Μικρές ατιμίες: Διηγήματα

by Πάνος Καρνέζης, Panos Karnezis

Ο κόσμος του Πάνου Καρνέζη είναι ένα ανώνυμο ελληνικό χωριό. Οι χαρακτήρες του είναι οι άνθρωποι που ζουν εκεί -ο παπάς, ο κουρέας, η πόρνη, ο γιατρός, η μοδίστρα, ο δήμαρχος- αλλά και κάποια ζώα: ένας κένταυρος, ένας παπαγάλος που απαγγέλλει Όμηρο, ένα άλογο που λέγεται Ιστορία. Σ' αυτή τη μικρή κοινωνία οι ζωές όλων διασταυρώνονται και όλοι σχεδόν γνωρίζουν τα μυστικά των άλλων -τα αποσιωπημένα εγκλήματα, τα μυστήρια, τις μικρές ατιμίες που δεν παύουν να διαπράττονται.
Ο Πάνος Καρνέζης παρατηρεί τους κατοίκους του απίθανου αυτού τόπου με μεγαλόψυχη ματιά και δημιουργεί έναν κόσμο όπου η σκληρή πραγματικότητα νικά κάθε φορά τη μαγεία, έναν κόσμο ταυτόχρονα, οικουμενικό, αστείο και πέρα για πέρα συναρπαστικό.

Genres: Short Stories, Greece, Fiction, Travel, Contemporary, Literature, Modern

348 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

See also Panos Karnezis

Reviews

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since dawn the air had the sultriness of fermenting juices and later, just before lunch, the dog started barking for no reason and did not stop until Father Yerasimo chased her away with stones. He could not imagine then that the poor animal was only trying to warn him. Because no sooner had he washed his dish, fed the leftovers to the chickens, and sat on the veranda to drink a glass of wine, than a roar like the beating of an enormous vat echoed across the village. Father Yerasimo watched with fascination as his glass toppled, and the red wine spilled over the table.
"Shit!" he uttered. "It's the Second Coming!"
(From "A Funeral of Stones," p. 1)

It's actually just an earthquake, and the secrets it uncovers cause enough trouble. This sleepy little Greek village isn't ready for Jesus to return yet...although one suspects Christ might pass it by entirely, what with the conditions of the road; it took enough convincing by Father Yerasimo to get the bishop to visit, and he had to fake a miracle to make it worth His Right Reverence's while.

It's just as well, really. Not much happens in the village, except for the occasional murder or massacre--one of which happens in Father Yerasimo's church--but most days the village is calm and sleepy. Mr. Jeremias dies (of boredom?) while waiting for his pension, Isidoro accidentally buys a horse he can't afford, Whale never makes it to the beach, a parrot is too distracted by television to learn Homer, an ancient centaur is reduced to circus work, Dr. Pantelon gets a marriage proposal during a gynecological exam, and Nectario tries (and fails, again) to fly. And more. Life is quite dull when it isn't embarrassing, and one thinks this village would be a bit more hesitant to let a wandering photographer make them live forever--even as a looming hydroelectric dam project threatens to wipe them off the map.

It's a nice little collection of stories, magical and shocking in turn. And I almost didn't read it. This was an impulse buy from a clearance sale a few years ago, and it's been languishing on my bookshelf ever since. I nearly culled it entirely, but decided to read it first. And it turned out to be a keeper. This worries me a bit. I've saved two other books because they were too good to cull, which kind of makes me afraid to read Jonathan Franzen's novel The Corrections...

(Reviewed June 2012)

[Elena Sala · Rating 4 out of 5]

LITTLE INFAMIES (2004) is a debut collection of 19 short stories set on a small, backward Greek village during the 1950s. The Nazi occupation during World War II seems to be a fresh memory for most of the villagers. Most of them are very poor and make their living through shopkeeping, farming or employment in badly paid government posts. There's almost no electricity, and only one TV set in the whole village.

