Through the Land of the Serb

by Mary Edith Durham

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

142 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1904

About the author

Traveller, artist and writer who became famous for her anthropological accounts of life in Albania in the early 20th century.

Reviews

[Erazmo1986 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ovo su rani radovi Meri Daram dok još uvek nije bila politički angažovana te ne treba imati iluziju da nas je ona poštovala, zapravo njena privrženost je postojala sve dok nije dobila posao u forin ofisu. Meri je bila vrlo obrazovana imala je smisao za pisanje, jedna je od retkih Britanki koja je poznavala dobro prilike na Balkanu te stoga je logično da je britanska vlada zaposli. Sreća je da je ova knjiga napisana pre njenog ,,zaposlenja" pa imamo jedno vrlo zanimljivo svedočanstvo o životu i problemima običnih ljudi Srba u Crnoj Gori, Srbiji i Staroj Srbiji. Kasnije je sve ovo što je napisala pogazila i postala je veliki srbofob, naravno za to je bila dobro plaćena od strane britanske vlade koja je svoju rusofobiju prelila i na Srbe kao,, male Ruse" pa je tako Meri naprasno zaboravila šta je pisala o Srbima. Nešto slično se desilo i u glavama recimo Nikole Samardžića, Nenada Čanka, Vuka Draškovića...

[Kris]

What an intrepid lady and what an ambitious project. Highly entertaining and informative, but unfortunately marred by that nasty olde Empire racism. Anyway, damn worth a reading!
It's interesting when the place you hail from is considered exotic and wild and wicked, and you get to read gems like this and see what the author's got right or wrong. Best thing is, I learned a lot myself! And I was so pleased (and proud, yeh) that the writer's safety, especially being an unaccompanied female traveller in 1902 in patriarchal-as-fuck lands, was never compromised - on the contrary, Durham was aided on every step of her way and acquired trustworthy *male* companions, whether it was on some wild Montenegrin crag or in the middle of a "civilised" (her word) Belgrade street.

"If a man be Gracious and Courteous to Strangers, it shews he is a Citizen of the World and that his Heart is no Island cut off from other Lands, but a Continent that joynes them"

And... politics, as always, so doomed in that part of the world.. at least we had delicous food, amiright.

"...the Serb never seems to care whether he arrives or not, provided he can get enough black coffee on the way. He slugs along, takes innumerable rests, and is disappointed if you won't go to sleep in the middle of the day at a way-side inn. Nothing hurries him up; he looks at his watch and says it isn't dark yet, and lets the horses stand still while he rolls his hundredth cigarette."
YEP. Coffee, cigarettes, and naps. The Serbian combo. And the omnipresence of street food vendors. Some things haven't changed.

[T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the writing better in this book than in the last one of Durham's that I read. It is an interesting look at the Balkans in early 1900 and her adventurous spirit is awesome!

[Justin T. Holl, Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

118 Years and Counting

Not much has changed in the people or the culture of the Balkans, though the outward appearances show some modernity.

[Kito · Rating 3 out of 5]

a tough read. she does go on and on. but of course absolutely fascinating time and place. this was the balkans 100 years before the break up of yug. and a full 20 years before the first world war.

fascinating, but a book for study perhaps, not poolside reading!