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The Rise and Fall of Parkinson's Disease
Exploring sanity and insanity, truth and untruth, The Rise and Fall of Parkinson’s Disease is Svetislav Basara’s unblinking and unforgettable deconstruction of the Soviet psyche.
Told as an eclectic collection of appropriated testimonies, treatises, missives, and police files, The Rise and Fall of Parkinson’s Disease follows the progression of the contagion’s patient zero, a Soviet citizen (sometimes) named Demyan Lavrentyevich Parkinson, as he ascends from hellish health to the sacred illness.
Hailed as one of Serbia’s most influential living writers, Svetislav Basara’s scathing, irreverent critiques of authoritarianism have twice won him Serbia’s prestigious NIN Award. In The Rise and Fall of Parkinson’s Disease, Basara lives up to this reputation with a book as formally ambitious as it is intellectually sophisticated. His blend of grotesque absurdism and wry humor evokes the paranoid, vexing worlds of Franz Kafka’s novels and the meta-textual assemblages of Paul Auster. Told from a colorful range of perspectives, the novel is a multifaceted, crystalline account of truth, lies, and history, a sprawling case study of humans in an inhuman society.
Told as an eclectic collection of appropriated testimonies, treatises, missives, and police files, The Rise and Fall of Parkinson’s Disease follows the progression of the contagion’s patient zero, a Soviet citizen (sometimes) named Demyan Lavrentyevich Parkinson, as he ascends from hellish health to the sacred illness.
Hailed as one of Serbia’s most influential living writers, Svetislav Basara’s scathing, irreverent critiques of authoritarianism have twice won him Serbia’s prestigious NIN Award. In The Rise and Fall of Parkinson’s Disease, Basara lives up to this reputation with a book as formally ambitious as it is intellectually sophisticated. His blend of grotesque absurdism and wry humor evokes the paranoid, vexing worlds of Franz Kafka’s novels and the meta-textual assemblages of Paul Auster. Told from a colorful range of perspectives, the novel is a multifaceted, crystalline account of truth, lies, and history, a sprawling case study of humans in an inhuman society.
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
6 people are currently reading
232 people want to read
About the author
Svetislav Basara
67 books144 followersSvetislav Basara (Serbian cyrillic: Светислав Басара) is a Serbian writer and columnist.
He is the author of more than forty literary works, including novels, story collections, and essays. For his novel Fuss about Cyclists (Fama o biciklistima) David Albahari said: "After the appearance of The Fuss about Cyclists, one can safely say, the Serbian prose has never been the same, just like Basara has never been the same author, just like I have never been the same reader again."
Basara received the NIN Prize, a prestigious Serbian literary award for the best novel, twice. In 2006 for 'Uspon i pad Parkinsonove bolesti' (The Rise and the Fall of Parkinson's Disease). and in 2020 for the novel Kontraendorfin (Counter-endorphin).
He was the ambassador of FR Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) in Cyprus from 2001 to 2005.
He is the author of more than forty literary works, including novels, story collections, and essays. For his novel Fuss about Cyclists (Fama o biciklistima) David Albahari said: "After the appearance of The Fuss about Cyclists, one can safely say, the Serbian prose has never been the same, just like Basara has never been the same author, just like I have never been the same reader again."
Basara received the NIN Prize, a prestigious Serbian literary award for the best novel, twice. In 2006 for 'Uspon i pad Parkinsonove bolesti' (The Rise and the Fall of Parkinson's Disease). and in 2020 for the novel Kontraendorfin (Counter-endorphin).
He was the ambassador of FR Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) in Cyprus from 2001 to 2005.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 6, 2026
Žao mi je što knjiga nije uspela onako kako je mogla.
U jednom trenutku sam se zapitao da li problem leži u meni, da li joj nisam dorastao, pogotovo imajući u vidu da je nagrađena NIN-ovom nagradom. Ipak, tokom čitanja sam shvatio da sam stvorio sopstvenu ideju o „parkinsonizmu“, ideju koja je nadjačala tok i nameru samog pisca. Do te mere da sam, u jednom trenutku, bio toliko zbunjen da više nisam mogao jasno da razlučim ni pravac, ni značenje, ni čak strane koje čitam.
