المبعدون

by Ognjen Spahić, هبة ربيع (Translator)

إنها نهاية الثمانينات وأوروبا على وشك أن تتغير إلى الأبد، في ركن مهمل من رومانيا ينتظر رجلان مصيرَهما حيث يبدأ واقعهما حرفيًّا في الانهيار، تسمح لنا هذه الرواية الفريدة من نوعها والمروّعة كثيرًا إلقاء نظرة على عالم لم نواجهه أبدًا بالتأكيد من قبل، بلا خوف من قول الحقيقة، يأخذنا الكاتب "سباهيتش" في رحلة عبر الثورة التي ستغير؛ ليس فقط من طريقتنا في رؤية هذا الفصل من التاريخ، ولكن أيضًا تتحدى نظرتنا إلى الهوية الأوروبية، فالرواية عن سقوط الشيوعية كما هي عن التباين المتواصل بين الغرب والشرق

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romania, Literature, 21st Century, Novels

231 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Ognjen Spahić was born in 1977 in Podgorica, Montenegro. He is the best-known member of the young generation of Montenegrin writers to have emerged since the collapse of former Yugoslavia. Spahić has published two collections of short stories: Sve to (All That, 2001) and Zimska potraga (Winter Search, 2007). His novel Hansenova djeca (Hansen’s Children, 2004) won him the 2005 Meša Selimović Prize for the best new novel from Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina. It also won the 2011 Ovid Festival Prize, an award for literature translated into Romanian.
To date, Hansenova djeca has been published in Slovenian, Romanian, Hungarian and Macedonian editions. Spahić’s short stories have been translated into Czech, Greek, Turkish, Romanian, Bulgarian, English, Albanian and German. His short story “Raymond is No Longer with Us—Carver is Dead” was included in the anthology Best European Fiction 2011 published by Dalkey Archive Press in the USA. Spahić lives in Podgorica.

Reviews

[Argos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ognjen, Romanya’da Nicolai ve Elena Çavuşesku’nun devrilmesinden birkaç ay öncesinde başlattığı romanında Tichilesti’de, Avrupa’nın son cüzzam hastanesinde tecritte olup hayatta kalmaya uğraşan insanların yaşamını anlatıyor. Romanın anlatıcısı bu hastalardan biri, ancak yazar o kadar içselleştirerek anlatmış ki sanki yazarı anlatıcı hasta zannediyorsunuz.
Cüzzamı bir metafor olarak kullanılıyor, özellikle Romanya başta olmak üzere diktatoryal rejim ile baskı altındaki toplumları katliamları, savaşları cüzzam ile anlatıyor. Cüzzam hakkında toplumdaki yaygın yanlış inanışlarla baskıcı rejimlerin kendi toplumuna yönelik yanlış uygulamalarını özdeşleştiriyor.
Yazar cüzzamı iyi araştırmış ve bunu kitabında ustalıkla yansıtmış. İç karartıcı, tad kaçırıcı bir roman, bu nedenle okuyacağınız zamanı ruh durumunuza uygun olarak seçin bence. Bu arada cüzzam için ülkemizde büyük uğraş veren hocamız Türkan Saylan’ı da saygıyla anıyorum.

[Lavinia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rușine mie că în ultimii ani am citit aproape exclusiv literatură de limba engleză și română, cu foarte mici scăpări. Am avut vreo două tentative de remediere, voiam să citesc în fiecare lună literatură dintr-o altă țară/limbă, dar simt că aș pierde prea mult timp pentru o ambiție care nu sînt sigură că-mi va aduce vreo satisfacție.

În fine. Tipul ăsta, Spahic, scrie despre leprozeria de la Tichilești. Habar n-am de ce, care e miza lui de muntenegrean. Adică nu scrie efectiv despre ea, ci despre copiii lui Hansen (tatăl bacilului), care-și găsesc sfîrșitul la Tichilești. Că odată ajuns aici, nu poți spune că te tratezi și pleci acasă, ești condamnat la viață, o viață care se desfășoară într-un univers ce pare fără scăpare.

Mi-a plăcut la Spahic că pare documentat. Să scrii despre România anului 1989, cu muncitori revoltați și băieți cu ochi albaștri pe fundalul regimului comunist, nu-i de ici de colo pentru un outsider. Cît de ușor sau greu să-ți fie să descrii niște leproși, cu carnea atîrnînd pe ei, cu găuri în loc de nas și alte grozăvii, nu știu. Dar lui Spahic îi iese. Uneori atît de bine, încît aproape l-am comparat cu Blecher.

Sînt unele lucruri fără logică, pe care nu le-am înțeles. Spitalul pare al nimănui, nu există conducere și personal, sînt doar bolnavii care-și stabilesc ierarhii și le dărîmă, se încarcerează și se omoară între ei fără repercusiuni. Survival of the fittest.

Mi-a plăcut cartea, nu e deloc genul meu de literatură, poate tocmai de-aia. E nevoie uneori de cîte-un pumn în stomac.

