''The Notebook Trilogy'' is a collection of books by Hungarian writer

Ágota Kristóf Ágota Kristóf (; 30 October 1935 – 27 July 2011) was a Hungarian writer who lived in Switzerland and wrote in French. Kristóf received the "European prize" (Prix Europe, a.k.a. Prix Littéraire Europe, Grand Prix Littéraire Européen) from ...

, written in the French language. It tells the story of originally unnamed identical-twin brothers who live with their grandmother in a small village and border town of a war-torn country during an unspecified war. Throughout their journey, the boys express a singularly naïve ethical stance that is simultaneously amoral and generous. The second and third books reveal the names of the twins as Claus and Lucas. The setting in the first and second novels is most likely a fictitious Hungarian village and the unspecified war is believed to be

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Plot summary

Twin boys Claus and Lucas go with their mother to live with their grandmother in the countryside. While living in their grandmother's village, the boys witness and experience a number of horrors related both to war and to the darkness that exists within those around them. Unburdened by moral precepts, the brothers survive using their pragmatism and naivety.

Entries

*''The Notebook'' (''Le Grand Cahier''; 1986) *''The Proof'' (''La Preuve''; 1988) *''The Third Lie'' (''Le Troisième Mensonge''; 1991)

Structure and style

The novels were originally written in French. The first novel is written in a stark,

laconic A laconic phrase or laconism is a concise or terse statement, especially a blunt and elliptical rejoinder. It is named after Laconia, the region of Greece including the city of Sparta, whose ancient inhabitants had a reputation for verbal auste ...

style, partly on account of Kristóf's unfamiliarity with the French language when writing it. The second and third novels use more literary language as Kristóf became more comfortable writing in French. The setting, Hungary during WWII, is based on Kristóf's own life experiences. It deals with the prevalence of violence and deprivation in war. The trilogy is characterized by a surreal metafictional quality. Its simple direct language brings the harsh circumstances of life in Europe during the war into relief. It is simultaneously objectively descriptive and contradictory, filtered through the perspective of the boys. The story includes a succession of "slippery doubles, falsehoods, and jolting narrative tricks." Critics have compared it to fairy tales. The comparison to

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

fairy tales stems from the boys' abandonment by their mother, who is forced to leave them with their grandmother on the outskirts of a village. The opening premise is particularly similar to the fairy tale

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). Hansel and Gretel are siblings who are abandoned in a forest and fall into the hands of a witch ...

, with their grandmother playing the role of the "witch".

Publication history

Each book of the trilogy was written in French in the nation of Switzerland, where Kristof resides, and published in France, in the following sequence: ''Le Grand Cahier'' (''The Notebook''; 1986), ''La Preuve'' (''The Proof''; 1988), ''Le Troisième Mensonge'' (''The Third Lie''; 1991). Each book of the trilogy was later translated from the original French language into English. ''The Notebook'' was translated by

Alan Sheridan Alan Sheridan (1934 - 2015) was an English author and translator. Life Born Alan Mark Sheridan-Smith, Sheridan studied English at St Catharine's College, Cambridge before spending 5 years in Paris as English assistant at Lycée Henri IV and Ly ...

in 1991, ''The Proof'' by David Watson in 1988, and ''The Third Lie'' by Marc Romano in 1996.

Grove Press Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it into an alternative book press in the United S ...

brought together and published the translated trilogy into one volume in 1997.

Reception

Slovenian philosopher

Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek ( ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian Marxist philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, Global Distin ...

described the book as life changing, and discussed the boys' example of spontaneity and ethical abandonment. To Žižek, the boys are "thoroughly immoral – they lie, blackmail, kill – yet they stand for authentic ethical naivety at its purest." American author

Jesse Ball Jesse Ball (born June 7, 1978) is an American novelist and poet. He has published novels, volumes of poetry, short stories, and drawings. His works are distinguished by the use of a spare style and have been compared to those of Jorge Luis Borges ...

recommended ''The Notebook'' in an interview with the whyilovethisbook youtube channel, saying "it's about two boys who go to live with their grandmother and they behave badly. From the beginning to the end, just bad behaviour. I think you'll enjoy it." ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'' critic Andrew Reimer considered the trilogy to be singularly original.

Adaptations

The first book of the trilogy, ''The Notebook'', was made into a 2013 Hungarian drama film directed by

János Szász János Szász (born 14 March 1958) is a Hungarian film director, screenwriter and theater director. He has directed eleven films since 1983. His film '' Witman fiúk'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1997 Cannes Film Festiva ...

. This work is also a literary inspiration behind

Shigesato Itoi is a Japanese copywriter, essayist, lyricist, game designer, and actor. Itoi is the editor-in-chief of his website and company '' Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun'' ("Almost Daily Itoi Newspaper"). He is best known outside Japan for his work on Nintendo ...

's RPG ''

Mother 3 is a 2006 role-playing video game developed by Brownie Brown and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It is the third and final entry in the Mother (video game series), ''Mother'' series. The game follows Lucas, a ...

''.

References

External links

* *
Kristóf and the Agony of the “Enemy” Language
August 14, 2023. ''The Nation''. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Notebook Trilogy, The Book series introduced in 1986 Metafictional novels 20th-century French novels English historical novels Grove Press books English horror fiction French historical novels 1997 books Novels about twin brothers