The Parasite

Marked by powerful and evocative prose, Ferenc Barnás's novel tells the fascinating story of a young man's journey through his strange obsessions towards possible recovery. The unnamed narrator is the parasite, feeding off others' ailments, but he is also a host who attracts people with the most peculiar manias. He confesses, almost amiably, his decadent attraction as a young adolescent to illnesses and hospitals. The real descent into his private, hallucinatory hell begins after his first sexual encounter; he becomes a compulsive masturbator, and then a compulsive fornicator. But to his horror, he realizes that casual sex is not casual at all for him--each one-night stand results in insane jealousy: he imagines previous lovers hovering over him every time he makes love to a woman.

When he gets to know a woman referred to as L., he thinks his demons may have finally subsided. But when he hears of her past, the jealousy returns. He seeks relief through writing--by weaving an imagined tale of L.'s amorous adventures. What will he do with this strange manuscript, and can it bring him healing?

A breathtaking blend of Dostoevskian visions, episodes of madness, and intellectual fervor, all delivered in precise, lucid prose, The Parasite is a novel that one cannot escape.

About the author

Ferenc Barnás is the author of four novels in his native Hungarian. He lives in Jakarta, Indonesia. Paul Olchváry is a Hungarian translator and the publisher of New Europe Books, currently living in Massachusetts.

Product details

• Authors: Ferenc Barnas, Ferenc Barnás
• Assisted by: Paul Olchvary (Translation), Paul Olchváry (Translation)
• Publisher: Seagull Books London Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.04.2021
• EAN: 9780857427403
• ISBN: 978-0-85742-740-3
• No. of pages: 384
• Dimensions: 237 mm x 163 mm x 36 mm
• Weight: 690 g
• Series: The Hungarian List; The Hungarian List - (Seagull Titles - CHUP)
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies