Day 11

Almost English by Charlotte Mendelson

This is a book full of wonderful characters, all of whom to some extent are outsiders who are both isolated and yet yearning for contact.

Laura and her daughter Marina, having been abandoned by Marina's father, live with her mother-in-law, the formidable eighty year old Rozsi and her two remaining sisters, Ildi and Zsuzsi. They are refugees from somewhere in the old Austro-Hungarian empire, though it is not quite clear where. In a literal sense they should be the real outsiders of the book, but their way of conforming is not to assimilate at all. They do things their way and mostly in Hungarian and in the most benevolent way possible coerce the rest of the world to go along with it - or so we are led to believe, but there is some talk of troubles when the business that Rozsi still manages, went bust and she and her husband had to sell up to a family friend. In addition to this there is the question of what happened to Peter, Lara's husband, Marina's father and Rozsi's son.

At the beginning of the book Marina has just started sixth form, financed by her grandmother, at a prestigious public school in Dorset. She is desperately homesick, embarrassed by her background and isolated. In London her mother is also in a state of misery. Her living conditions, sleeping on the sofa, keeping her clothes in the sideboard, oppressed by her mother-in-law, have only been made tolerable by the presence of Marina, but there is no way she can tell her that. This, in turn, makes Marina think that her mother no longer cares for her.

This is a situation that cannot continue. The configuration of their lives has reached a state of tension so taut that if any other factors are added, the whole edifice will collapse.

Of course other factors are added and we watch to see how long the balance is maintained before everything finally gives way. How will everyone emerge at the end? Who will be crushed and who will be stronger? What occurs is by turn tragic, funny and hugely embarrassing.

Mendelson has mixed pain, embarrassment, frustration and anger with a dark humour that is all too real. The characters she has created are remarkable. Marina's teenage angst brings back horrible memories that, as an adult, one tries to find funny. Laura's sense of helplessness and lack of will are the all too real result of being deserted by husband and made dependent on his mother, who, in fact, blames her for that desertion. Rozsi, who should be a monster, is an old woman who confronts life's problems by dominating them with her will.

The only characters who don't ring quite true are the ghastly Vineys who do not quite have the charm necessary for their role in the book.

It is difficult to describe the book as a whole - funny - sad - uncomfortable? It was certainly a compulsive read. I did not want to put it down, but I am not totally happy now that I have finished it.

Music

Bedřich Smetana: Má Vlast / My Country - Prague Spring 2015 Opening Concert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq2RnHH6tJo

Smetana struggled to sustain a career in Prague as a piano virtuoso and teacher. In his early thirties he left Bohemia for a teaching and performing post in Sweden. He was there for five years and his homesickness led him to embrace Czech nationalism, even though he had been brought up as a German speaker.

He returned home when a new National Theatre opened in Prague and became fully absorbed in the revival of Czech/Bohemian culture.

When he was fifty, he went completely deaf and also suffered dreadfully from tinnitus. His last years were filled with pain and mental instability, but during this time he composed Ma Vlast (My Country). The music critic, Louis Biancolli, called it ‘Smetana's artistic manifesto’, a vivid narrative of his country’s geography, history and an imagined future.

There are six symphonic poems:

    I. Vyšehrad (The High Castle)

    II. Vltava (The Moldau)

    III. Šárka  (The Warrior Maiden) *

    IV. Z českých luhů a hájů (From Bohemia's woods and fields)

    V. Tábor. (A city in Southern Bohemia)

    VI. Blaník (It is named for the mountain Blaník inside which a legend says a huge army of knights led by St. Wenceslas sleep, like King Arthur waiting to rescue the nation.)

* Šárka was the heroine of the Czech legend of The Maidens' War. She ties herself to a tree as bait and waits to be saved by Ctirad, a noble knight. She tricks him into believing that she has been captured by a gang of rebellious women. Ctirad sets her free and immediately falls in love. But Šárka is a rebel and serves him and his comrades drugged mead to make them sleep. She sounds her hunting horn and the warrior maidens fall upon and murder the sleeping knights.

I was living in Vienna during the Prague Spring and was, in fact, due to visit Prague on 20^th August (my birthday) but my boyfriend who was doing his national service had word of Russian tank movements on the borders. So we didn’t go. The next day Prague was occupied by Soviet tanks and the Spring was over.

I used to walk past the British and French embassies on my way to work and the sight of the endless lines of refugees queuing in the hope of getting visas was harrowing. Many of my friends had Czech relations who were either in Austria on holiday or had made it across the border before it was closed. They had nothing but what they could carry. It suddenly made the Cold War a reality to me and I realised for the first time how secure life in the UK was in comparison to the unfinished business left by the War in Central Europe.

I finally got to visit Prague in 2008.

Food

A light Viennese lunch in the winter

Griessnockerl soup

This is a light soup based on a well flavoured broth. The dumplings should be light and fluffy. They also work well in stews or goulashes.

Serves 6 and makes about 18 dumplings

Ingredients

2 Eggs

60gm melted butter

250gm semolina

A pinch of grated nutmeg

A pinch salt

freshly ground pepper

A quantity of stock (good quality chicken or beef stock – I have not tried this with vegetable stock, it should work.)

chopped chives (to garnish)

Method

1.            Beat the eggs and melted butter until foamy, stir in the semolina, season with salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg to taste. Mix well and let rest for 10 minutes.

2.            Form oval quenelles with the aid of 2 teaspoons, drop them into boiling water, don't overcrowd the pot, they will plump up.

3.            Cook for 10 - 15 minutes or until they rise to the surface.

4.            Remove from the heat, add about 250ml of cold water to the pot and let stand for another 10 minutes, by now they should have doubled in bulk.

5.            Drain and serve in broth, sprinkled with chives and grated nutmeg.

Note: It’s a good idea to make an extra dumpling so that you can cut it open to check whether they are done. If the sample dumpling is not soft inside, leave them a little longer. It should be soft but not mushy. 

Kaiserschmarrn

Serves: 4

Ingredients

4 eggs, yolks and whites separated

125ml milk

100g caster sugar

1 pinch salt

125g plain flour

100g raisins (soaked for a few hours in tea or the spirit of your choice – optional)

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons icing sugar (use caster sugar if you like the crunch)

Method

1.    Beat the egg whites in a clean bowl until soft peaks form. Lift your beater or whisk straight up: the egg whites will form soft mounds rather than a sharp peak.

2.    Beat the egg yolks in a separate bowl until smooth

3.    Mix in the milk, sugar, salt, flour and raisins until just moistened

4.    Fold in the egg whites.

5.    Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat

6.    Pour the batter into the pan and cook until golden brown

7.    Flip and cook until set on the other side, about 1 minute

8.    Tear the kaiserschmarrn into ribbons using two forks and continue cooking until golden brown, about 2 minutes

9.    Sprinkle with sugar to garnish and serve.

You can eat this on its own, with cream, with ice cream, with compote, with good quality jam, with honey and chopped nuts

Today’s Picture

The Dancer by Klimt

When we think of Klimt we usually think of highly decorated paintings that are very stylised and lavish with gold and patterns:

Or dense and intricate landscapes:

In his sketch The Dancer, we can see what a wonderful draughtsman Klimt was. With a few deft, economic lines, he has produced a sketch that tells you everything you need to know about the woman.