In a review of the book published earlier in the paper, the author Benjamin Moser called Nádas ?a master of physical descriptions? but added that ?though at times masterly, the book is too maddening to be called a masterpiece?.
Moser complained that the threads of the novel, which is 1,100 pages long in its translation by Imre Goldstein, are not braided together and readers are left disappointed by cliffhangers, although he concedes this is likely Nádas ?espousing a theory of the novel?.
?The humdrum theorist Péter Nádas constantly spars with the virtuoso novelist Péter Nádas, almost as if determined to defeat him,? Moser said. ?Nadas extends his hand, time and again, only to pull it back as soon as the reader tries to grasp it,? he added.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI) / The New York Times
