece of writing is a personal journal that was never kept for publication, but the overall effect is one of detachment and distance that ultimately squashes any possibility for real emotional power It may have also been a question of authorial voice and editing I could never fully immerse myself into the narrative flow, being c...In this year of the centenary of World War One, it is valuable to recall what happened during those war years when the geography, the culture, the peoples of Europe were changed so drastically and the groundwork for future unrest and war was also laid The Burning of the World is one man s journal of his experiences during the first year of the war, the early days, initial battles, being home on leave after injury There is a curious feeling of detachment in much of this journal but then it was In this year of the centenary of World War One, it is valuable to recall what happened during those war years when the geography, the culture, the peoples of Europe were changed so drastically and the groundwork for future unrest and war was also laid The Burning of the World is one man s journal of his experiences during the first year of the war, the early days, initial battles, being home on leave after injury There is a curious feeling of detachment in much of this journal but then it was written without the intention for publication, as...This memoir by B la Zombory Moldov n is both elegiac and deeply affecting It begins in late July 1914 at an Adriatic resort, where the author is celebrating with friends This pleasant idyll is cruelly broken on July 28th, when word is received that war has been declared on Serbia Zombory Moldov n at 29 is at the start of a career as a successful artist and illustrator and feels no euphoria or excitement about going back into the Austro Hungarian Army where, 5 years earlier, he had fulfilled This memoir by B la Zombory Moldov n is both elegiac and deeply affecting It begins in late July 1914 at an Adriatic resort, where the author is celebrating with friends This pleasant idyll is cruelly broken on July 28th, when word is received that war has been declared on Serbia Zombory Moldov n at 29 is at the start of a career as a successful artist and illustrator and feels no euphoria or excitement about going back into the Austro Hungarian Army where, 5 years earlier, he had fulfilled his obligatory year of military service After all, he is a man filled with plans and the urge to create I was born to create, and I loathe destruction of any kind Nevertheless, after a brief spell at home and exploring many of his usual haunts, Zombory M... B la s birthplace, on April 20, 1885, was the small and ancient city of Munk cs, in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains It lay in the east of what was then the Kingdom of Hungary, part of the Austro Hungarian dual monarchy ruled by Franz Joseph I, the emperor of Austria and h...3 Stars is a bit generous because I was expecting somethingsubstantial on the fighting that occurred in the east in August September 1914 There is little of that here, a very small part of the book The book was gripping at the start as BZM goes for an early morning swim to ease his hangover only to meet the beach attendant bringing shocking newsGood morning He stopped Well, I say goodbye now He struggled a little with the Hungarian Why You re not leaving, are you Leaving I m 3 Stars is a bit generous because I was expecting somethingsubstantial on the fighting that occurred in the east in August September 1914 There is little of that here, a very small part of the book The book was gripping at the start as BZM goes for an early morning swim to ease his hangover only to meet the beach attendant bringing shocking newsGood morning He stopped Well, I say goodbye now He struggled a little with the Hungarian Why You re not leaving, are you Leaving I must go in the army There is going to be war What are you talking about Aghast, I stared at him Please The notice is there on the wall of the bathing station As if in a trance, I grasped the hand he was holding out to me mechanically, I thanked him for his services and gave him a five korona piece Then I raced to the bathing station It was all shut up, and on ...An interesting little memoir covering WWI for a few reasons The introduction gave a short and understandable history of Hungary up to WWI and includes the astonishing number of Hungarian casualties suffered during the war.The book describes the early days of WWI from the Hungarian soldier s viewpoint including how woefully inadequate and outdated their training, order of battle and equipment were The book covers the confusion of wounded soldier suffering from PTSD who returns to a world were n An interesting little memoir covering WWI for a few reasons The introduction gave a short and understandable history of Hungary up to WWI and includes the astonishing number of Hungarian casualties suffered du...In this memoir of the first eight months of World War I, the author, a Hungarian painter from the educated classes, called up to be an officer in the Austro Hungarian army, moves from guarded optimism over the outcome of the war, to a resigned pessimism after being nearly killed in one of the first battles He sees countless casualties, gets injured and sent home to recuperate, and then wanders around the countryside as he tries to heal so he can return to active duty.The prose is elegiac for a In this memoir of the first eight months of World War I, the author, a Hungarian painter from the educated classes, called up to be an officer in the Austro Hungarian army, moves from guarded optimism over the outcome of the war, to a resigned pessimism after being nearly killed in one of the first battles He sees countless casualties, gets injured and sent home to recuperate, and then wanders around the countryside as he tries to heal so he can return to active duty.The prose is elegiac for a world crumbling around him Zombory Moldovan, the author, succinctly notes the swiftly changing mood of a populace promised easy and quick victory, only to succumb to the realities of modern warfare As an artist, he is particularly sensitive and attuned to things he may never see again, to people s emotions and actions, and his own mortality Never slipping into morbidity, h...This was riveting and tremendously valuable historically It is the only firsthand account of WWI I have ever read from a Hungarian I had the fictionalized account from Kate Seredy s lovely The Singing Tree But this is a fascinating first person account of a sensitive man, an artist, drafted into the officer corps His actual fighting time as covered in this memoir was short but his account is very moving This was actually discovered and translated by the author s grandson who also wrote the This was riveting and tremendously valuable historically It is the only firsthand account of WWI I have ever read from a Hungarian I had the fictionalized account from Kate Seredy s lovely The Singing Tree But this is a fascinating first person account of a sensitive man, an artist, drafted into the officer corps His actual fighting time as covered in this memoir was short b...After reading Gabriel Chevallier s Fear, a fictionalized account of his experiences in WWI, I read an entirely different account written from the Hungarian view The Burning of the World a Memoir of 1914 by B la Zombory Moldov n While the narrator in Fear conveys the initial, na ve sentiment that many men looked forward to the war as anadventure,a break in their monotonous lives, B la Zombory Moldov n B la from this point on makes it quite clear that the war arrived as an unwelcome inter After reading Gabriel Chevallier s Fear, a fictionalized account of his experiences in WWI, I read an entirely different account written from the Hungarian view The Burning of the World a Memoir of 1914 by B la Zombory Moldov n While the narrator in Fear conveys the initial, na ve sentiment that many men looked forward to the war as anadventure,a break in their monotonous lives, B la Zombory Moldov n B la from this point on makes it quite clear t...

English
11 November 2018

Béla Zombory-Moldován