László Szilasi

The Third Bridge (A Harmadik híd)

HUNGARY

LISZTŮV INSTITUT - Maďarské kulturní centrum Praha

BOOK

LÁSZLÓ SZILASI kniha Třetí most

The novel is the story of one long night set in the southern Hungarian city of Szeged, among its iconic sites, churches, squares, and hidden corners. The opening chord is struck by the reunion of high school classmates after thirty years, members of a generation that has already experienced the fall of communism on the threshold of adulthood. The course taken in this “time of hope” did not bring success to everyone: some did not succeed, and some did not even want to follow the path leading to success. Following this line of thought, the author leads us into the world of homeless people, which is given the most space in the novel. We are taken into the deeper and more unkind spheres of human life, which include heroic deeds and weaknesses, deceptions, concealed deeds, unrealized dreams, secret lives, sins of youth, and a few ordinary joys.

Published by Protimluv, 2023

AUTHOR

László Szilasi © Lenke Szilágyi

© Lenke Szilágyi

László Szilasi (* 1964) is a literary theorist, essay writer, and associate professor of Hungarian literature at the University of Szeged. He has written numerous literary critical studies and essays. His novel The Third Bridge (A Harmadik híd) (2014), the author’s first book translated into Czech, won the Magnesia Litera award for a book in translation in 2024.

TRANSLATION

Marta Pató