Friday, December 03, 2004
Ballad of the Whiskey Robber
A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives and Broken Hearts
With no NHL hockey on TV, it’s a great time to hunker down with a good book now and then and I’ve been reading a gem about Hungary’s ‘Whiskey Robber’. Ice Hockey is hardly noticed in Hungary, but my friend from Hungary knows all about the Whiskey Robber. Like any charming gangster, he was more of a ‘hero’ and a cult figure than an evil villain. The women certainly love the guy.
ESPN’s Page 2 has an excerpt from the book about Attila Ambrus, a notorious Hungarian bank robber who got his nickname from the fact he liked to down whiskey before his numerous bank robberies...oh and he was also a pretty bad hockey goalie :)
I’ll have a full review in the future, but this is more than just a simple hockey story...it really covers so many topics: Hungary’s transition from Communism to Capitalism, the prejudice that Romanian-Hungarians face (Much of Hungary was given to Romania after World War I and many Hungarians were cut off from their homeland), the history of the region, and, of course, some hockey. The cast of characters in the book is interesting and author Julian Rubenstein does a good job blending them into Attila Ambrus’ story.
I’d suggest you check out the Page2 link to see what it’s all about.
With no NHL hockey on TV, it’s a great time to hunker down with a good book now and then and I’ve been reading a gem about Hungary’s ‘Whiskey Robber’. Ice Hockey is hardly noticed in Hungary, but my friend from Hungary knows all about the Whiskey Robber. Like any charming gangster, he was more of a ‘hero’ and a cult figure than an evil villain. The women certainly love the guy.
ESPN’s Page 2 has an excerpt from the book about Attila Ambrus, a notorious Hungarian bank robber who got his nickname from the fact he liked to down whiskey before his numerous bank robberies...oh and he was also a pretty bad hockey goalie :)
I’ll have a full review in the future, but this is more than just a simple hockey story...it really covers so many topics: Hungary’s transition from Communism to Capitalism, the prejudice that Romanian-Hungarians face (Much of Hungary was given to Romania after World War I and many Hungarians were cut off from their homeland), the history of the region, and, of course, some hockey. The cast of characters in the book is interesting and author Julian Rubenstein does a good job blending them into Attila Ambrus’ story.
I’d suggest you check out the Page2 link to see what it’s all about.
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Well, are you following the events in the Ukraine with all the "voting fraud" supposedly going on and how the people are protesting in the streets?
I do follow what's going on in Ukraine, but not too much. I tend to follow everything east of the Carpathian mountains, since I can't really read cyrillic (it takes about 3 minutes to read a sentence).
Much of Hungary was given to Romania after World War I and many Hungarians were cut off from their homeland
that's shit. That part of Hungary was packed with Romanians since they have been living there for about 2000 de years. Also, any hungarian that wanted to go home received cash for his belongings in Romania and was free to leave.
Plus, nobody likes hungary
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that's shit. That part of Hungary was packed with Romanians since they have been living there for about 2000 de years. Also, any hungarian that wanted to go home received cash for his belongings in Romania and was free to leave.
Plus, nobody likes hungary
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