On a gloomy, snowy December day, a child is born – this is the framework of the novel first published in Budapest in 1936. While his wife is in labor, Victor recalls his life: his childhood in a middle-class Jewish household, his tyrannical mother, and his time as a soldier in World War I. Above all, he bears witness to his unbalanced marriage with Helén, whom he loves unconditionally, even though she married him solely for his money and loves another man. Béla Zsolt depicts the arduous struggle between the spouses and offers a ruthless, at times grotesquely comedic view of individual shortcomings and human disconnection. The psychogram of personal abysses intertwines with the oppressive atmosphere of the impoverishing bourgeoisie and the gradual decline of values during the interwar period. When Helén's sister is released from German detention, Victor learns about the events in Berlin following Hitler's rise to power. In the end, the weary couple, exhausted from their arguments, reaches a tired peace. The impending birth holds hope for a happier future. But it is in vain. The novel concludes with the words that are – from the perspective of 1935 – prophetic: "Nothing can be saved, nothing can be made right! It cannot go on. The world is at an end.".