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Portret duše
U dirljivom romanu Portret duše Miro Gavran govori nam o životima sedam žena. U njihovim pričama, iznesenim u različitim književnim i neknjiževnim vrstama - pripovijest, memoari, filmski scenarij, ratna reportaža itd. - važno mjesto zauzima slikar Benjamin, portretist čiji zanatski i prije svega intimni razvoj pratimo od njegova rođenja.
Promišljenom i neobičnom strukturom u Portretu duše autor gradi čvrstu i zanimljivu fabulu, u kojoj svjedočimo dojmljivim prekretnicama u životima njegovih ranjivih junaka dok s lakoćom prolazimo kroz šest desetljeća života u Hrvatskoj, od 1960 do 2020 god.
Promišljenom i neobičnom strukturom u Portretu duše autor gradi čvrstu i zanimljivu fabulu, u kojoj svjedočimo dojmljivim prekretnicama u životima njegovih ranjivih junaka dok s lakoćom prolazimo kroz šest desetljeća života u Hrvatskoj, od 1960 do 2020 god.
408 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2023
1 person is currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Miro Gavran
79 books103 followersMiro Gavran is a contemporary Croatian author, born in 1961. His works have been translated into 35 languages, and his books have come out in 150 different editions at home and abroad. His dramas and comedies have had more than 200 theatre first nights around the world and have been seen by more than two million theatre-goers.
He is the only living dramatist in Europe to have a theatre festival devoted solely to his plays outside his/her homeland; the Gavranfest has been held in Slovakia since 2003.
He debuted in 1983 with the drama Creon's Antigone, speaking out forcefully about political manipulation. This was followed three years later by the drama Night of the Gods, the theme being the relationship between the artist and the powers-that-be under a totalitarian system. He then wrote a cycle of plays concentrating on male-female relations, in which his heroes were often great historical persons. He has created a series of complex female characters. His heroines are both strong and emotional. He has written some forty plays to date, including Death of an Actor, All About Women, All About Men, George Washington's Loves, Chekhov Says Good-Bye to Tolstoy, How To Kill The President, Greta Garbo's Secret, Parallel Worlds, Nora in Our Time, My Wife's Husband, Dr Freud's Patient...
There have been first nights of his plays throughout the world, in: Rotterdam, Washington, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Buenos Aires, Waterford, Mumbai, Bratislava, Prague, Ljubljana, Sarajevo, Krakow, Belgrade, Budapest, Athens, Augsburg, Vienna, Sofia.
He has had nine novels published: Forgotten Son, How We Broke Our Legs, Klara, Margita or A Journey into a Former Life, Judith, John the Baptist, Pontius Pilate and The Only Witness to Beauty, Kafka's friend, along with a collection of short stories entitled Small Unusual People.
In his early novels, he describes life in the Croatian provinces, featuring everyday folk, anti-heroes of sorts, who retain a positive stance towards life even when they are confronted with injustice and major difficulties. This is perhaps best seen in his novel, Forgotten Son (1989), in which the central personage is a slightly mentally challenged young man of twenty.
As a forty-year-old, Gavran started to write psychological-existential novels inspired by biblical characters, bringing them nearer to the sensibilities of contemporary readers. These books have been popular with both believers and non-believers, since their messages are universal.
His books have been published in all corners of the globe: in Beijing, Vienna, St Petersburg, Oslo, Istanbul, Paris, Prague, Bratislava, Sofia, Ljubljana...
Gavran has received more than twenty literary awards in Croatia and abroad, including the Central European Time Award, given annually in Budapest to the best Central European author for overall opus, as well as the European Circle Award given to writers for the confirmation of European values in their texts.
With insight and humour, Miro Gavran has written eight books for children and young people: All Sorts of Things in My Head, How Dad Won Mum, Head Over Heels in Love, Happy Days, Farewell Letter, Plays with a Head and a Tail, Try to Forget and The Teacher of My Dreams. These books have also found their way to adult readers.
Gavran earned his degree in Dramaturgy at the Academy of Theatre, Film and Television in Zagreb.
He first worked as a dramaturge and theatre director at the famous ITD Theatre in Zagreb. Since 1993, he has been living and working as a free-lance, professional writer. His theatre and prose texts have been included in numerous anthologies in Croatia and in countries outside its borders, and his work is studied at universities throughout the world.
