Flattery, lies and attraction seem ever present for Guyla Krúdy's ghostly Sindbad, but is this love? This brilliant collection of stories, translated by George Szirtes, is a melancholy time capsule from the fading Habsburg empire.
Sindbad is a centuries old ghost who lives in a crypt. It is not clear how he got there, but he is compelled to visit the women he has loved. These stories don't so much have a plot, they all revolve around Sindbad's fascination with and visitation of his former loves. Instead each short communicates various shades of attraction, desire, vanity, lust and despair. They are as poetry.
I particularly enjoyed the tale of Rozina. One moment she loves and can not imagine life without Sindband, the next brutally throws him out. It teaches him to hate mice.
