Novel
Two Nobel Prize winning scientists announce to the residents of a luxury hotel in Paris that in the next few days they will be taking part in an experiment. The story is told by a young man in his twenties, until recently Hungary’s richest person, but now on the run from the police. He tries to find refuge in the hotel where the curious experiment is taking place.
Blind Monkey tells the story of a young man who has effortlessly become the youngest Hungarian multimillionaire – a Hungarian Gatsby – but fails to live up to his responsibilities. His corporate empire collapses, and he finds himself in the middle of a corruption case. This finally shakes him out of his passivity and his conviction that provided he does not do anything, he cannot spoil anything either.
Though Boldizsár Fehér narrates this easy come, easy go story with lightness and humour, Blind Monkey tackles existential issues. Sitting in his Paris hotel, the narrator tries to make sense of more than just his own predicament: he reflects on the painful truth that although we are free to choose, the number of our possible choices is finite, and the decisions we take – as well as the decisions that are taken for us by others – gradually come to define our identity. Eventually he comes to understand that it is sheer laziness to blame others for our own unhappiness: we have no choice but to grow up. In the end, he accepts responsibility for the corruption, and will probably end up serving time in prison.
A witty and charming book, Boldizsár Fehér debut novel is an adventure story about responsibility and finding one’s place in the world.
“Here’s a tip for the evil people in this world: how to destroy someone’s life? The answer: give them everything they could have wanted.”
Product details
ISBN 978 963 14 3750 8
2018, paperback
125 x 197 mm
196 pages, 2999 HUF
Full English text available
Magvető Rights 
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