Várószoba

Two collections of short stories and one novel mark Zoltán Varga's literary journey, which, since the publication of his first book, A kötéltáncos (The Tightrope Walker) in 1963, has been characterized by continuous strengthening and increasingly determined purposefulness. The stories collected in A Várószoba (The Waiting Room) hardly differ in tone from his earlier writings, but his authorial stance is entirely new, not only compared to his previous work but – we dare say – also a new phenomenon in Hungarian literature in Yugoslavia.
The style and language of the nine stories in A Várószoba are simple, free from any frills, and the narratives are largely realistic. But behind the possible plot lies the author's true message, the essence of his stories. We are dealing here with allegories, allegorical writings, in which the author addresses some of the fateful problems of contemporary man. He is concerned with death, transience, and examines man's situation in our age; human frailty and its unfortunate consequences in society, the futility of rebellion against fate, the problems of freedom: these are the themes that appear in the stories of A Várószoba, proving that Zoltán Varga, whom we introduced to readers five years ago, is today a mature writer with an original concept, and belongs to the forefront of our narrative literature.