Novel
The Case Worker
A látogató
György Konrád · 1969
Synopsis
T., in charge of child guardianship in a poor district of Budapest, is worn out by his job. Over the course of a day, the people in his care file past with their misery, their requests and their threats; he travels through the deprived neighbourhoods and meets destitution and domestic violence there. Among his files is that of Ferike, a boy with a severe mental disability, whose parents have taken their own lives and who is now left with no one to look after him.
Context
The author had practised the profession he describes from 1959 to 1966, in the seventh district of Budapest. The novel was published in 1969 by Magvető: official criticism attacked it, but it sold out in a few days and would be translated into thirteen languages. After his arrest in 1974, its author was unable to publish in Hungary until 1989, living on the royalties his foreign publishers paid him.
Who it is for
A short novel, set within a single day and written in dense language, whose subject matter is administrative; translated into French and English.
Prizes and reception
The first book by its author, which at once earned him international recognition.
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