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The Xenophobe's Guide
to the Hungarians
by Miklós Vámos and Mátyás Sárközi
A guide to understanding the Hungarians that explores their underlying
character traits and idiosyncracies.
PLEASE
NOTE this book is only available as an online eBook. Please see button
to the right to view a sample.
| Two plus two equals five |
| Although they hate to criticise themselves, Hungarians are well
aware of their faults, one of which is that they never see eye to
eye: if there are four Hungarians in a room, they will belong to
five different political parties. |
| Gloom and doom |
| With Hungarians, pessimism is a state of mind. They are happy to cultivate
this gloomy view: as they put it, 'An optimist is a person who is
poorly informed'. Hungarians are realists: in their folk-tales they
live happily 'until they die', not happily 'ever after'. |
| Divorce Hungarian style |
| Statistics show that Hungarians divorce more than they marry. On an average
day, 300 Hungarians marry, and, at the same time, 100 divorce (hopefully
not from the 300 who marry). Zsa Zsa Gabor accounts for at least
eight. She was once asked whether she was a good housekeeper. 'Yes,
dahling,' she said, 'Very good. Every time I divorce I keep the
house.' |
| Talent will out |
| Hungarian emigrants are very proud of their small native land and of
what they themselves have achieved. There was a period in Hollywood
when a sign on film studio doors read: 'It's not enough to be Hungarian,
you also have to have some talent.' |
| The
Hungarians are a fascinating people. They have little common ancestry
with most other Europeans (their closest relatives are the Finns)
and their sense of being different has no doubt been strengthened
both by their country's distinguished history and by its more recent
experience of being fought over by others. The book gives an insightful
and interesting account of what makes them tick. |
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United Kingdom
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| The
publisher would welcome readers comments on this title. |
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| A
brief pen portrait of a nation and its people and even the odd humorous
dig at their subject without being politically incorrect. |
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Lancashire Evening Telegraph
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Short, aphoristic, seriously funny, not that xenophobic and almost
entirely apt guide, perfect homework for the fortunate on ferry
or plane. |
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The Observer
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Nationalism
and Identity
Character
Attitudes and Values
Happy Families
Manners and Behaviour
Leisure and Pleasure
Drinking and Eating
Custom and Tradition
Sense of Humour
Culture
Systems
Culture
Systems
Business and Commerce
Government
Language |
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This
is a Vintage Edition of the title and is no longer in print.
| Author:Miklós
Vámos and Mátyás Sárközi |
| Format:
64
pages, pb |
| Published:
01/04/99 |
| OUT
OF PRINT |
| Price:
£3.99 |
| ISBN-10:
1-902825-31-4 |
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