TULSA, Okla., April 15, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The mere mention of Transylvania conjures eerie images from the darkness. Myths of vampires and other demonic creatures have cloaked the Romanian province in legend. In the new novel, Transylvania and Hungary (now available through AuthourHouse), by Daniel Marder, two visiting professors take a mystical journey into these two fabled places and discover the ties that bind the two areas.
More than 1,000 years of history divides the two regions presented in Marder's novel. His storyline unfolds in two interwoven novellas, "Transylvania: Voyage Across the Trees" and "Hungary: Men, Beasts and Stars." Two visiting professors, one a young Brit and the other a retired American, tour Transylvania in the first story. They move through various towns, staying with Szekleys, people descended from the early Magyars who arrived in 896 and are being abused by their Romanian counterparts and the secret police. The Szekleys are murdered and raped with little repercussions. A surge of nationalism is rising in these people, apparent through encounters with a young zealot priest and old Calvinist minister. From these backgrounds, the professors write a travelogue of the region, peppered by Romanian youth, who believe they are descendants of Romans, Saxons, gypsies and of Vlad Dracul.
The second story, "Hungary: Men, Beasts and Stars," finds the older professor living and studying at L. Kossuth University. He catalogues the lives of the people who inhabit the university. Reva, his associate, gets whatever he needs, but has also had an affair with an American Fulbright Scholar and is looking to marry another. Tom Riedel is a Fulbright scholar married to an invalid professor who teaches at Indiana University. He performs Indian dances and is enough of an expert to spot a fake Indian who appears at the school to give a lecture. Throughout, Marder sprinkles the old professor's journey with hints of the old Hungarian communist guard, the Nazi influence and the devastation of World War II.
The two stories in Transylvania and Hungary intertwine much like the roots and lives of the people who inhabit the hills and thick forests.
Marder has published 10 books, numerous articles in scholarly and literary magazines and short stories. Retired from the University of Tulsa, where he headed the English department, he has taught at universities in Hungary, Macedonia and Croatia. He was also a longtime consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense and taught at the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State University. Earlier in his career, he was a journalist reporting for Time and Life in Madrid, Spain and was editor for the Kangwan Raven in Shanghai.
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