Parkinson je u ovoj knjizi poput „Jevrejina lutalice“ svuda prisutan, u svakoj etapi istorije i života. On nema dom, nema naciju i nema kraj. On je stanje koje se seli, širi i prilagođava.
Basara pokušava da pokaže šta znači biti zdrav po pravilima. Šta znači slediti sistem. Ta ideja me je iskreno trgla. Sistem proizvodi „zdrave, srećne i poslušne“, a čovek u toj matrici često veruje da je slobodan, da je izabrao, dok je zapravo samo prihvatio normu.
Kod Basare bolest nije problem , problem je zdravlje koje se pretvorilo u ideologiju.
Zdrav čovek, u tom smislu, misli da je u pravu, misli da je autonoman, ali je zapravo savršeno uklopljen.
Kada zdravlje postane moralna obaveza, a putovanje masovni ritual, čovek prestaje da bira, on samo učestvuje.
Ako ne paziš, i ti ćeš postati „zdrav, srećan i poslušan“.
Nažalost, utisak mi je da je ideja bila jača od forme. Postojala je snažna misaona osnova, ali ne i književna struktura koja bi tu ideju nosila do kraja.
Parkinsonizam, kako sam ga ja razumeo, nije nedostatak pokreta, nego pokret bez slobode.
Gaj, Srbija 06.01.2026
U jednom trenutku sam se zapitao da li problem leži u meni, da li joj nisam dorastao, pogotovo imajući u vidu da je nagrađena NIN-ovom nagradom. Ipak, tokom čitanja sam shvatio da sam stvorio sopstvenu ideju o „parkinsonizmu“, ideju koja je nadjačala tok i nameru samog pisca. Do te mere da sam, u jednom trenutku, bio toliko zbunjen da više nisam mogao jasno da razlučim ni pravac, ni značenje, ni čak strane koje čitam.
Parkinson je u ovoj knjizi poput „Jevrejina lutalice“ svuda prisutan, u svakoj etapi istorije i života. On nema dom, nema naciju i nema kraj. On je stanje koje se seli, širi i prilagođava.
Basara pokušava da pokaže šta znači biti zdrav po pravilima. Šta znači slediti sistem. Ta ideja me je iskreno trgla. Sistem proizvodi „zdrave, srećne i poslušne“, a čovek u toj matrici često veruje da je slobodan, da je izabrao, dok je zapravo samo prihvatio normu.
Kod Basare bolest nije problem , problem je zdravlje koje se pretvorilo u ideologiju.
Zdrav čovek, u tom smislu, misli da je u pravu, misli da je autonoman, ali je zapravo savršeno uklopljen.
Kada zdravlje postane moralna obaveza, a putovanje masovni ritual, čovek prestaje da bira, on samo učestvuje.
Ako ne paziš, i ti ćeš postati „zdrav, srećan i poslušan“.
Nažalost, utisak mi je da je ideja bila jača od forme. Postojala je snažna misaona osnova, ali ne i književna struktura koja bi tu ideju nosila do kraja.
Parkinsonizam, kako sam ga ja razumeo, nije nedostatak pokreta, nego pokret bez slobode.
Gaj, Srbija 06.01.2026
September 30, 2013
U redu, Basaru poznajem odavno što se njegovog literarnog rada tiče, mada su to bile pretežno kratke priče , i tu sam bio sasvim zadovoljan njegovim delom. Bilo je vreme da se obračunam sa nekim romanom, i videh da je ovaj dobitnik NIN-ove nagrade, za koju sam takođe izgubio dosta poštovanja sad. Gde je problem? Bolje je upitati: gde nije?
Konceptualno i nije potpuni fijasko ali kvalitet sadržaja je razočaravajuć; tek ponegde ispliva ukusno parčence, na pimer: određena doza humora koja se nekako uklopi u to more laži... nešto kao šećer na trulom kolaču - znači donekle ali ne može da zamaskira gorčinu ispod.
