Gondolat Publishers has recently launched its series dedicated to Dutch-language literature. They are now to present the newest releases at the International Book Festival at Millenáris and at Jelen, with the participation of the authors.

Jaap Scholten: Heer en Meester
Scholten is a well-known and popular Dutch writer who has been living in Hungary for years. The brief pieces published in this book – originally written for the Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad – recount his experiences in Hungary (and Transylvania). He came to Hungary in the late nineties because he believed the lifestyle he favoured – that of the aristocracy and the bourgeois of the Monarchy – could be reconstructed and lived here. To achieve that, first he had to renovate an old villa in Buda and a village mansion, only to gain firsthand information on the capitalism actually existing in Hungary. That slightly modified his romantic ideas about the country. His affection remained, but he started to see the object of it – and himself – with a growing amount of irony. The aristocrat he plays in the book and in reality is an observer standing beyond the sideline, partly obliged to act so – coming from a different culture –, and partly of his own accord, as the role he chose required this stance. He is an outsider but not an indifferent one. He is like a well-behaved football fan watching the game and the other supporters, thinking of them as well when murmuring to himself ”Come on! You are better!”
To read a preview of Jaap Scholten's book click here>

Tibor Bérczes: Things Are Strange Only on the First Day
Since the regime change Hungarians are not surprised to see Western Europeans buying estates and spending their spare time in Hungary. Most of the locals understand and accept what logic they follow, but find it difficult to see the point in someone deciding to live in Hungary, where ”it is impossible to live”, as we learn the phrase early on as part of our Hungarian identity. The discussions in this book are with Dutch people who like living here, and seriously consider staying in Hungary for life. They have various backgrounds, histories and characters, all of them claim that being Dutch is not important for them, yet their stories show that the common cultural package they have brought along has a decisive role.
Almost all the interviewees suggest that Hungarians perhaps see the essence too clearly and tend not to focus on concrete details. The book is a collection of insignificant details, and does not mean to suggest anything essential. On the contrary, it encourages us to discover our country again, and believe the Dutch living here – and ourselves – that ”it is a fine place to live”.

19h - Bérczes Tibor book presentations
20h - Jaap Scholten book presentations
21h – Frenk concert

http://www.gondolatkiado.hu/subpages/main.php
http://www.millenaris.hu