Short stories
A 6714-es személy
Not translated into English
Sándor Tar · 1981
Synopsis
A collection of short stories about those who commute between the capital and their village, or who live in workers' hostels. The title story follows passenger train 6714, a crowded workers' train from Budapest, most of whose passengers are drunk: memories, snatches of conversation and coarse jokes mingle without the slightest comment. Other stories, including “Éjszakai műszak”, the night shift, return to the factory and to those who live off it.
Context
The collection appeared in 1981 from Magvető, when its author, a factory worker, was forty. It gives voice to those who, on the periphery, cannot speak for themselves: commuters, residents of hostels, night workers. The prose, cold and without commentary, records everything like a mute witness, mixing memories, scraps of speech and crude jokes until the real becomes grotesque. The title is that of a train, not of a registration number.
Who it is for
Short, dry stories made of intermingled voices; the collection is not translated into French, but the author is, published by Actes Sud.
Prizes and reception
Prize for the best first book in 1981, and regarded as a book representative of the whole of its author's work.