Plameni inkvizitori 1

Plameni inkvizitori #1

by Marija Jurić Zagorka

Još narod nije pokušao odgonetnuti što su to dovezli pod onim crnim pokrovom, čvrsto zatvorenim i čuvanim od naoružanih ljudi, već jednooki što dolazi ukočen, čudno teatralan, odvrati od ove tajne njihovu pozornost. Ruho mu je crveno, rukav ljevice prazan. Iz namrštena ružna lica nišani u ljude jedno oko. Dolazi polagano kao zastrašujući vjesnik sablasti koja ide za njim... Nailaze još četvorica sa željeznim klobucima, a u velikom razmaku iza njih pojavljuje se čudan čovjek. - To je on!... To je rimski inkvizitor.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Historical

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Marija Jurić Zagorka was a Croatian journalist, novelist and dramatist, the first female journalist and second in the list of most popular Croatian writers of all time (by the 2005 poll compiled by Vjesnik, a Zagreb daily newspaper). Many of her works have been adapted to film.

She was born in the village of Negovec near Vrbovec, to a well-standing family, which allowed her a good education, but in spite of her talent and many gifts, her parents decided to end her education early and, soon after leaving school, married her off to a man whom she barely knew, a Hungarian railway clerk 18 years her senior. The marriage ended abruptly with her escape from the house, first to Sremska Mitrovica and then to Zagreb, due to her husband's and mother-in-law's abuse.

It was in Zagreb that she began her career as a journalist, which was a highly unusual career for a woman in those days, and because of that, she was frowned upon, humiliated and prejudiced against her entire life. She was forced to write anonymously, under pseudonyms that hid her gender, and hide herself at work so nobody would notice there was a woman writing for (and later running) a newspaper. This didn't stop her from being politically involved, fighting against the Germanization and Magyarization of Croatia, and fighting for the rights of women, which caused her considerable problems in life, both professionally and privately.

Urged by Bishop Strossmayer, Zagorka began writing historic novels, usually set in 16th, 17th and 18th century Croatia. She instantly became popular amongst the people, who endearingly called her "The Fairy of Zagorje" (upon publishing Grička vještica) and "Queen of Croatians" (upon publishing Gordana: Kraljica Hrvata). The critics and her colleagues, however, constantly put her down, ridiculed her work, slurred her as a person and as a writer, and deliberately ignored her in literary magazines and almanacs. Still, she kept on writing and published her works as a part of her newspaper so they would be affordable to the general public, adapted her own and the works of August Šenoa for theater, ran two magazines "Ženski list" (1925- 1938) and "Hrvatica" (1938-1940) addressed to the female public, and with her young female colleagues formed the Society of Croatian Female Writers.

Upon the formation of Independent State of Croatia, the magazine "Hrvatica" was forcibly canceled and her entire estate is taken from her, leaving her without means to support herself. Desperate, Zagorka attempted suicide, but luckily survived. Living in Zagreb, she saw the end of WWII thanks to the financial help and care of her loyal public. Despite her age and weak health, she continued fighting for the rights of women, even though it earned her the ridicule and animosity of her male colleagues, who repeatedly called her "a madwoman" and "mannish old hag", until the day of her death.

None of her novels have been translated into English, but two are available in German: Grička vještica and Malleus maleficarum. 11 of her novels, published in Croatian, are found in the Library of Congress. The exact number of the novels she has written is unknown, but it is presumed that she wrote around 35, some of which are lost forever.

Reviews

[Alma]

Ova je knjiga ima pretežak rječnik za mene i nakon protičane ove knjige samo razmišljam "tko tu koga?" Žao mi je jer ne mislim da je loša knjiga, nego ja nemam dar za čitanje Jurić Zagorkinih knjiga.

[Markoo]

The balance of power changes constantly (though seemingly in circles), and pretty much any outcome seems possible. Much better than I admit to have expected. Unfortunately, the publishers decided to cut the book in 4 parts (and this is the first one) in what seems to be a somewhat cynical decision, to get more money than they would have had the book been printed in its entirety, but as expected. I will do my best to get my hands on the rest of the text.

[Morena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember being twelve-years-old on the beach in Croatia reading this book, and loving it so much that I wished I lived in the 13th century. Well that love has only deepened through the years and now I try to desperately buy this book and read it again, but so far no luck.

[Is · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nádherný historicko-romantický príbeh s dávkou tajomna, dobrodružna ale aj politikárčenia a dvorských intríg zasadený do Uhorska 13. storočia.

Na tejto knihe milujem všetko. Príbeh, postavy, psychológiu charakterov, aj staré vydanie v slovenskom preklade, ktorý dnes už zaváňa archaizmom, ale práve ten prepožičiava príbehu väčšiu autentickosť. Už roky patrí do top desiatky mojich kníh a nemyslím, že z nej niekedy vypadne.

Keď som bola mladšia, najviac ma na tejto knižke bavili romantické linky. A aj keď je celý príbeh skvelo premyslený a ponúka naozaj kvalitnú historickú zápletku, ja na ňom aj tak najviac milujem práve tie dva výrazné ľúbostné príbehy, ktoré autorka do príbehu vplietla.

V prvej časti tejto dualógie síce tej romantiky ešte nie je toľko (aspoň nie medzi mojím obľúbeným párom), ale postava Toma Loborského už tu dokazuje, že si štatút najromantickejšieho mužského hrdinu, s akým som sa kedy v literatúre stretla, nevybojovala len tak pre nič za nič.

Ku knihe sa rada vraciam a vrelo odporúčam každej milovníčke historických romancí.

[Paola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Odlična knjiga, posebice posljednjih nekoliko poglavlja. Naslovnica čitatelju obećava "okrutne igre moći, krvave bitke i ljubavna iskušenja u mračno doba povijesti" te knjiga uistinu ne manjka niti jedan od navedenih aspekata. Ukoliko su nastavci dostojni kvalitete predstavljene ovom knjigom, Plameni inkvizitori bi se mogli naći među mojim osobnim favoritima. Svakako preporučam.

[Helena Bosnjak Boras]

Brilliant...deserves to be amongst the best world writers...

[Jovana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gospode, koliko sam bila mlada tad. Sto me nece spreciti da ponovo procitam i drugi deo

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nebolo to vôbec zlé, chvíľu som si musela zvykať na ten starý jazykový štýl, ale aspoň to pôsobí autenticky a zaujímavo. Idem na druhú časť 😊

[Andrea Zivkosdóttir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesantna i dinamicna lektira.

[Katarina Karmazinova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeden z mojich najoblubenejsich romanov detstva.