A Country Full of Aliens

Fülszöveg

A COUNTRY FULL OF ALIEN5 It was George Mikes, a Hungárián journalist, who called Hungary 'a country full of aliens'. He recognised, in this self-mocking description, that Hungarians are different from other people living in Central-Eastern Europe. How different are they; and how deep do the differences go? Why do Hungarians resolutely stand up on buses when there are empty seats to be had? Why do they write their names backwards? Why do they applaud a performance in a way that would seem insulting to Western performers? Why do they so enjoy making long speeches? Why are they still so bittér about what happened in 1920? These are somé of the questions raised in this book. It does not laugh at Hungarians; when it laughs, it iaughs with them. It does not analyse the culture in drily-academic fashion - but it does seek to understand it, in a methodical way, íf tentatively, and always with affection. Dr CoUn Swatridge has been a teacher, an A-level Chief Examiner, and Open University... Tovább

Fülszöveg

A COUNTRY FULL OF ALIEN5 It was George Mikes, a Hungárián journalist, who called Hungary 'a country full of aliens'. He recognised, in this self-mocking description, that Hungarians are different from other people living in Central-Eastern Europe. How different are they; and how deep do the differences go? Why do Hungarians resolutely stand up on buses when there are empty seats to be had? Why do they write their names backwards? Why do they applaud a performance in a way that would seem insulting to Western performers? Why do they so enjoy making long speeches? Why are they still so bittér about what happened in 1920? These are somé of the questions raised in this book. It does not laugh at Hungarians; when it laughs, it iaughs with them. It does not analyse the culture in drily-academic fashion - but it does seek to understand it, in a methodical way, íf tentatively, and always with affection. Dr CoUn Swatridge has been a teacher, an A-level Chief Examiner, and Open University tutor, ín England. Since 199Ö, he has been a visiting lecturer at several universities and a visiting teacher at several schools, in Hungary. He lives now in the North West of England, where he is a free-lance writer on educational topics. Among other books, he has written a coursebook for use in Hungary - So To Speak - whose purpose is to encourage students to express opinions on contemporary issues in essays and in discussion. Vissza