Toll

"Toll : Rövid igaz történetek, megjegyzések, feljegyzések, kuriózumok…." by Molnár Ferenc is a collection of autobiographical sketches and anecdotes written in the early 20th century. The pieces form a witty, humane notebook of brief memories, curiosities, and theatrical observations that move between urban life, the stage, and private coincidence. It likely appeals to readers who enjoy light yet poignant miniatures, where humor, irony, and tenderness sit side by side. The opening of this collection declares its method: a light, unsystematic sweep of memories—“feathers” gathered to make a pillow—offering rest rather than argument. Molnár then strings together sharply etched vignettes: living opposite a fire station, he meditates on how perfect safety tempts fate; a Karlsbad hotel scene skewers social ostentation; and a gambler “passes” a neurological test by reading cues like roulette. He recalls kissing Jókai’s hand and records Podmaniczky Frigyes’s urbane complaint about flies in soup, then shifts to a masked night police raid where chance confronts a newly dismissed cook, exposing life’s puppet‑show ironies. Theatre and city recur as stages—an embroidery migrating between box office and prompter signals a play’s fortunes; props speak; and a brisk “dramaturgy” imagines spectatorship as a refined punishment. Other sketches weigh counterfeit luck, a cruel postal prank, reputation and discretion, a rebuke to corpse‑worship, language learning, types of false “heart,” and a child’s generous grievance, before a moonlit boat ride leads into a cautionary Paris tale.

Summary written by Project Gutenberg, by machine.