Behind God's Back

In the street late one night the headmaster of the school and one of the teachers come upon a pupil about to take his final examination, and next day call him to account. The boy lies, saying that he was at home all the time, at which the disciplinary body is convened. The boy lives with his uncle, whose wife everyone would like to conquer, though no one does. Accusers, defenders and judges are guests in the house, eat and drink together, all struggling with insoluble problems. On the third day comes the climax: unsatisfied desires suddenly lead to a death. Móricz weaves the strands of grotesque plot in masterly fashion; the hopelessly narrow lives of the characters, victims of their emotions, are a familiar feature of the provincial feudalism of twenty-first-century (sic) Eastern Europe. It is scarcely credible that this very modern novel - with its subtle observation, profound understanding of the sexes, faultless construction and authentic internal monologues - was written more than a hundred years ago, before the First World War.