Journey By Moonlight

Journey by Moonlight (2001) – Antal Szerb
Translated edition from Pushkin Press | ISBN: 9781901285376
Condition: Good (emotionally unsteady, physically sound)
Offered with a slightly raised eyebrow by: Crappy Old Books

Here it is: the cult classic of midlife crisis, spiritual misdirection, and romantic incompetence, otherwise known as Journey by Moonlight. Antal Szerb takes one mild-mannered Hungarian man, sends him on honeymoon to Italy, and then watches with great amusement as he more or less falls apart in the most civilised way possible.

This is not a story where anyone “finds themselves” in a wellness-retreat sense. Instead, we get:

• A respectable husband who realises, inconveniently, that adulthood may have been a terrible mistake.

• A honeymoon that becomes less “romantic escape” and more “existential escape room with churches.”

• The eternal question: What if I just… didn’t go home?

Szerb’s tone is that magical combination of melancholic, witty, and quietly savage. He manages to make you feel sorry for his characters while simultaneously wanting to pat them gently on the head and say, “Honestly, what did you think would happen?”

About this particular copy

Condition: Good, which, in our sacred second-hand code, means:

• The cover is intact and perfectly respectable, with the usual light wear from being picked up, put down, and possibly contemplated during small life crises.

• The spine is in decent shape, which is more than can be said for several people in the novel.

• The pages are all present, readable, and not full of deranged biro underlining. You may find the slightest signs of having been actually read by a human being who got strangely invested in the whole “should he run off to the past or stay with his wife” situation.

So: not pristine, not battered – just Good. The exact right condition for a book about a man who is also, in his own way, “holding up, considering.”

IMPORTANT WARNING ABOUT THE POSTCARD

This copy comes with a complimentary postcard that we did not choose, but which we feel morally obliged to warn you about:

WARNING: Tucked inside is a postcard depicting Gustave Courbet’s L’Origine du Monde.

We can only assume it was once used as a bookmark by a previous owner who either

• had a very particular sense of humour,

• was intensely committed to French realism, or

• just grabbed the nearest postcard and never looked back.

To be clear:

• The postcard is included.

• The artwork is… famous. Very famous. Let’s just say it’s one of art history’s less subtle contributions.

• If discovered by the unprepared, it may prompt what’s technically known as “a conversation.”

So if you open your newly arrived Pushkin Press classic and are suddenly confronted by 19th-century French boldness, don’t panic: that’s just Courbet, not a printer’s error.

You can keep it, remove it, use it as a bookmark (tradition!), or place it carefully somewhere that won’t cause HR issues.

What’s going on inside (the book, not the postcard)

Inside Journey by Moonlight you’ll find:

• A beautifully observed tale about a man trying to reconcile his drizzly adult responsibilities with the intoxicating chaos of his youth.

• Italian landscapes, churches, and side streets, all functioning as backdrops to one man’s talent for quietly derailing his life.

• Memories of teenage friendships and morbid fascinations that refuse to stay politely in the past.

• That particular Central European blend of humour and despair: light, witty, and then suddenly not light at all.

It’s the sort of novel that makes you laugh in a small, worried way and then stare at the wall for a moment thinking, “Oh dear.”

Why you might actually want this

• For the literary escapist: You want Italy, but with neurosis, guilt, and awkward encounters instead of glossy Instagram romance.

• For the midlife sympathiser: You understand that the real horror is not monsters, but the phrase “sensible life choices.”

• For European-fiction enjoyers: Szerb sits comfortably on the shelf with Zweig, Kundera, and other experts in “charming emotional devastation.”

• For book-shelf mischief: A Pushkin Press spine plus a secretly notorious art postcard tucked inside? That’s a conversation starter right there.

About Crappy Old Books

At Crappy Old Books, we specialise in well-travelled copies with personality. We tell you about the condition honestly, and in this case we also tell you about the unexpected bonus item lurking between the pages, because we’re fairly sure that counts as material information.

So if you’d like a Good copy of Journey by Moonlight – complete with one Hungarian existential crisis, one Italian wander, and one unexpectedly art-historical postcard – this one is ready for its next mildly bewildered owner.

The journey is internal.
The postcard is… very much not.

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