novel, 1937
Journey by Moonlight
Finding himself restless and agitated on honeymoon in Italy, Mihály makes a series of unexpected decisions driven by fear, neuroticism, and nostalgia for his intense and unconventional teenage friendships.
Where to read it
- English Journey by Moonlight Alma Classics · trans. Peter V. Czipott · 2016
- English Journey by Moonlight Pushkin Press · trans. Len Rix · 2001
- English The Traveler Püski-Corvin · trans. Peter Hargitai · 1994 reissued in 2016 as Traveler and the Moonlight
- Hungarian Utas és holdvilág 1937
Reviews
Peculiar, melancholy, and haunting, Szerb’s greatest novel, Journey by Moonlight, has been much praised by reviewers:
‘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 – and I have started urging it on friends, casual acquaintances, complete strangers and, most insistently, my wife, in a way that may prove counter-productive, but that is none the less sincere. And now I urge it on you.’ — Nicholas Lezard, The Guardian, 2001
‘So much is packed into this novel, not always very neatly, but with an unusual mixture of exuberance, dreaminess – and a casual lightness of touch.’ — Gabriele Annan, London Review of Books, 2003
For a longer essay on the novel, see Mieke Chew’s Neo-frivolous: Journey by Moonlight (Sydney Review of Books, 2015).