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They Were Divided (The Writing on the Wall) | 
 enlarge | Author: Miklos Banffy
Creators: Patrick Leigh Fermor, Patrick Thursfield, Katalin Banyff-jelen
Publisher: Arcadia Books
Category: Book
List Price: £12.99
Buy New: £5.11
You Save: £7.88 (61%)
New (25) Used (5) from £5.11
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 112978
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 1900850516
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781900850513
ASIN: 1900850516
Publication Date: June 12, 2001
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: New book. WE USE PRIORITY AIRMAIL ONLY for books from the USA. UK & European delivery is 7-10 days. Over 2,000,000 books sold to Amazon customers
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| Customer Reviews:
Deserves a wider audience June 7, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I read the first two parts of this trilogy ('They Were Counted' and 'They Were Found Wanting') two years ago, resting in the sun while recovering from minor surgery. They were utterly absorbing. Unfortunately these were library copies, and my county service unaccountably had not acquired the final volume. I had to wait for this reprint, being unable to afford the prices of second-hand internet dealers. It was worth the wait, and contains just enough recap to help me remember the (very large) cast and the various plot lines. In such a long work from someone who was not primarily a novelist there are bound to be flaws; there are a few longeurs in the narrative, and some minor plot threads are repeatedly picked up but never finally tied. However, these are minor quibbles.
I finished the book just as Russia rejected the latest UN plans for an independent Kosova - an uncanny parallel with part of the plot, and a reminder of just how long certain east European alliances and enmities have existed. There are other historical parallels too, perhaps, of a wealthy empire which made unnecessary enemies and frittered away a privileged existence.
The overall tone is elegiac, painfully so at times. There are beautiful natural descriptions of Transylvania, and much perceptive observation about human nature. The main character, Balint Abady, is loosely based on Banffy himself, and the whole work left me wanting to know more about Banffy's own notable role in the politics of pre- and post-war Hungary. I was left wondering what he must have felt about his beloved country at the time of his death in 1950, and what he would have made of the mixed fortunes of that country today.
Majestic continuation of this splendid trilogy December 29, 2001
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
This elegant masterpiece celebrates the last years of Transylvanian aristocratic life before world war 1. It tells the story of the love between Adrienne and Balint against a background of growing ethnic and international tension. The author's anguish at the end of the civilisation he loved is hidden behind his sensuous reconstruction of social life in great houses, by the beauty of the Carpathian mountains to which the lovers briefly escape, and by the comic relief provided by rural life in all social classes. Trollope meets Proust.
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