U čitavom moru besmislica, Basara nekad ubode metu, kao npr prikaz veličine doktora koji čak i sve moćnike može kontrolisati, "može im i prst u dupe nabiti pa da za to bude bogato nagrađen."
Basara može olako da zamaskira svoju nesposobnost baratanja situacijom time što okrivi svoje junake, što kontradiktornost njima pripiše. Takvo je i shvatanje bolesti, koje, doduše opširno, ipak nije dovoljno dobro prikazano tako da možemo osetiti njen uticaj. Početak je fin jer vidimo neki razvoj glavnog junaka, ali posle se sve to izgubi u moru postmodernističkog mešanja novinskih članaka, iskopina iz arhiva i ko-zna-još-kakvih izmišljotina koji na bedan način uvlače u sebe stvarne ličnosti tog doba, pripisuju im određene vrline i dela, što je besmisleno koliko i istorijski nemoguće. Pavić je barem maestralno to odradio koristeći dobre rupe, propuste u istoriji, pa ih je racionalno popunjavao, dok je Basara gurao šta stigne gde stigne.
Možda ovo i ne bi bila jedinica, već neka dvojka ali razočaranje je dovoljno veliko da moram da uvrstim ovaj roman u kategoriju koja retko kad dobije novog člana. Here we goo...
Konceptualno i nije potpuni fijasko ali kvalitet sadržaja je razočaravajuć; tek ponegde ispliva ukusno parčence, na pimer: određena doza humora koja se nekako uklopi u to more laži... nešto kao šećer na trulom kolaču - znači donekle ali ne može da zamaskira gorčinu ispod.
U čitavom moru besmislica, Basara nekad ubode metu, kao npr prikaz veličine doktora koji čak i sve moćnike može kontrolisati, "može im i prst u dupe nabiti pa da za to bude bogato nagrađen."
Basara može olako da zamaskira svoju nesposobnost baratanja situacijom time što okrivi svoje junake, što kontradiktornost njima pripiše. Takvo je i shvatanje bolesti, koje, doduše opširno, ipak nije dovoljno dobro prikazano tako da možemo osetiti njen uticaj. Početak je fin jer vidimo neki razvoj glavnog junaka, ali posle se sve to izgubi u moru postmodernističkog mešanja novinskih članaka, iskopina iz arhiva i ko-zna-još-kakvih izmišljotina koji na bedan način uvlače u sebe stvarne ličnosti tog doba, pripisuju im određene vrline i dela, što je besmisleno koliko i istorijski nemoguće. Pavić je barem maestralno to odradio koristeći dobre rupe, propuste u istoriji, pa ih je racionalno popunjavao, dok je Basara gurao šta stigne gde stigne.
Možda ovo i ne bi bila jedinica, već neka dvojka ali razočaranje je dovoljno veliko da moram da uvrstim ovaj roman u kategoriju koja retko kad dobije novog člana. Here we goo...
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April 11, 2026As someone who is all too familiar with Parkinson’s Disease/Parkinsonism, this was a fun read about Parkinson’s that is not Parkinson’s. A delight to discover Svetislav Basara!
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#TranslatedbyRandallAMajor #readinganactofsharedsolitude paperpills
on Instagram and Tiktok
April 25, 2013
Zasluženo dobitnik NIN-ove nagrade za najbolji roman godine. Zanimljivo, duhovito, ironično. Savršeno uklopljeni stvarni i fiktivni likovi. Istorijske činjenice i fikcija isprepleteni da navedu čitaoca da otkriva više.
March 20, 2026
In this wry, knowing jab to the ribs, about the most consequential events in modern Russian history, Basara sets a blazing path through the steppes to Moscow’s front door, from the edge of the the Volga to Lenin’s tomb and right to Dostoyevsky’s heart.
To get out ahead of the elephant in the room, the book’s Parkinson’s disease, or parkinsonism, bears no resemblance to the Parkinson's disease we know, the disorder of the nervous system, but is described both as something closer to mass, simultaneous Alzheimer's, or more simply the disease of being alive. In the book’s faux-foreword, parkinsonism is traced back to the pages of the Old Testament and Job, who endured everything God could throw at him, including, now, having his disease named after someone else entirely.
