Η εσπερίς του κυρίου Σουσαμάκη
Άγγελος Βλάχος (1838–1920), 1893
An Athenian clerk marries a rich bride with one eye fewer and fifteen years more, and plans a tea party. A comedy of dowries, vanity and domestic war. A dry, witty comedy of Athenian manners, paced like a drawing-room farce, with a constant undercurrent of domestic unease.
Feels like humor, unease and tenderness. About society, family and love.
Who it’s for
You may enjoy this if you like satirical social comedy, especially stories about marriage, money and status in a small urban society. Be prepared for the archaising katharevousa prose, which makes the Greek demanding even as the narrator mocks that very style.
Why read it
It offers a sharp, funny look at how dowries and vanity shape a marriage, and the pleasure of watching a period style turned against itself.
Pages from the book
A marriage described like an invoice, with every flaw itemised and priced.
Ὁ Κύριος Σουσαμάκης, ὑπάλληλος τοῦ γραφείου ὅπερ διευθύνει ὁ κύριος Παρδαλός, ἐνυμφεύθη πρό τινων μηνῶν, τῇ ἀγαθῇ συμπράξει τοῦ προϊσταμένου του, πλουσίαν τινα νύμφην ἐκ Πατρῶν, ἔχουσαν μὲν ἕνα ὀφθαλμὸν ὀλιγώτερον αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ’ εἰς ἀποζημίωσιν τοῦ ἐλλείποντος ὀφθαλμοῦ δεκαπέντε ἔτη ἡλικίας περισσότερα, καὶ εἰς ἀποζημίωσιν τῶν περισσευόντων δεκαπέντε ἐτῶν τριάκοντα πέντε χιλιάδας δραχμῶν προῖκα. From behind the locked coal-bin, a child's rage has become something feral.
Σημειωτέον δέ, ὅτι τὴν στιγμὴν ἀκριβῶς ἐκείνην ὁ ἄλλος παρεῖχεν ἀπὸ τῆς εἱρκτῆς αὐτοῦ ταραχωδέστατα τῆς ὑπάρξεώς του σημεῖα. Αἱ φωναί του ἀπὸ μελαγχολικοῦ καὶ ἠρέμου κλαυθμοῦ ἔφθανον ἐν μιᾷ στιγμῇ εἰς ὀξείας καὶ βραγχώδεις κραυγάς, ἡ γλῶσσά του ἐφλυάρει ἀσχημολογοῦσα μεγαλοφώνως, ὑβρίζουσα καὶ ἀπειλοῦσα, οἱ δὲ πόδες του καὶ αἱ χεῖρές του, πλήττουσαι ὁτὲ μὲν τὸ ἔδαφος ὁτὲ δὲ τὴν θύραν, ἀπετέλουν παράδοξον συναυλίαν, ἥτις τὴν στιγμὴν ἀκριβῶς ἐκείνην εἶχε κορυφωθῆ εἰς τὸ ἀφόρητον. A family lunch where one child wants to strangle the other over soup.
Ὁ Γεωργάκης ξεκαρδιζόμενος ἀπὸ τὰ γέλοια· ὁ Γιαννάκης ξεφωνίζων, ὀδυρόμενος, προσπαθῶν παντοίαις δυνάμεσι νὰ ἐπιπέσῃ κατὰ τοῦ μικροῦ του ἀδελφοῦ, ἐνῷ ἡ μήτηρ του τὸν ἐμποδίζει, καὶ κραυγάζων: «ἀφῆστέ με νὰ τὸν πνίξω»· ὁ Κύριος Παρδαλός, ἀνιστάμενος τῆς τραπέζης πλήρης ὀργῆς, συλλαμβάνων ἀπὸ τοῦ ὠτὸς τὸν Γεωργάκην καὶ ἀπάγων αὐτόν, κλαίοντα καὶ ἀνθιστάμενον, εἰς τὴν καρβουνοθήκην· καὶ ἡ κυρία Παρδαλοῦ τέλος, ἥτις δὲν ἠξεύρει τί νὰ πρωτοκάμῃ· νὰ περιστείλῃ τὰς φονικὰς ὀρέξεις τοῦ πρωτοτόκου της, νὰ ἐμποδίσῃ τὸν σύζυγόν της ἀπὸ τοῦ νὰ φυλακίσῃ τὸν μικρότερόν της υἱὸν εἰς μέρος σκοτεινόν, ὡς λέγει, καὶ γεμᾶτον ποντικούς, ἢ νὰ θρηνήσῃ τὸ ὡραῖον μεταξωτόν της φόρεμα, ὅπερ ἐκηλίδωσαν οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς παρειᾶς τοῦ Γιαννάκη ἀναπηδήσαντες ζωμοί. Άγγελος Βλάχος.Άγγελος Βλάχος was a diplomat and professor who wrote this novella in archaising katharevousa, mocking the very purists he imitated — a joke aimed at Athens' linguistic battles of the 1890s.
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Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World
Jonathan Swift, 1726
Also humor and society.
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Questions readers ask
- Is Η εσπερίς του κυρίου Σουσαμάκη for me?
- You may enjoy this if you like satirical social comedy, especially stories about marriage, money and status in a small urban society. Be prepared for the archaising katharevousa prose, which makes the Greek demanding even as the narrator mocks that very style.
- What is Η εσπερίς του κυρίου Σουσαμάκη like?
- A dry, witty comedy of Athenian manners, paced like a drawing-room farce, with a constant undercurrent of domestic unease. Feels like humor, unease and tenderness. About society, family and love.
- What should I read after Η εσπερίς του κυρίου Σουσαμάκη?
- If you liked Η εσπερίς του κυρίου Σουσαμάκη, try Emma (Jane Austen), The Four Million (O. Henry) and Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World (Jonathan Swift).
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