Journey by Moonlight (1937) is the English translation of a novel by Hungarian author and academic Antal Szerb.

Mihaly is honeymooning in Italy with Erzsi. He is still haunted by his youthful relationship with brother and sister Tamas and Eva, and their friends Janos and Ervin. They form a death cult, holding that the end of life is the supreme ecstasy. Ultimately, Eva assists Tamas’s suicide.

Seriously disturbed, Mihaly deserts Erzsi mid-honeymoon, embarking on a solitary tour of Italy during which he encounters Janos, Ervin, and, ultimately, Eva once more.

As the novel concludes, he seems destined to follow Tamas in killing himself, also with Eva’s assistance.

But a final twist of fate prevents this, and he returns home to a boring bourgeois lifestyle in Budapest.

The novel is a masterpiece of modernism, full of humour and deftly drawn characters. Some of the writing is almost hypnotically powerful, even in translation.

But it can be a hard book to pick up and put down without somehow losing the continuity of the narrative: almost as if one has to stay inside the story to avoid diluting its effect.

Sadly, Szerb was beaten to death in a Nazi work camp in January 1945. This novel is a fitting testament to his genius.

TD

July 2023