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Article: Return to Hungary.
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- August 6, 1990
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1990 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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AS A YOUNG MAN I succumbed to the spell of Hungary (as so many foreigners did), learned its language, studied and got my degree in Budapest. My early anti-Communist novel The Gates of Hell appeared in a highly successful Magyar translation, and so the country was closed to me when it came under Red rule. But now I could go back with my wife, as I did a few weeks ago, and I was relieved to find Hungary still the country I had loved-definitely the same country, though badly scarred.
Only a very few people remembered me or my early books, but I immediately made new acquaintances and even friends. It was shattering to hear them talking among themselves, exchanging ...