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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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