The “novel which is sometimes a history, a history which is sometimes a novel” is cobbled together from a purported cache of documents: reports, biographies, articles, pamphlets, academic papers, etc, to tell the story of Demyan Lavrentyevich Parkinson, an anti-revolutionary philosopher-warrior-chameleon. A pro-Tsarist Russian, he’s a bit older than Lenin, one of many enemies (who may not be aware of his existence). Parkinson’s various failures may have in fact sped up -- if not precipitated -- the October Revolution.
Parkinson’s history is so hard to pin down because he is an inveterate persona changer, to keep one step ahead of his pursuers. Much (potentially all) of the writing in the book is done by Parkinson himself, under several different names, including a contemporary biography of the German philosopher Jakob Böhme (who died in 1624), and the incredibly dry Tractatus Antiheliocentricus, a long-winded academic paper railing against the Copernican model of the solar system.
Obviously I'm not Russian, and I don't have a foot in that world. I did grow up right next to Brighton Beach, but that's incidental, irrelevant. I don't really know what's in the Russian (or the Soviet) soul. However, Basara doesn't hide behind this. It's not a limited book for a small audience -- anyone can read it with a passing knowledge of the turn of the previous century. At least of the big things that happened (the October Revolution, World War One, etc). I usually shy away from alternate history because it does seem slightly pointless to bother with, but sometimes one just hits in exactly the right ways. I'm not even sure alternate history is the correct term for this book. It's not saying, “what if things went this way instead?” as much as it's asking, “what if there was this guy?” Part satire, part critique, Basara’s lampoon is broad enough for those of us without degrees in 19th- or 20th-century Russian history to spot it, though there is surely nuance that falls by the wayside in names, geography and the like. It is a stunning work of alternate history.
To get out ahead of the elephant in the room, the book’s Parkinson’s disease, or parkinsonism, bears no resemblance to the Parkinson's disease we know, the disorder of the nervous system, but is described both as something closer to mass, simultaneous Alzheimer's, or more simply the disease of being alive. In the book’s faux-foreword, parkinsonism is traced back to the pages of the Old Testament and Job, who endured everything God could throw at him, including, now, having his disease named after someone else entirely.
The “novel which is sometimes a history, a history which is sometimes a novel” is cobbled together from a purported cache of documents: reports, biographies, articles, pamphlets, academic papers, etc, to tell the story of Demyan Lavrentyevich Parkinson, an anti-revolutionary philosopher-warrior-chameleon. A pro-Tsarist Russian, he’s a bit older than Lenin, one of many enemies (who may not be aware of his existence). Parkinson’s various failures may have in fact sped up -- if not precipitated -- the October Revolution.
Parkinson’s history is so hard to pin down because he is an inveterate persona changer, to keep one step ahead of his pursuers. Much (potentially all) of the writing in the book is done by Parkinson himself, under several different names, including a contemporary biography of the German philosopher Jakob Böhme (who died in 1624), and the incredibly dry Tractatus Antiheliocentricus, a long-winded academic paper railing against the Copernican model of the solar system.
Obviously I'm not Russian, and I don't have a foot in that world. I did grow up right next to Brighton Beach, but that's incidental, irrelevant. I don't really know what's in the Russian (or the Soviet) soul. However, Basara doesn't hide behind this. It's not a limited book for a small audience -- anyone can read it with a passing knowledge of the turn of the previous century. At least of the big things that happened (the October Revolution, World War One, etc). I usually shy away from alternate history because it does seem slightly pointless to bother with, but sometimes one just hits in exactly the right ways. I'm not even sure alternate history is the correct term for this book. It's not saying, “what if things went this way instead?” as much as it's asking, “what if there was this guy?” Part satire, part critique, Basara’s lampoon is broad enough for those of us without degrees in 19th- or 20th-century Russian history to spot it, though there is surely nuance that falls by the wayside in names, geography and the like. It is a stunning work of alternate history.
