the former residents of Katalin Street
-- Narration (Prologue)

Importance: With this epithet, the novel immediately labels the central characters as being defined in some integral way by their residency on Katalin Street, even though the characters spend much of the novel residing elsewhere. This establishes the idea that the characters' natural state is living on Katalin Street and that the upheaval of the novel uproots them from their natural, happy lives.

No one had told them that the most frightening thing of all about the loss of youth is not what is taken away but what is granted in exchange…Only the awareness of universal disintegration.
-- Narration (Prologue)

Importance: This foreboding statement sets the overall tone and narrative trajectory of the novel. The novel spans nearly thirty years, and in that time, the central characters face a long and harsh series of personal tragedies and hardships. Nonetheless, they must learn to accept and work through these...