A méregkeverő

Zoltán Varga

THE POISONER

novel

After his collections of short stories, The Tightrope Walker (1963) and The Excursion (1965), Zoltán Varga's name is already quite familiar to Hungarian readers in Yugoslavia, but it is certain that this, his first novel, will be an important milestone in his literary career.

One of the novel's main virtues is undoubtedly that it raises such a multifaceted set of questions, as multifaceted as the current era of human history itself. There will undoubtedly be readers who interpret it as a natural history of tyranny, others as the conflict and clash between science and power – specifically, power that is arrogant, confident in its strength, or, conversely, highly endangered and uncertain in its existence. Still others may draw the conclusion that the path of progress is fraught with obstacles that temporarily divert it from its original direction, force it into detours, and slow its pace; that even the most pure-intentioned system and power changes carry within them the possibility of derailment, of transforming into their own antithesis, because people love power and are often intoxicated by it, etc. Some, however, may only read it as the loss of a scientific achievement deserving of a better fate, or the personal tragedy of an honest scientist destined for greatness.

It is natural, however, that the exclusive value of Zoltán Varga's book lies not merely in the raising of problems, but in how he embeds them in a story that is in itself extremely exciting.

In its external features, it can almost be likened to detective and adventure novels, but its problem-setting, its penetration into the living core of our era's history, the thorough psychological motivation of individual actions, and not least its unadorned, concise, and insightful style elevate The Poisoner into the ranks of the most modern and demanding prose works.