Teenaged István lives with his mother in a quiet apartment complex in Hungary. Shy & new in town, he is a stranger to the social rituals practiced by his classmates & soon becomes isolated, with his neighbor—a married woman close to his mother's age, whom he begrudgingly helps with errands—as his only companion. But as these periodical encounters shift into a clandestine relationship that István himself can barely understand, his life soon spirals out of control, ending in a violent accident that leaves a man dead.
What follows is a rocky trajectory that sees István emigrate from Hungary to London, where he moves from job to job before finding steady work as a driver for London's billionaire class. At each juncture, his life is affected by the goodwill or self-interest of strangers. Through it all, István is a calm, detached observer of his own life & through his eyes we experience a tragic twist on an immigrant “success story,” brightened by moments of sensitivity, softness & Szalay’s keen observation.
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发表于 2025-12-10 14:15