Embers

Today is going to be a bit of a repeat, long before I came up with the idea for my "hero of the day" post(s). I wrote a post entitled "my hero of the day." It was written on April 23rd, 2009, and it was about what a lovely writer a fellow by the name of Sandor Marai is, and how reading him is both a lovely experience, and a painful reminder of my lack of talent.

Since I am forgetful, I did not realize that I had not done Marai as my hero of the day on his actual birthday, and I now feel quite ashamed of myself. He was born April 11th, 1900 in Kassa, Austria-Hungary, and he was the first person to write a review of Kafka's work. There is a odd number of connections amongst my heroes that just can not be explained in a normal way. Perhaps there is some thread that ties them all together, but I have been unable to figure out what it is. He wrote forty-six novels, but so far only four of them have been translated into English, also his memoirs have been translated as well, and I have read all of his works I can get my hands on in English, and I strongly suggest you do the same. Some of the sentences he wrote, are master classes of imagery, and just take your breath away. He fled the Communist regime in Hungary, and moved to California. Sadly, after the death of his wife, he became a bit of a recluse, and committed suicide by gunshot in 1989. However, I can only hope that somewhere in the world there are translators working on making more of his wonderful writings available in English. So, despite my forgetfulness, and making because he foreshadowed my hero of the day idea, Sandor Marai (April 11th, 1900-February 22nd, 1989, at the age of 88), you are my (329th) hero of the day.