A priest, a doctor, a bus driver, a railway station master, a clerk, a seamstress, a bird seller, the mayor... and even a centaur are some of the main characters. All the stories are connected in some way because the lives of these villagers intersect, as lives usually do in a small village. The stories reveal, with black humor and some cruelty, many "little infamies" as well as some secret crimes.

Panos Karnezis, a Greek engineer living in Britain, wrote these stories in English. He has a bleak and unsentimental vision of Greek village life, and his droll humor deviates into the macabre with astonishing ease. No redeeming quality can be found in the village inhabitants: they are manipulative, ignorant, cruel, untrustworthy. Their village is doomed, their way of life is under threat, in fact all traditional village life in Greece is bound to disappear, and they don't know it. They remain immersed in their foolish, petty squabbles.

3.5 ⭐.

[Πάνος Τουρλής · Rating 4 out of 5]

Μικρές ιστορίες ανατριχιαστικές, θα τις έλεγες καθημερινές. Η μικρότητα και η μικρόνοια του πληθυσμού ενός μικρού χωριού, με τις ανομίες του, το κοντόφθαλμο φέρσιμο, τον εγωισμό, την προστασία από τον κόσμο (μα τι θα πει ο κόσμος;), μικρά διηγήματα που κινούνται όμως γύρω από έναν κεντρικό άξονα και ξανασυναντάς γνωστούς χαρακτήρες.
Δύο ήταν τα πιο φρικιαστικά διηγήματα, κυρίως ως προς το πού μπορεί να φτάσει η μεν σκληρότητα κάποιου, η δε αδιαφορία και συνενοχή του χωριού: το πρώτο, όπου ο πατέρας, μετά τον θάνατο της γυναίκας του στον τοκετό, θεωρεί τις δίδυμες κόρες του υπεύθυνες για τον θάνατο της μητέρας τους και τις κλειδώνει στο υπόγειο, όπου μεγαλώνουν για δέκα χρόνια τουλάχιστον, χωρίς ανθρώπινη ομιλία, χωρίς φως, με ελάχιστη τροφή ενώ το χωριό τους επισκέπτεται με σιωπηρή παραδοχή πηγαίνοντας μάλιστα και τραταμέντα! (τελικά τα αγρίμια το σκάνε, ακολουθούν μια πλανόδια, γίνονται άνθρωποι και σχεδιάζουν τη δολοφονία του πατέρα τους).
Και η δεύτερη "Την πρώτη μέρα της Σαρακοστής " όπου ένας φυλακισμένος παίρνει 24ωρη άδεια κι επιστρέφει στο χωριό όπου τον συλλάβανε να κλέβει για να παντρευτεί τη γυναίκα που αγαπά με τη βοήθεια του παπά που τον κατέδωσε (ο φυλακισμένος τον απειλεί με όπλο για να τελέσει τη λειτουργία γιατί είναι Καθαρά Δευτέρα και δε γίνονται γάμοι αλλά κι ο διευθυντής των φυλακών δεν πρόκειται να του ξαναδώσει άδεια πριν αποφυλακιστεί, και δυστυχώς ο διευθυντής, που κάτι τον κατέτρωγε και τον ακολουθεί με αστυνομικούς, τα μπερδεύει τα πράγματα, νομίζει ότι ο παπάς απειλείται και σκοτώνει τον κρατούμενο). Ιστορίες ανθρώπινης δολιότητας, μια μικροκοινωνία με πολλά μειονεκτήματα που η δικαία χειρ του Θεού την τιμωρεί με την εγκατάσταση φράγματος που πλημμυρίζει το χωριό και πνίγει τους κατοίκους του, οι οποίοι αρνήθηκαν να μετακομίσουν σε άλλη περιοχή που τους υπέδιεξαν οι εργολάβοι!
Καλογραμμένο, με εναλλαγές σε πρώτο και τρίτο ενικό, το συνιστώ ανεπιφύλακτα λόγω της ψυχολογίας που το διακατέχει, της αρτιότητάς του και του μεγέθους εγωισμού και κακίας που μπορεί να φτάσει ο άνθρωπος ειδικά σε κλειστές κοινωνίες. Μπρρρ!!!!!

