Ferenc Molnár (1878 ? 1952) is perhaps best known in the world for his brilliant
drawing room comedies such as The Swan and The Guardsman. But in Hungary it was
his novel for young people, The Paul Street Boys (1907), which insured his
lasting popularity. Translated into English in 1927 and here updated, the novel
about two gangs of boys fighting a war for a piece of land, a derelict building
site which to them is a cherished symbol of freedom, is still the same
fascinating story it was nearly a century ago. ?At the time Ferenc Molnár wrote
The Paul Street Boys, Cooper?s Indian war ? stories were extremely popular in
Hungary and there is the flavour of their morality in this book, ? writes Mátyás
Sárközi, Molnár?s grandson, in his Preface to the present edition. ?There are
examples of good camaraderie, loyalty, idealism, but Molnár always manages to
save himself from being just a shade too sentimental. Like Mark Twain he has the
wit and the good writer?s sense to mix the grotesque with the pathetic. ?A true
world classic of its kind, The Paul Street Boys, which has been out of print for
decades, is a juvenile classic that has lost none of its magic.