June 8, 2017
„Erudiția lui Svetislav Basara este o uriașă bucurie, metafizica și teologia sunt niște balonașe de săpun care se sparg la fel ca toate certitudinile… el este unul dintre scriitorii de marcă sârbi care, reflectând asupra dispariției individului și a națiunilor, își trasează, cu siguranță, locul printre marii scriitorii ai literaturii europene.” (Clémence Boulouque, Le Figaro)
„Cei care au urmărit și cărora le-au plăcut filmele lui Emir Kusturica vor descoperi în jocul narativ al lui Svetislav Basara același patos impetuos, același cinism, același ton anarhic. Scriitorul demolează canoanele romanului, forjează o construcție narativă bizară în care visul se cufundă în realitate, destabilizând cititorul, care navighează în roman ca un matelot ce se orientează după o busolă defectă.” (Anne-Marie Genet, Les libraires, Paris)
„Cei care au urmărit și cărora le-au plăcut filmele lui Emir Kusturica vor descoperi în jocul narativ al lui Svetislav Basara același patos impetuos, același cinism, același ton anarhic. Scriitorul demolează canoanele romanului, forjează o construcție narativă bizară în care visul se cufundă în realitate, destabilizând cititorul, care navighează în roman ca un matelot ce se orientează după o busolă defectă.” (Anne-Marie Genet, Les libraires, Paris)
June 12, 2022
Don't get this book as a gift. It was gifted to me so I kind of had to read it. It's as if the author tried to write the most confusing book ever. For me he did. It's almost unreadable. I'm sorry, I just can't find anything positive about it.
June 10, 2014
Dao Basari drugu šansu. Stil je nenadjebiv, ali sadržaj... pa i ne baš.
October 5, 2022
pretpostavljam da je sekta hartijoždera i skup priča o životu hartijožderskog mesije Parkinsona parodija na besmisao kršćanstva i biblije kao idiotske religije koja je unazadila i zatupila hiljade pokoljenja .
Na dijelove duhovita i inspirativna knjiga, no iritira da se dijelovi pisani u ironijskom ključu i stavovi i kritike moderniteta isprepliću tako da nije moguće točno razlučiti gdje autor trola, a gdje misli ozbiljno , kao da se boji poptpuno otvoreno iznijeti vl. mišljenje, što je možda i točno, znajući ko i dalje drma svijetom .
Na dijelove duhovita i inspirativna knjiga, no iritira da se dijelovi pisani u ironijskom ključu i stavovi i kritike moderniteta isprepliću tako da nije moguće točno razlučiti gdje autor trola, a gdje misli ozbiljno , kao da se boji poptpuno otvoreno iznijeti vl. mišljenje, što je možda i točno, znajući ko i dalje drma svijetom .
October 1, 2021
4/5. To ni strokovna knjiga, je pa za tiste, ki se sladokusijo v prebiranju apokrifov. Parkinsona Basara, še en Oklicani postavi v dekadentno rusko okolje, v katerem je junakov oče že kvartal in zapijal premoženje z Dostojevskim, hipnotiziral kot Rasputin in bil disidentsko "razpoložen" kot Nabokov. Izumitelj bolezni Parkinson menjava svoje identitete podobno kot vsi "zdravi hipohondri" bolezni vsak teden ali mesec.
January 5, 2025
Moj prvi Basara. Odličan stil. Konfuzan sadržaj. Teško je razlučiti šta je ironija, šta istina a šta fikcija. Dosta zanimljivih momenata, ideja i konstrukcija ali ili nisam dorastao, ili bi to moglo zaista bolje.
Možda mi vremenom kniga ostari bolje nego što očekujem. Svakako intrigantno štivo.
Možda mi vremenom kniga ostari bolje nego što očekujem. Svakako intrigantno štivo.
April 20, 2026
Това засега ми е най- откачената и анормална книга, която прочетх тази година. :):):):). Бях в някакъв Абсурдистан. И все пак намерих едно две ценни неща. Още ще я мисля
April 30, 2012
Moj prikaz na mom blogu: http://dnevnikcitanja.blog.com/2011/1...
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews