A review by jayisreading
Journey by Moonlight by Antal Szerb

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

Well, I wasn’t expecting there to be so much psychoanalysis in this book, but I didn’t hate it or anything. It was just interesting to discover what was probably popular at the time Szerb wrote this book (which, I’m guessing, was Freudian stuff). It’s a curious story, overall, with events unfolding in a rather absurd way as the protagonist, Mihály, searches for... something yet nothing. There’s a reverse coming-of-age situation that happens, with Mihály abandoning his adult responsibilities to drown himself in nostalgia for his adolescence while in Italy. There’s also a dreamlike quality to this book, which seems intensified by Szerb’s beautiful descriptions of various Italian villages and cities. Mihály also is a bit of a dreamer, even if those dreams are a bit disturbing at times.

Again, it’s a curious read. I wouldn’t say that it’s unlike any other book I’ve read, but it certainly is an unusual one.
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