He has been living in Zagreb, Croatia since he was twenty. He is married to the actress Mladena Gavran, and founded the Gavran Theatre with her in 2002. Their son Jakov is a student of acting.
He is the only living dramatist in Europe to have a theatre festival devoted solely to his plays outside his/her homeland; the Gavranfest has been held in Slovakia since 2003.
He debuted in 1983 with the drama Creon's Antigone, speaking out forcefully about political manipulation. This was followed three years later by the drama Night of the Gods, the theme being the relationship between the artist and the powers-that-be under a totalitarian system. He then wrote a cycle of plays concentrating on male-female relations, in which his heroes were often great historical persons. He has created a series of complex female characters. His heroines are both strong and emotional. He has written some forty plays to date, including Death of an Actor, All About Women, All About Men, George Washington's Loves, Chekhov Says Good-Bye to Tolstoy, How To Kill The President, Greta Garbo's Secret, Parallel Worlds, Nora in Our Time, My Wife's Husband, Dr Freud's Patient...
There have been first nights of his plays throughout the world, in: Rotterdam, Washington, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Buenos Aires, Waterford, Mumbai, Bratislava, Prague, Ljubljana, Sarajevo, Krakow, Belgrade, Budapest, Athens, Augsburg, Vienna, Sofia.
He has had nine novels published: Forgotten Son, How We Broke Our Legs, Klara, Margita or A Journey into a Former Life, Judith, John the Baptist, Pontius Pilate and The Only Witness to Beauty, Kafka's friend, along with a collection of short stories entitled Small Unusual People.
In his early novels, he describes life in the Croatian provinces, featuring everyday folk, anti-heroes of sorts, who retain a positive stance towards life even when they are confronted with injustice and major difficulties. This is perhaps best seen in his novel, Forgotten Son (1989), in which the central personage is a slightly mentally challenged young man of twenty.
As a forty-year-old, Gavran started to write psychological-existential novels inspired by biblical characters, bringing them nearer to the sensibilities of contemporary readers. These books have been popular with both believers and non-believers, since their messages are universal.
His books have been published in all corners of the globe: in Beijing, Vienna, St Petersburg, Oslo, Istanbul, Paris, Prague, Bratislava, Sofia, Ljubljana...
Gavran has received more than twenty literary awards in Croatia and abroad, including the Central European Time Award, given annually in Budapest to the best Central European author for overall opus, as well as the European Circle Award given to writers for the confirmation of European values in their texts.
With insight and humour, Miro Gavran has written eight books for children and young people: All Sorts of Things in My Head, How Dad Won Mum, Head Over Heels in Love, Happy Days, Farewell Letter, Plays with a Head and a Tail, Try to Forget and The Teacher of My Dreams. These books have also found their way to adult readers.
Gavran earned his degree in Dramaturgy at the Academy of Theatre, Film and Television in Zagreb.
He first worked as a dramaturge and theatre director at the famous ITD Theatre in Zagreb. Since 1993, he has been living and working as a free-lance, professional writer. His theatre and prose texts have been included in numerous anthologies in Croatia and in countries outside its borders, and his work is studied at universities throughout the world.
He has been living in Zagreb, Croatia since he was twenty. He is married to the actress Mladena Gavran, and founded the Gavran Theatre with her in 2002. Their son Jakov is a student of acting.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 10, 2026
Nije to nikakav "portret duše" nego primjer površnosti, nekultiviranosti i stvaralačke nemoći. Možda bi u osnovnoj zamisli i bilo potencijala, ali je sve tako beznadno sterilno i beskrvno. Kritičarski superlativi, tj. poznate hrvatske "prijateljske kritike", posve su deplasirane. I to je proza jednog akademika? Tugo moja! Na Goodreadsu 4.5? Hajte, molim vas...
July 24, 2025
Prekrasna i zanimljiva knjiga . Suvremena, nepredvidljiva, cita se s napetošću, jednostavnih recenica. Uz istu se povremeno zaplace, zbog sudbina likova. Pisana u više formi, sto je isprve neobicno, no naposljetku daje posebnu draž citanju. Citala je s muzem, koji je zbog fakultetskih knjiga stao s citanjem, a sada ga isto ponovo intrigira.