[Pedro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Los libros de cuentos suelen limitar la cantidad de narraciones porque cada uno es un universo. Infamias cotidianas, que incluye diecinueve cuentos, salva la situación recurriendo al método de hacer salir y entrar los mismos personajes; me hizo acordar a Pago Chico, de Roberto Payró.
Los cuentos están ubicados en un pueblo griego durante la postguerra (WWII), y como Pago Chico, son cuentos costumbristas, que por una propensión al fatalismo ("si algo puede salir mal, saldrá mal") bordean por momentos lo patético.
Los cuentos están escritos con un lenguaje pulido, pero esta tendencia a la patético (que a algunos podrá gustar), hicieron que fuera un libro que por momentos me resultó aburrido y desvaído.
2,5 puntos.

[Joselito Honestly and Brilliantly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of interconnected short stories that reads like a novel. The setting is rural, Greek, and the characters are the ordinary people one expects to find in small forgotten towns and villages anywhere. But its very first story, "A Funeral of Stones," was like an alien spacecraft ride. It felt strange, new, a delight to the senses and, as I floated, I kept asking the driver--Panos Karnezis--where are you taking me, where are you taking me. And he grinned, this rascal with a unusual name, and just drove me on to some galaxies of dreams.

[jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darkly funny, though heavier on the dark than the funny. A bit as if Flannery O'Connor got drunk on ouzo with a bunch of gypsies and then decided to write a Greek Winesburg, Ohio while still hung over.

I really liked the first story, which was almost novella length; the shorter ones that followed were a little hit and miss. Karnezis seemed very interested in the intersection between modernity and traditional village life, though he seems to find them equally depressing. There's a fablesque tone to most of the stories, although they're fables lacking a moral.

A good read for a bad mood.

[Yigal Zur · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good short story writer. funny and full with humanity with its small sins. interesting and original

[Cat .classics · Rating 5 out of 5]

Que surpresa fantástica a descoberta deste livrinho, encalhado na estante há anos!

Parece um livro de contos, mas na verdade é um romance sobre uma aldeia grega, perdida no tempo e no espaço, e sobre os seus caricatos personagens.

A caracterização das personagens é genial, muito ao jeito das personagens tragicómicas da literatura fantástica da América Latina, mas com um twist de mitologia grega à mistura.

Um conjunto de narrativas breves que se entrecruzam, permitindo-nos compreender, em alguns contos, o que realmente sucedeu em outros contos. Peças que se vão compondo e que vão criando um retrato mais completo da aldeia.

Foi um dos livros mais divertidos e bem dispostos que li este ano, e uma forma muito interessante de voltar à Grécia (na minha imaginação). Não obstante o sentido de humor, o autor traz-nos também reflexões sobre solidão, progresso, religião, amor e pobreza.

[Fani *loves angst* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Black humor and irony at its best.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sharp, witty, powerful, clever collection of interlinked stories set in Greek village in the 1950s - 60s which look at the life, lives and characters of disparate members of this poor rural community with an unsentimental and unsparing eye. A must for anyone who thanks either god or benevolent chance that they were not born in a simpler time in a simple village, and even more so for those who wish the opposite.

[Karina Samyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Het zijn geen sprookjes, de verhalen in "Kleine Schandalen" maar wrede spelingen van het lot. De personages geen doetjes. Ze liegen en bedriegen maar ze hebben gezond verstand en zijn geworteld in de aarde van hun dorp. Ze zijn aandoenlijk. Karnezis schrijft met ironie waardoor je doorheen het boek zit te grijnzen. Een geestig boek over teloorgang dat beklijft.

[Kylin Larsson · Rating 1 out of 5]

These short stories center on a very poor town in Greece. I read it to get a bit of a feel for Greek small towns. Most of the stories had a cutesy ironic twist. A lush woman on a bus is stared at, competed over, by the driver and the money taker. She ends up stealing their money while they argue about taking her luggage off the bus.

The town itself develops as a character throughout the collection. But my perception of the town is tainted by the first story. Everybody but the priest and the cop know that a father keeps his twin daughters prisoner (as their punishment for them supposedly killing their mother in childbirth). Everyone in the town comes by the pay a coin and watch them do circus tricks. How can anyone respect a town like that?

Since I read it as a bit of research for my story set in Greece (which is rolling along nicely, by the way) I feel the need to report that this town could basically have been anywhere that wasn't the U.S. or Canada. It could have been Mexico, Poland, or Romania. There were a few mentions of the acropolis and that was the extent of Greek atmosphere.

[Vasileios Diakovasilis]

Πριν μερικά χρόνια διάβασα τις "Μικρές ατιμίες" του Πάνου Καρνέζη, ενός επίσης νέου συγγραφέα .
Ενός συγγραφέα με άλλα, σίγουρα, βιώματα, με άλλες σπουδές, που ζει σήμερα στο Λονδίνο, μεγαλωμένος όμως κι αυτός στην Ελλάδα ... Το βιβλίο εκείνο με ενθουσίασε. Είχε όλα εκείνα τα στοιχεία που ήθελα. Αν η λογοτεχνία δεν έχει μέσα της και λίγο λυρισμό, το ονειρικό φαντασιακό, τη μαγεία της απόστασης, των υπερβολών και των απρόβλεπτων καταστάσεων, τότε γίνεται μια ξερή δημοσιογραφική περιγραφή που σε κάποιους μπορεί να αρέσει σε κάποιους άλλους, όπως εμένα... απλά δεν μου ταιριάζει!

[Beto · Rating 2 out of 5]

Este livro não me parece ser grande coisa, aliás parece-me mínimo enquanto obra. Não tem criatividade ao longo das várias histórias que se vão desenrolando. Uma ou outra história acabam por criar algum entretenimento mas não passa disso, é um livro fraco.
Gosto da ligação que acontece entre as várias personagens, acho que isso está bom.
Porém, aquele final rafeiro estraga com qualquer coisa positiva que este livro possa ter tido, escrita rafeira.

[Nicholas Papadimitriou · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know it's a little early in the year, but this might be my book of the year. Dark and witty at times "Little Infamies" is phenomenal. Not all of the 19 stories resonated with me but the vast majority did. Such an inspiring piece of work that showcases the darker aspects of humanity and the stubbornness of the human will. 10/10 def recommend!

[Alexis Charitos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Η κριτική των Νέων στο εξώφυλλο γράφει ότι "το βιβλίο έχει χρώμα χωρίς να είναι γραφικό...παραπέμπει στην πρόσφατη κοινωνική ιστορία όχι μόνο της Ελλάδας, αλλά και της Ισπανίας, της Πορτογαλίας και της κάτω Ιταλίας χωρίς να δίνει έμφαση σε εθνικά γεγονότα και σύμβολα ανοίκεια στον ξένο αναγνώστη". Το εγχείρημα είναι ενδιαφέρον και παραπέμπει στον Μάρκες (οι Νιου Γιορκ Τάιμς κάνουν ευθεία σύγκριση και οι εκδόσεις, όχι τυχαία φαντάζομαι, λέγονται Μακόντο). Δυστυχώς όμως ο Καρνέζης δεν επιβεβαιώνει τη φήμη και το εγχείρημα στέφεται από αποτυχία -ίσως γιατί ποτέ δεν ήταν εφικτό; Ακόμη χειρότερα: μοιάζει εγχείρημα που καλό θα ήταν να μην επαναληφθεί γιατί πιο πολύ ζημιώνει, παρά βοηθά την προσπάθεια.

Ο κόσμος του Μάρκες, φανταστικός και ρεαλιστικός μαζί, παραπέμπει σε όλες τις λατινοαμερικανικές κοινωνίες και χτίζει πάνω σε συνδέσεις που υπάρχουν: κοινή γλώσσα, κοινή ή παρόμοια πολιτική ιστορία, κοινή θρησκεία, κοινό πολιτιστικό υπόβαθρο. Οι συνδέσεις αυτές δεν υπάρχουν ανάμεσα στις χώρες του ευρωπαϊκού νότου, που η κάθε μία είχε τη δική της ιδιαίτερη πρόσφατη ιστορία. Αυτό σημαίνει ότι οι συνδέσεις είναι αδύνατες; Ότι το εγχείρημα είναι αδύνατο; Ίσως όχι. Αλλά φοβάμαι πως όποιος επιχειρούσε να δημιουργήσει τις συνδέσεις θα είχε να αντιμετωπίσει ένα κολοσσιαίο έργο και κυρίως πως θα έπρεπε να προσεγγίσει το ζήτημα με τον ακριβώς αντίστροφο τρόπο από αυτόν που επιχειρεί ο Καρνέζης. Λέγοντας τα πράγματα με το όνομά τους, κάνοντας ευθείες αναφορές στο εθνικό πλαίσιο, βάζοντας αμείλικτα το δάχτυλο στις εθνικές πληγές προσπαθώντας να αναδείξει τις συνδέσεις.

Τελικά ο κόσμος του Καρνέζη στις Μικρές Ατιμίες πετυχαίνει το αντίστροφο: Να μη μιλήσει για καμία κοινωνία, ούτε καν την ελληνική που ολοφάνερα αποτελεί την πηγή της έμπνευσής του. Γιατί ο κόσμος του Καρνέζη είναι ελληνικός αλλά ποτέ δεν το παραδέχεται. Ο συγγραφέας πιστεύει ότι ένα απλό τρικ, το να μην αναφέρει το εθνικό όνομα, αρκεί. Τα σύμβολα της εθνικής σημαίας περιγράφονται κάπου, μπλε και άσπρα, αλλά η σημαία είναι εθνική, όχι ελληνική. Σε όλο το βιβλίο διαβάζουμε για την "πρωτεύουσα" και όχι για την Αθήνα. Σε ένα μόνο σημείο ο συγγραφέας δίνει το όνομα της πόλης, αλλά και πάλι η αίσθηση που έχεις είναι ότι προσπάθησε να το αποφύγει και απλά δεν τα κατάφερε. Γερμανική κατοχή είχαν μόνο οι Έλληνες και οι Ιταλοί. Τα ονόματα είναι επίσης ελληνικά και σίγουρα θα ξένιζαν έναν Ισπανό ή Πορτογάλο αναγνώστη, εκτός κι αν αλλάζουν σε κάθε έκδοση.Τελικά ο Καρνέζης δημιουργεί έναν κόσμο που βρίσκεται έξω από την ιστορία κάθε χώρας που αναφέρουν τα Νέα, έξω από την ιστορία γενικά, χωρίς συνδέσεις με κανένα κοινωνικό ή πολιτιστικό υπόβαθρο ή με συνδέσεις που δε δέχεται να παραδεχτεί, πράγμα που καταλήγει να είναι το ίδιο πράγμα.

Κρατάω μια επιφύλαξη μόνο ή κάτι σαν επιφύλαξη, αφού στο τέλος το συμπέρασμα είναι ίδιο, ή ίσως και χειρότερο: Ότι το βιβλίο διαβάζεται καλύτερα στα αγγλικά που είναι και η αρχική γλώσσα. Το σκεφτόμουν πολύ συχνά, καθώς το διάβαζα, ίσως γιατί και η μετάφραση σε κάποια σημεία πάσχει. Γιατί όμως; Μια εξήγηση που μπορώ να δώσω είναι ότι ο Καρνέζης εχει γράψει ένα βιβλίο για αγγλοσάξονες που δεν γνωρίζουν την ιστορία της κάθε χώρας, και που στα μάτια τους οι χώρες του ευρωπαϊκού νότου είναι όλες πάνω κάτω το ίδιο.

[Bookaholic]

Am luat romanul lui Panos Karnezis pentru că mi-a plăcut ideea de a citi un scriitor contemporan grec, asemănat cu Borges şi Marquez, ale cărui povestiri dintr-un sat grecesc nenumit stau sub titlul Infamii Mărunte. Şi, ca un făcut, până şi coperta îmi plăcea, cu greci toropiţi aşteptând la umbra unei prăvălioare să se întâmple ceva… sau nu. Ce mai, trebuia să-l iau!


Şi uite aşa am citit 19 poveşti frumoase şi curioase ca nişte ilustrate vechi, cu păsări exotice, gemene răzbunătoare, cu un flaşnetar care se dovedeşte hoţ şi o domnişoară bătrână care nu mai poate visa feeric din cauza moliilor, cu un director de penitenciar îndrăgostit şi deprimat, cu un primar oportunist şi fricos, cu uriaşul blând Balenă şi cafeneaua lui, cu frizerul ataşat de oglinda lui vetustă făcută cioburi de cutremur şi lipită prost, cu ceremonialuri mirosind a carne pe grătar, iasomie, lavandă, rozmarin şi busuioc. (continuarea cronicii: http://bookaholic.ro/infamiile-marunt...)

[Ayline · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this no name Greek little village there is one priest, one lawyer, one doctor, one barber, one coffee shop, one pension, .... you get the point, it's that small. It's the kind of small village that I would like to one day experience, briefly, and the kind of people and events I would most probably expect to encounter. However, to put these observations in such comical short stories, would require a sense of humor. The highlight of this village is its hater priest who blackmails its nonbeliever residents into believing in his church. Then there are those who count the clouds, who say the broken comb is for bald people, who pay their livelihood for a photograph to become immortal, and so on and so forth. But, who knew the fate of these villagers would be so tragic! If you like tragic comedies with witty dialogues, you might want to consider reading Little Infamies.

[Aunty Janet · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book started quite well. I didn't realise it was made up of short stories for a start. The stories are set in the same Greek village with characters which overlap stories. The stories got more and more macabre with less and less humour. I rarely 'ditch' a book, but two thirds through this one I'd had enough. Not my cuppa tea, this one!

[Vasilis Kalandaridis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Περίεργο βιβλιο.Καποιες ιστορίες μου άρεσαν αλλά με κάποιες ήθελα να φάω το χαρτί.Σχεδόν σε κάθε διήγημα υπάρχει ένας θάνατος,λίγο αίμα,μια υποψία θρίλερ.Είναι καθαρά θέμα γούστου,μπορεί κάποιος άλλος να το λατρέψει.

[Leonidas Moumouris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Μέσα στην δεκάδα των πιο αγαπημένων μου βιβλίων. Ώρες ώρες απόκοσμο.

[Marlene]

Recommended by Annie Proulx, so I'm looking forward to reading it.

[Tom Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

The village where these interconnection short stories take place isn’t named. It might not even have a name, but if so, it's not really important—that is the village isn’t important nor is its name. The time period is also initially hard to pin down. By the end of the book, I got enough clues that this takes place sometime during or after the Greek junta of 1967–1974 (but maybe I'm wrong—doesn't matter!). The village is so non-modern (not to mention backwater, sad-sack, derelict, poor, and a bit of an embarrassment) that it’s both out of time and timeless. In a word: doomed. I guess it’s an allegory about the rapid transformation of Greek culture. I dunno. But it's funny, poignant, and good.

