Wednesday 31 August 2011

István Örkény

István Örkény (1912-1979) was a Hungarian writer. Reading his stuff today, it's a little surpring that he got away with it when in Mother Russia people like Kharms certainly didn't.

His One Minute Stories are introduced by a set of Handling instructions in which he explains that they are useful when awaiting an egg to boil, or the phone to answer, or on a crowded bus.

Here is a sample One Minute Story.

I have reached the end of my tether. I keep dialing the wrong number. When I talk to my superiors my voice trembles. I have (so to speak) lost my initiative. My teenage daughter does not respect me. Come next year I will turn 50.

In view of the above I, Dr Rudolph Stü the undersigned, hereby soilemnly declare that the signature on this document is a forgery and the signatory a fraud with whom I have nothing in common.

Dr Rudolph Stü