Preporučujem ju u svojem book klubu!
Preporučujem ju u svojem book klubu!
May 9, 2024
sokiralo me toliko dobrih recenzija, katastrofa… toliko plitko, lose napisano, povrsno. nijedan lik, cak ni benjamin, nije duboko okarakteriziran iako je poanta i svrha knjige portret duse i vrlo dobro prikazivanje likova. svaki zaplet stvorio bi se i raspleo u maks 5 stranica, a da ne spominjem da je znalo bit i u 5 recenica. nepotrebnih 400 stranica. svakako ce mi ostat u sjecanju jer price jesu zanimljive ponekad, ali nacin pisanja koji je kao od djeteta petog osnovne unistava svaki smisao. sve se na kraju svelo na isto, svi su imali tu neku veliku ljubav koja se toliko brzo odigrala da ju nisi mogao ni pojmit. sve u svemu ostavilo mi je bas odvratan dojam.
November 7, 2024
This was an interesting book narrating stories of different women in different time periods and in different narrative technique such as story, email, poem, memoire etc. One point that connects them all is the character of a painter Benjamin. This is a unique way of narrating a story and I like it a lot. Maybe it's because as a kid I always liked reading Gavran's books (since he writes a lot for children too), maybe not, I don't know. The only thing (or two) I gave it 4 stars is that the ending is happy and there are scenes from Zagreb earthquake in 2020 which I lives through and I really don't need any reminder of it.
March 4, 2026
Izvrsna knjiga. Kroz susrete s različitim ženama, opisan je život jednog muškarca. Svaka je žena različita, tako je i različit stil pisanja (pripovijest, pjesma, pismo, filmski scenarij, ratna reportaža, e-mail prepiska, memoari). Čitala sam sebi, čitala sam i drugima, naglas. Knjiga je kružila iz ruke u ruku, toliko je dobara!
February 25, 2024
Neobično za mene je posuditi roman čija me tematika nije ničim privukla, ali zbog komentara koje sam čula o njemu morala sam vidjeti što se to krije iza korica..a onda kad sam krenula s čitanjem završila sam u jednom "dahu". Nevjerojatna knjiga koja će mi vjerojatno trajno ostati u mislima.
February 29, 2024
Od prve do posljednje stranice odlična!
Glavni lik je toliko zanimljiv. Toliko toga mu se izdogađalo u životu i pred kraj kad je mogao uživati, to mu se dogodi.
Gavran nikad ne razočara
Glavni lik je toliko zanimljiv. Toliko toga mu se izdogađalo u životu i pred kraj kad je mogao uživati, to mu se dogodi.
Gavran nikad ne razočara
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 11, 2024
Nešto najbolje što sam pročitao zadnjih par godina.
April 29, 2025
Malo bolja sapunica
April 1, 2026
Portreti osebujnih žena i jedan muški portretist.
Uživala sam.
Uživala sam.
June 25, 2024
PORTRET DUŠE (2023.)
Bio je predivan čovjek i sjajan slikar.
"Pola sata potom sjedila sam na stolici pred Benjami- nom koji je usredotočeno crtao moj portret. Prije svakog poteza pažljivo me promotrio. Osjetila sam da zamjećuje svaku moju boru, svaki trag patnje koja se toga dana utisnula u moju dušu. Njegov pogled prodirao je u moju nutrinu i vidio me onakvom kakva sam uistinu bila. A bila sam ranjena. On je to znao, a opet kao da je uživao u sagledava nju te moje patnje."
"Priznat ću vam - kada ste me portretirali, dok ste me promatrali, nakon mnogo godina osjetila sam se ženom."
Bio je predivan čovjek i sjajan slikar.
"Pola sata potom sjedila sam na stolici pred Benjami- nom koji je usredotočeno crtao moj portret. Prije svakog poteza pažljivo me promotrio. Osjetila sam da zamjećuje svaku moju boru, svaki trag patnje koja se toga dana utisnula u moju dušu. Njegov pogled prodirao je u moju nutrinu i vidio me onakvom kakva sam uistinu bila. A bila sam ranjena. On je to znao, a opet kao da je uživao u sagledava nju te moje patnje."
"Priznat ću vam - kada ste me portretirali, dok ste me promatrali, nakon mnogo godina osjetila sam se ženom."
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews