Luca Dorottya Kaszab: Nameless* (Maxim Könyvkiadó 2024)
Many thanks to Maxim Könyvkiadó for sending me the book!
Does our name define us or do we decide what they will remember about us when they hear our name?
Once upon a time, in a country called Country, a bored king decided to bring a little excitement to the lives of his bored people and determined the names that could be taken and the corresponding professions. However, there were those who remained nameless in the end. Five hundred years later, the protagonist of our story, Nameless, is enjoying a peaceful day on the shore of a lake, when fate throws his nephew – also Nameless – into his path and Mildred, the little girl who has a name, but is not satisfied with it and the life that belongs to it. Willingly or unwillingly, the task will be waiting for them to change their own life and the life of the entire country.
The story can also be read as a classic fairy tale, as we can follow the adventures of the characters and familiar fairy tale elements also appear, such as the boy trying his luck or the pathless forest. However, we also find modern twists in it and get to know the personalities of the characters better than in fairy tales in general. Personally, I liked the fact that among its protagonists there are both children and adults who mutually help each other. Thus, although the story is exciting and enjoyable even for a child, adults will also love it – the author’s humor plays a big role in this. The personalities of the characters, their wayfinding and the friendships between them are perhaps more emphasized than the plot itself.
For me, its main lesson is that we have to find the thing in our life that we are really happy to do, because then we can fulfill ourselves.
*my translation
