Geza Tatrallyay

The Fencers is the third in a trilogy of autobiographical Cold War Escape stories. It is both an immigrant's tale of wanting a better life and a sports memoir. Paul Szabó, a fencer representing Romania at the 1976 Olympics approaches the author to help him defect to Canada. This is a true story of courage, love, happiness, success and tragedy.

A Cold War Escape Memoir

The Fencers

Briar's Reviews

The Fencers by Geza Tatrallyay is a beautifully woven, true tale of perseverance and fencing! 

Autobiographies and biographies are one of those 'genres' that I really fall in love with when I start diving into them. Reading about someone's life and peeking into their mind is a truly marvelous experience for me! Having the opportunity to read Geza's story, in Canada of all places, was absolutely breathtaking!

This book isn't long, but it sure packs a punch. This story follows Geza's journey studying in Canada and joining the Olympic fencing team. I really enjoyed the fencing side of the story! I have always found fencing to be a memorizing sport to watch. Reading Geza's explanations of how the game is played and how various matches went was excellent! The ups and downs of a match, the crazy stories Olympians can tell and the descriptions of the matches were just so darn cool.

Fencing isn't the only aspect of this story that makes it so intriguing to me. Geza helping his friend Paul really stood out in this story. The Hungarian is trying to seek refuge in Canada, and Geza is up for the challenge. There were just so many aspects of this story that tied together to make it attention grabbing. The Olympic story line, Geza's undergraduate and graduate tales and Paul's story all wrapped up into one perfect gift.

The story may pull at your heart strings a bit near the end, but otherwise it's an empowering tale!

If I had a con, it'd be that I wanted a little more. Some of the stories presented were written beautifully, but I would have love to pick Geza's brain more! They sounded so interesting and I'm sure there's more to some of these stories than what made it into the book. 

Overall, this book was a real gem! I'm glad I had the opportunity to pick this book up! I needed more biographies on my shelf, so this book will be the perfect fit!

Five out of five stars!

I received this book for free from the author, Geza Tatrallyay, in exchange for an honest review.

The Fencers A Cold War Escape Memoir

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