Ocean at the Window by Albert Tezla

Ocean at the Window was first published in 1981.Hungary, after World War II, was a country torn apart by political conflict. Hungarians struggled to survive a long alliance with Germany, Soviet occupation, assumption of power by the Communist part, and the bloody revolution of 1956. The years since that uprising have witnessed the consolidation of a single-party socialist state producing a profound effect not only on the economic and social life of the nation but also on the cultural policies that govern the arts.This volume collects the work of Hungarian authors who, in spite of the turmoil and uncertainty of those years, have developed a rich and varied imaginative literature. Albert Tezla has chosen to concentrate on ten major writers who established their reputations during the first two decades after the war and have been influential in current literary developments. They Sándor Csoóri, Ferenc Juhász, László Nagy, Ágnes Nemes Nagy, János Pilinszky, István Csurka, Iván Mándy, Miklós Mészöly, István Örkény, and Ferenc Sánta. In addition, he presents a sampling of the work of 14 writers first published after 1965. The collection includes both poetry and prose along with critical essays and author interviews; nearly all the selections are complete pieces.The editor provides a substantial introduction to the major literary developments in postwar Hungary within the context of the changing political climate, and a biographical-critical essay for each writer. The volume also includes a short guide to Hungarian pronunciation and a comprehensive bibliography of twentieth-century Hungarian literature in translation.