The Adventures of Sindbad (New York Review Books Classics)

“What you have loved remains yours.” Thus speaks the irresistible rogue Sindbad, ironic hero of these fantastic tales, who has seduced and abandoned countless women over the course of centuries but never lost one, for he returns to visit them all—ladies, actresses, housemaids—in his memories and dreams. From the bustling streets of Budapest to small provincial towns where nothing ever seems to change, this ghostly Lothario encounters his old flames wherever he goes: along the banks of the Danube; under windows where they once courted; in churches and in graveyards, where Eros and Thanatos tryst. Lies, bad behavior, and fickleness of all kinds are forgiven, and love is reaffirmed as the only thing worth persevering for, weeping for, and living for. The Adventures of Sindbad i s the Hungarian master Gyula Krúdy’s most famous book, an uncanny evocation of the autumn of the Hapsburg Empire that is enormously popular not only in Hungary but throughout Eastern Europe. The irresistible rogue Sindbad has seduced and abandoned countless women over the course of centuries but never lost one, for he returns to visit them all--ladies, actresses, housemaids--in his memories and dreams. From the bustling streets of Budapest to small provincial towns where nothing ever seems to change, the roaming consciousness of this ghostly Lothario comes upon his old flames under windows where they first courted, along the banks of the Danube in which they drowned, in churches and in graveyards, where Eros and Thanatos tryst. As the women pour out their tales of happy and unhappy love since he left them, lies, bad behavior, and fickleness on both sides are forgiven, and love is reaffirmed as the only thing worth persevering for, weeping for, and living for "'What you have loved remains yours.' Thus speaks the irresistible rogue Sindbad, ironic hero of these fantastic tales, who has seduced and abandoned countless women over the course of centuries but never lost one, for he returns to visit them all--ladies, actresses, housemaids--in his memories and dreams. From the bustling streets of Budapest to small provincial towns where nothing ever seems to change, this ghostly Lothario encounters his old flames wherever he goes: along the banks of the Danube; under windows where they once courted; in churches and in graveyards, where Eros and Thanatos tryst. Lies, bad behavior, and fickleness of all kinds are forgiven, and love is reaffirmed as they only thing worth persevering for, weeping for, and living for."--Page 4 of cover Overview: “What you have loved remains yours.” Thus speaks the irresistible rogue Sindbad, ironic hero of these fantastic tales, who has seduced and abandoned countless women over the course of centuries but never lost one, for he returns to visit them all—ladies, actresses, housemaids—in his memories and dreams. From the bustling streets of Budapest to small provincial towns where nothing ever seems to change, this ghostly Lothario encounters his old flames wherever he goes: along the banks of the Danube; under windows where they once courted; in churches and in graveyards, where Eros and Thanatos tryst. Lies, bad behavior, and fickleness of all kinds are forgiven, and love is reaffirmed as the only thing worth persevering for, weeping for, and living for.