I’m probably reaching, but this could be seen as a coda to Alexandros Papadiamantis', Tales from a Greek Island. The end of the line for the old way of life.

Karnezis is a Greek who writes in English, which cuts out the go-between of translation. So the language reads well in English.

Greek book #14. One more to go!

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very unique and well written set of short stories with cohesion since the setting is a Greek village. The author was able to create and construct highly unpredictable stories which were quite bizarre and not unreminiscent of the atmosphere of classic Greek tragedies. They were tales rather than stories and the relationships were about revenge and how that can play out. The tales offered no morality as such. They were non judgemental consequently these stories would be sound material for study. For me parts of it were too graphically gruesome and the passive violence was disturbing. For the most part I enjoyed the quirky characteristcs and behaviour of the characters and was always surprised with how the tales unfolded. These stories were not funny in any sense. Not amusing and not light hearted. They were compelling, though and well worth reading.

[Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were moments in the book that I really enjoyed it and got into it, and it was funny in places. My first problem with the book was that although it's called 'little infamies' and purports to be about life in a small village, it has a lot more in common with Poes Tales of Mystery and Imagination with the amount of murder and abuse and maiming that goes on. I'm not against dark events and themes in stories - what bothered me was that a) it wasn't what the book advertised itself as, so it wasn't what I was in the mood for or expecting when I picked it up, and b) the gritty events were at odds with other aspects of the stories - the sun and the simple humour. All in all the book had slid ingredients for two entirely different sets of stories, and the combination didn't work for me.

[Fernando Pestana da Costa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Portuguese translation of Little Infamies, the literary debut of Panos Karnezis, a young Greek author who lives in London and writes in English. This book made him instantaneously famous in Britain when it came out in 2002, and in his country when it was translated into Greek some time after that. It is a gem indeed! It consists of nineteen short stories about life in a small and isolated Greek village, and the whole assortment of little (and some not-so-little) infamies people inflict to one another. The independent but interconnected stories build up into a picture of life in that closed and doomed community. Written with wit and a good dose of dark humor, the book is really brilliant. Definitely worth reading!

[Mitch · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of tales with recurring visits from several characters but united in that they all have to do with a small, Greek village, offer insights into characters that are often less than admirable. That's my understatement for the day as well as my reason for not really enjoying the book.

On display are cruelties, greed, lies, hypocrisy, delusion and several murders, all in one tiny village. There is very little concerning healthy relationships, bonding, self-sacrifice or supportiveness.

Technically this was supposed to be about dark humor, and I usually enjoy somewhat- but not really this time.

I more or less thought the final fate of the village was well-deserved.

[FranHunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

We meet a lovely cast of imperfect characters from a Greek village. Memories of Guareschi's Don Camillo and Peppone come up, the same sometimes gentle humour crops up - but here it turns black.

Karnezis was my first Greek author (apart from the Classics) and I bought this book as a holiday read. Well, I do not often read Good Literature on my holidays. This time I did - and mightily enjoyed it.

I liked how Karnezis treated his village people with respect and (well earned) disdain alike, how he let them win just to lose more than they gambled for, how he entertains and yet criticizes. So I am very much tempted to read more of him.

[A Few Good · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning tapestry of a forgotten village a few hours from the capital (unknown if it's a state or the national capital) the villagers live through days with such adventures which are enthralling as each story is laced with fleeting hope and wisps of happiness awaiting the inevitable careless back handed slap of misfortune and disappointment. Reviting tales of the day to day but with incredibly subtle twists and nuanced emotions. Panos Karnezis is a painter with a blunt charcoal pencil and yet the result is akin to a stunning colorful landscape with black and grey clouds.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sharp little book capturing a tableau of dark-humored scenes from a nameless Greek village. Some of the short stories are quite good. Others tend to drag a bit and I found myself wishing the book had extended the better chapters instead of including more stories. Karnezis is an impressive writer, and his acid wit well-matched for the little infamies that lurk in his nameless village.