Journey by Moonlight is among the best-known novels in Hungarian literature. Written by Antal Szerb

Antal Szerb

Antal Szerb was a noted Hungarian scholar and writer. He is recognized as one of the major Hungarian literary personalities of the 20th century.-Life and work:...

, it was first published in 1937. According to Nicholas Lezard

Nicholas Lezard

Nicholas Lezard is an English journalist and literary critic.Lezard has a weekly column, 'Nicholas Lezard's choice', reviewing paperback books for the Guardian. He also writes for the Independent, and writes the 'Down and Out in London' column for the New Statesman.-External links:* at journalisted...

, it is "one of the greatest works of modern European literature...I can't remember the last time I did this: finished a novel and then turned straight back to page one to start it over again. That is, until I read Journey by Moonlight." A number of scholars regard it to be unfortunate that it was written in Hungarian rather than English, for it would doubtless be far more prominent and influential if it had been intended for an Anglophonic audience.

Plot introduction

The novel features the romantic figure of Mihály, aloof and poetic, but struggling to break with an adolescent rebelliousness which he tries to quell under respectable bourgeois conformism, but also with the disturbing attraction of an erotic death-wish. While there is no doubt an element of (the then especially influential and risqué) Freudianism in this, as well as perhaps the sexual and emotional claustrophobia of a society with strong Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 and martial traditions, it also has a distinct originality.

The novel follows Mihály, a Budapest

Budapest

Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

 native from a bourgeois family on his honeymoon in Italy, as he encounters and attempts to make sense of his past.

Characters in "Journey by Moonlight"

• Mihály – a native resident of Budapest
  Budapest
  Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
  
  
• Erzsi – his wife

Release details

• 1937, Hungary, Révai ISBN ?, Pub date ? ? 1937, paperback (Hungarian first edition)
• 2001, London, Pushkin Press ISBN 1-901285-37-5, Pub date 1 May 2001, paperback (as "Journey by Moonlight", by Len Rix
  Len Rix
  Len Rix is a translator of Hungarian literature, noted for his translations of Antal Szerb's Journey by Moonlight and The Pendragon Legend and of Magda Szabó's The Door.-Personal life:...
  
   (this translation's first edition)
• 2003, USA, Authors Choice Press, ISBN 0595795080, hardcover, as "The Traveler", translated by Peter Hargitai
  Peter Hargitai
  Peter Hargitai is an award winning poet, novelist, and translator of Hungarian literature.-Life:He was born in Budapest, Hungary and as a child lived in the small town of Balástya. At the age of nine, he immigrated with his family shortly after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution...
  
  
• 2006, London, Pushkin Press ISBN 1-901285-50-2, Pub date 27 February 2006, paperback (as "Journey by Moonlight")

Beside English, the novel has been translated into German, French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch.