Facts are not the whole truth - Rated 
This short novel tackles fundamental problems like truth, the real nature of man or the importance of human relations.
For Sándor Márai, `facts are only part of the truth.' `Sometimes facts are no more than pitiful consequences because guilt does not reside in our acts but in the intentions that give rise to our acts.'
However, motives are mostly hidden in the human night, `filled with the crouching forms of dreams, desires, vanities, self-interest, mad love, envy and the thirst for revenge.'
Therefore, we have to accept betrayal and disloyalty. `Why should we expect better of the world, when it teems with unconscious desires and their all-too-deliberate consequences ... young men are bayoneting the hands of young men of other nations and all laws and conventions have been voided?'
Or, there are the debilitating pressures of parents on their children; `never a journey, never a summer outing, because I must be made into the masterpiece that they failed to achieve.'
For Sándor Márai, however, there is one passion one should not lose: self-respect, `the implacable foundation of humanity'. Losing self-respect equals opening the flood of inhuman evil and unstoppable self-destruction.
The long confession of one of the protagonists of this book turns into an in depth reflection on mankind and the world we live in.
Not to be missed.
why did Konrad return? - Rated 
Beautifully written, atmospheric, especially at the beginning but disappointing ultimately. I've read quite a few reviews and agree with criticisms, such as, why was his relationship with Nini not developed further? I found her a fascinating character and expected to hear more about her? Why were Konrad's and Krisztina's characters not developed more fully? The general is a pompous old bore who browbeats everyone into doing what he wants, including somehow getting his long estranged friend to come to dinner and listen to his conclusions on why he had left all those years ago and his philosophizing about an event which really should pale in comparison with other events in his life (he survived wars! without killing anyone also he admits which is unbelievable and can only be attributed to his rank I suppose). His wife is now over thirty years dead and he has had every opportunity to move on but instead chooses to dwell in bitterness and obsess over the past. This I suppose is a result of the strict code by which life was lived under the culture of the Austro-Hungarian empire where propriety and 'honour' mattered more than the well being of the individual. But Konrad's motivation for returning is weak. Is it some kind of honour thing? He wants to look his former friend in the eye before he dies? allow him to slap his face? literally? metaphorically? this is unclear but perhaps within the framework of the culture at the time is taken for granted as understood by the reader. does the wrong that Konrad and Krisztina committed against him allow him the moral authority to monopolize their interaction? is he permitted to 'try' his former friend in this way? what happened to the statute of limitations on these things. I just found it so unlikely that Konrad would permit this. I can only attribute it to the honour code among soldiers or his own feelings of guilt at the betrayal of his friend. or maybe it was all just a fantasy of the Generals. But I suspect I am judging it outside the cultural/political framework in which it was written. Still, for beauty, atmosphere, detail and the raising of universal themes about life such as dualities between nature/civlization, instinct/reason, male/female, life/death it is definitely worth reading.
Get to the point - Rated 
What would you say to your old best friend if he had suddenly disappeared, and then had re-appeared forty-odd years later?
Probably 'Where the hell did YOU go?' and then you'd let him answer.
The premise to this book is great, it's got a nice moody cover, great reviews, - but the truth is this story just goes on and on, discussing just about everything except where the hell Konrad has been or why he vanished. In fact the poor guy barely gets a word in, and must be sitting there in the candlelight wishing he'd never returned.
Even on the odd occasion that Konrad gets the chance, even an invitation to explain himself, the General butts in and waffles on for pages and pages about anything and everything all over again. And in the end you sense that Konrad has just given up and is looking at his watch.
Certainly the story is well written, but no-one talks like this, nor would treat a guest so rudely. Hardly suprising that this old bore has lived alone all these years. He wouldn't have many friends, and certainly no repeat visitors.
I finished the book out of grim determination and a strange curiosity as to whether poor Konrad would finally get a word in. But now it's over I don't feel I can even hand this book into a second hand store as it would be unkind to pass this tedious but well written yawn into someone else's life.
I would suggest that anyone looking for the passion and emotional charge that this book pretends to offer would be far better off to consider 'Love in the Time of Cholera' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
I know you'll read all those other reviews again and ignore me, but you will only have yourself to blame. I'm sure Konrad had a great story to tell, but we'll never know, he slipped out quietly while the General was pontificating into the air.
5-Star Masterpiece - Rated
Saw this book in my local library - sat on an end of a shelf looking rather tired. I read the back sleeve about the author and felt compelled to take the book home.
The book is short and in places rather hard-going but the narrative/dialogue soon takes speed and before long you are gripped by the conservation of the two old gents.
I found this book very emotional and philosophical reflecting on life's journey. The plot is based around a simple relationship that is shadowed with deceit.
A beautifully written book and a momento for the bookcase. Worthy of 5-stars.
Atmospheric, sometimes eerie, very telling and very good - Rated 
An atmospheric and moving picture of the loneliness that betrayal can cause. Beautifully written, and well-crafted, it's one weakness is the overall structure: set up as a mystery, it demands a denouement. But the ending is so obvious, that the mystery seems more like trickery. Nevertheless, it's very good.
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