Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.

The only way is up (baby). Alleyway off Criterion Street, Hobart CBD. May 2012.

The premise and setting of Dalos György's The Circumcision had me expecting a wholly different book. Set in Budapest in early-1956 (that is, just before the Red Army crushed the nascent Hungarian revolution), one imagines that events will be woven into the novel.

Instead, it remains a casual account of the life of a Jewish twelve year old in 1950s Hungary. You can't even say it is a coming of age tale, rather a slight series of set pieces with an interesting and some quirky characters.

Mildly recommended.