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I'll first list some interesting things I've learned about Karinthy:
--He was the first to posit the idea that any two people on earth are joined by six degrees of separation, an idea that seems almost ludicrous before the computer age.
--The cafe in which he performed most of his writing, including Journey, is called the Central Cafe, and still functions as it always has. I'm making a point to visit it on our trip to Budapest.
--In Journey, Karinthy makes a seemingly off-hand allusion to his firs ...more
--He was the first to posit the idea that any two people on earth are joined by six degrees of separation, an idea that seems almost ludicrous before the computer age.
--The cafe in which he performed most of his writing, including Journey, is called the Central Cafe, and still functions as it always has. I'm making a point to visit it on our trip to Budapest.
--In Journey, Karinthy makes a seemingly off-hand allusion to his firs ...more
A neat book--Karinthy was a Hungarian humorist/journalist/etc., so the book about his brain tumor and operation reads a little like James Thurber. A closer comparison might be Joseph Heller/Speed Vogel's "No Laughing Matter," but with fantasy sequences and creative descriptions, this is a much more interesting book (though I wouldn't call it funny--the humor is dated and James Thurber is better). The later chapters--when he gets a little less goofy and a little more scared--are actually better,
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Aug 18, 2008
flora
marked it as to-read
Jul 18, 2010
Moira
marked it as amazon-wishlist
Mar 23, 2011
pearl
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Jul 17, 2011
Jason Hensel
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Apr 12, 2012
Kevin O'Donnell
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Feb 10, 2013
Timothy
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Feb 22, 2013
Mark
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Jun 06, 2014
Ryan
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Jan 16, 2015
Michael Dworaczyk
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Jun 17, 2016
Diane
marked it as to-read
