Summary of Parallel Stories
“Parallel Stories” is a three-volume novel featuring a collection of interconnected stories about the Hungarian Lippay-Lehr family and the German Döhring family. The novel chronicles 20th century Hungarian history, spanning from the First World War to the collapse of Communism in 1989. The three volumes are “The Silent Province”, “In the Depths of the Night”, and “A Breath of Freedom”.
Reasons to read Parallel Stories
“Parallel Stories” is an epic work – a doorstopper of more than 1000 pages – with a complex array of subplots and characters. It took the author 18 years to complete. Kirkus Reviews called it “A pensive, beautifully written tour de force of modern European literature, worthy of shelving alongside Döblin, Pasternak and Mann.” Péter Nádas is a celebrated Hungarian writer who received the Austrian State Prize for European Literature in 1991 and the Franz Kafka Prize in 2003. His most notable books are “Parallel Stories” and “A Book of Memories”.
Setting: Hungary & Germany
Book set in Hungary (Budapest, Mohács, Tahitófalu, Leányfalu) and Germany (Berlin, Dusseldorf).
Original title: Párhuzamos történetek
Year of publication: 2005
Nr of pages: 1152
