Three Chestnut Horses (Slovak: Tri gaštanové kone) is a 1940 novel by Margita Figuli in the Slovak language.[2][3][4][5][6]
 First edition cover | |
| Author | Margita Figuli |
|---|---|
| Original title | Tri gaštanové kone |
| Translator | John Minahane |
| Cover artist | Jozef Cincík[1] |
| Language | Slovak |
| Genre | Romance novel, Christian novel |
| Set in | Northern Slovakia, 1930s |
| Published | 1940 |
| Publisher | Matica slovenská |
| Publication place | Slovak State |
Published in English | 2014 |
| Media type | Print: hardback |
| Pages | 163 |
| 891.8735 | |
| LC Class | PG5438.F47 T7513 |
| Preceded by | Olovený vták |
| Followed by | Tri noci a tri sny |
Plot
edit
In the mountains of Slovakia, Peter has been in love with Magdalena since childhood and asks her to marry him. However, her mother promises her to a cruel, rich farmer, Jano Zapotočný. Magdalena promises Peter that she will put off marrying Jano if Peter can prove himself capable of making a living, but tragedy intervenes in their lives.[7]
Reception
editIn Slovakia, Three Chestnut Horses was an immediate success, running through eight editions in seven years. is considered a beloved classic.[8] In Women Writers of Great Britain and Europe: An Encyclopedia, Norma L. Rudinsky noted that "[Magdalena and Peter's] spiritual growth through tragedy to a happy ending is mythologized by three horses symbolizing the goodness, beauty and strength of nature as well as the same three qualities gained by obedience to the Christian moral code."[9]
During the period of communist Czechoslovakia, the book was published with several religious passages excised.[10]
Prof. Sarah Hinlicky Wilson awarded it five stars, saying "Three Chestnut Horses as an authentically religious book is a good antidote […] It won’t heal the wounds of living, but it will give you enough balm to carry on to the next encounter."[11]
References
edit- ^ "Figuli Margita, Tri gaštanové kone". Schody do neba.
- ^ Figuli, Margita; Minahane, John (2014). Three Chestnut Horses. Central European University Press. ISBN 9789633860540. JSTOR 10.7829/j.ctvsf1q79.
- ^ "Three Chestnut Horses | Central European University". www.ceu.edu.
- ^ "Meridians 12-23". Slovak Writers' Union. September 15, 1980 – via Google Books.
- ^ Zirin, Mary; Livezeanu, Irina; Worobec, Christine D.; Farris, June Pachuta (March 26, 2015). Women and Gender in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Eurasia: A Comprehensive Bibliography Volume I: Southeastern and East Central Europe (Edited by Irina Livezeanu with June Pachuta Farris) Volume II: Russia, the Non-Russian Peoples of the Russian. Routledge. ISBN 9781317451976 – via Google Books.
- ^ Petro, Peter (May 13, 1997). History of Slovak Literature. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. ISBN 9780773565982 – via Google Books.
- ^ Figuli, Margita (September 15, 2014). Three Chestnut Horses. Central European University Press – via www.ceeol.com.
- ^ Wilson, Katharina M.; Wilson, M. (September 15, 1991). An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780824085476 – via Google Books.
- ^ Wilson, Katharina M.; Schlueter, Paul; Schlueter, June (December 16, 2013). Women Writers of Great Britain and Europe: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. ISBN 9781135616700 – via Google Books.
- ^ Cornis-Pope, Marcel; Neubauer, John (July 18, 2007). History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe: Junctures and disjunctures in the 19th and 20th centuries. Volume III: The making and remaking of literary institutions. John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 9789027292353 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Slovak Novels in English #7: Three Chestnut Horses". Sarah Hinlicky Wilson. 2 August 2018.
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