The Paul Street Boys
Encyclopedia
The Paul Street Boys is a youth novel
by the Hungarian
writer Ferenc Molnár
(in Hungarian: Molnár Ferenc), first published in 1906
.
at the turn of the 20th century, who defend their playground, the "grund", from the "redshirts", a team of other boys who want to occupy it. The boys regard the "grund" as their "Fatherland", constitute themselves its "National Army" and constantly use all the terminology of nationalism
as common at the time in Hungary as elsewhere in Europe.
The "battle", fought with "sandbombs", ends when the smallest and weakest boy, Ernő Nemecsek, whom the other boys earlier mistakenly thought a "traitor", dies. Nemecsek, already gravely ill, dies of the effects of pneumonia after joining the battle in spite of his serious illness.
Soon after his death, the boys are chased off their beloved "grund"/"Fatherland" by engineers who inform them that an apartment building will be erected on the spot. The book ends with a mood of dejection and disillusion, with a character remarking bitterly "The Fatherland has betrayed us". The book can thus be seen as a biting satire of European nationalism and a premonition of the First World War which broke out a few years after its publication. The message comes through, although the plot does not involve politics and is an easy reading for children.
The 1934 film version, retitled No Greater Glory, removes much of the political symbolism and simply presents the plot as a sentimental, touching story of childlike dedication and self-sacrifice.
in the world. It has been translated into many languages and in several countries is a mandatory or recommended reading in schools. Ernő Nemecsek is now ranked in those schools among the eternal heroes of youth literature, such as Oliver Twist
or Tom Sawyer
.
Erich Kästner
took up the theme of two groups of boys conducting a "war" and using all the terminology of militarism and nationalism in "The Flying Classroom
", published just before the Nazi takeover of Germany. Kästner was, however, less harsh with the character resembling Nemecsek, who in Kästner's version suffers no more than a broken leg.
In Israel
the book, in Hebrew translation, was highly popular in the 1940s and 1950s, and recently a new translation was published. The Israeli left-wing columnist Haim Bar'am, of the Kol Ha'ir weekly in Jerusalem, wrote: "The highest praise which I can bestow on a pure-hearted, idealistic person is to compare him or her to Nemecsek. I don't often do that, only when I feel that somebody truly deserves the ultimate compliment."
Young adult literature
Young-adult fiction or young adult literature , also juvenile fiction, is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21. The Young Adult Library Services of the American Library Association defines a young adult as "someone between the...
by the Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
writer Ferenc Molnár
Ferenc Molnár
LanguageFerenc Molnár was a Hungarian dramatist and novelist. His Americanized name was Franz Molnar...
(in Hungarian: Molnár Ferenc), first published in 1906
1906 in literature
The year 1906 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* December 24 - Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio program, a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech, broadcasts....
.
Plot outline
The novel is about schoolboys in the rapidly developing BudapestBudapest
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...
at the turn of the 20th century, who defend their playground, the "grund", from the "redshirts", a team of other boys who want to occupy it. The boys regard the "grund" as their "Fatherland", constitute themselves its "National Army" and constantly use all the terminology of nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
as common at the time in Hungary as elsewhere in Europe.
The "battle", fought with "sandbombs", ends when the smallest and weakest boy, Ernő Nemecsek, whom the other boys earlier mistakenly thought a "traitor", dies. Nemecsek, already gravely ill, dies of the effects of pneumonia after joining the battle in spite of his serious illness.
Soon after his death, the boys are chased off their beloved "grund"/"Fatherland" by engineers who inform them that an apartment building will be erected on the spot. The book ends with a mood of dejection and disillusion, with a character remarking bitterly "The Fatherland has betrayed us". The book can thus be seen as a biting satire of European nationalism and a premonition of the First World War which broke out a few years after its publication. The message comes through, although the plot does not involve politics and is an easy reading for children.
The 1934 film version, retitled No Greater Glory, removes much of the political symbolism and simply presents the plot as a sentimental, touching story of childlike dedication and self-sacrifice.
Literary significance and criticism
The book has earned the status of the most famous Hungarian novelNovel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
in the world. It has been translated into many languages and in several countries is a mandatory or recommended reading in schools. Ernő Nemecsek is now ranked in those schools among the eternal heroes of youth literature, such as Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens, published by Richard Bentley in 1838. The story is about an orphan Oliver Twist, who endures a miserable existence in a workhouse and then is placed with an undertaker. He escapes and travels to...
or Tom Sawyer
Tom Sawyer
Thomas "Tom" Sawyer is the title character of the Mark Twain novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . He appears in three other novels by Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , Tom Sawyer Abroad , and Tom Sawyer, Detective .Sawyer also appears in at least three unfinished Twain works, Huck and Tom...
.
Erich Kästner
Erich Kästner
Emil Erich Kästner was a German author, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known for his humorous, socially astute poetry and children's literature.-Dresden 1899–1919:...
took up the theme of two groups of boys conducting a "war" and using all the terminology of militarism and nationalism in "The Flying Classroom
The Flying Classroom
The Flying Classroom is a 1933 novel for children written by the German writer Erich Kästner.In the book Kästner took up the predominantly British genre of the school story, taking place in a boarding school, and transferred it to an unmistakable German background...
", published just before the Nazi takeover of Germany. Kästner was, however, less harsh with the character resembling Nemecsek, who in Kästner's version suffers no more than a broken leg.
In Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
the book, in Hebrew translation, was highly popular in the 1940s and 1950s, and recently a new translation was published. The Israeli left-wing columnist Haim Bar'am, of the Kol Ha'ir weekly in Jerusalem, wrote: "The highest praise which I can bestow on a pure-hearted, idealistic person is to compare him or her to Nemecsek. I don't often do that, only when I feel that somebody truly deserves the ultimate compliment."
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
- A Pál utcai fiúk a silent film by Hungarian director Béla BaloghBéla BaloghBéla Balogh was a Hungarian film director, one of the most prominent of the early 20th century...
in 1919 - No Greater Glory a 1934 American film by U.S. director Frank BorzageFrank BorzageFrank Borzage was an American film director and actor.-Biography:Frank Borzage's father, Luigi Borzaga, was born in Ronzone, in 1859. As a stonemason, he sometimes worked in Switzerland; he met his future wife, Maria Ruegg , where she worked in a silk factory...
, released by Columbia PicturesColumbia PicturesColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies... - I ragazzi della via PaalThe Paul Street Boys (film)The Paul Street Boys is a 1935 Italian drama film directed by Mario Monicelli and Alberto Mondadori. It is based on the novel by Ferenc Molnár and was entered into the Venice Film Festival....
, Italian film directed by Alberto Mondadori and Mario MonicelliMario MonicelliMario Monicelli was an Italian director and screenwriter and one of the masters of the Commedia all'Italiana , three times nominated for Oscar.-Biography:...
in 1935 - The Boys of Paul StreetThe Boys of Paul StreetThe Boys of Paul Street is a 1969 American-Hungarian co-production film directed by Zoltán Fábri and based on the youth novel The Paul Street Boys by the Hungarian writer Ferenc Molnár. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film...
a film by the Hungarian director Zoltán FábriZoltán FábriZoltán Fábri was a Hungarian film director and screenwriter. His films The Boys of Paul Street and Hungarians were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film....
in 1969 - I ragazzi della via Pál, an Italian TV film directed by Maurizio ZaccaroMaurizio ZaccaroMaurizio Zaccaro , is an Italian film director, cinematographer, editor and screenwriter.- Biography :Maurizio Zaccaro was born in Milan...
, 2003