[Acordul Fin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book will haunt me for a good while as it was harrowing. I don't regret reading it though as it's proper food for though material.

[Elena Papadopol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aproape 3,5 stelute 😊

Avem doar vag informatii, atat despre afectiunea descrisa in roman, cat si despre centrul din Tichilesti. A fost un subiect destul de greu de digerat, mai ales ca si anumite scene din carte sunt foarte grafice si violente, de asta am parcurs greut naratiunea, in ciuda numarului redus de pagini.

,,[...] Amandoi ne gandeam la copilul care zacea ca o fantoma langa reincarnarea sa adulta, pe patul de moarte."

[Mirnes Alispahić · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last leprosarium in Europe, southeast of Romania. The Cold War is coming to an end, as is the cruel reign of Nicolae Ceausescu. The microcosm of the leper colony is based on its laws. The one-eyed man is king in the land of the blind. The one with the functional cock is the leader of the colony. By chance, here it is our unnamed narrator, who is preparing to escape along with one of the patients from leprosarium. As the days pass in anticipation of the right moment to escape, the world around them is undergoing changes. Revolution is coming. As the system falls outside the walls of their sanctuary, so does the one inside them.
Placing the plot of his novel in a cramped space of leprosarium and characters who could hardly have been found in that place at that time, Spahić indulges in his imagination and tells a story that can be seen as a clash between communism and capitalism, the collapse of communism or the collapse of Yugoslavia. Although the novel has value and a dreary atmosphere, there is no denying that it could’ve been better, if only Spahić went deeper under the surface instead of scratching the top of it.

[Oguzcan Yesilyaprak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Birkaç yerde yorumlara rağmen okuyayım dedim kısa olduğu için ama hoşuma gitmedi açıkçası konusu. Spoiler vermemek adına konuyu yazmayacağım ama kapağı ilk gördüğümde daha başka bir konu içeriyor zannetmiştim. Kitap kısa ve bir günde bitirilebilecek bir kitap. Resmi tatil olduğu için öğle saatlerinde başladım ve bu saatte bitti.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

مستعمرة الجذام الحقيقية ، في جنوب شرق رومانيا التي ستلهم سباهيتش الروائي القادم من الجبل الأسود ليعيد تصور معاناة المجذومين بها




كنا جسدا واحدا ، يعيش المرض ، و ينام فيه و يموت به





في رواية سباهيتش المبعدون "أبناء هانسن" يأخذنا الى رومانيا 1989 ،أثناء سقوط حكم دكتاتورية نيكولاي تشاوشيسكو و بالقرب من مصنع للأسمدة السامة تقبع آخر مستعمرة للجذام في أوروبا كمقبرة للأحياء الأموات حيث تنعدم الرحمة و لا مكان هناك للعواطف الانسانية منفيون و مبعدون عن حياة البشر الأصحاء متعايشون يوميا مع الألم و الأرق الدائم ،بالزوائد المنتفخة و التقرحات التي تملأ كل شبر من أجسادهم المشوهة و المعتلة بعيون غائرة و منتفخة و شبه مغمضة، عاشوا منبوذين و مثيرين لهلع السكان القرويين الذين لم يستطيعوا الاقتراب ابدا من سياج المستعمرة المسكونة بأرواح المجذومين الشريرة، تلك الأرواح التي اعتبروها مطرودة من الرحمة الالهية

يعيش المقيمون بالمستعمرة على الصدقات و تبرعات الصليب الأحمر و يمضون يومهم في محاولات لإبطاء سرعة تفشي المرض بجرعات الأدوية و الحمية و التداوي بالأعشاب منتظرين مجيء الموت

مروعة، استثنائية، مليئة بالبؤس، بسلاسة و ببساطة بالسرد و بمسحة من الفكاهة و السخرية يكتب سباهيتش عن عالم المجذومين المبني على تسلسل هرمي معقد يستند إلى مدى تشوه واعتلال أجساد المرضى. حيث الخوف والقبح والتشوه و اتساع الهوة بينه و بين عالم الأصحاء و التوق للاتصال البشري والتعاطي خارج حدود مستعمرتهم سيؤدي الى درب طويل من المعاناة اليومية و الصراع على السلطة و القتل بوحشية والانتحار و الانتقام.

الراوي مجهول الهوية و الاسم يحكي قصص و حياة المجذومين اليومية "أحد عشر رجلا وامرأة واحدة" بالمستعمرة المسيجة أثناء شتاء رومانيا البارد و من نافذة غرفته يتطلع حالما الى الحرية و الخروج من المنفى ،يشاركه الغرفة روبرت دنكان، ضابط الاستخبارات الأميركية الذي بفضل اتصالاته يسعى لتأمين جوازات سفر مزورة للخروج من البلاد و ترك جحيم المستعمرة

[Istros Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those special books which transcend time and place. Set in the last leper hospital in Europe, which is located in Romania at the time of the revolution, it nevertheless deals with themes that are both old and new at the same time: the disparity between the accepted and the rejected, the poverty of human sympathy, the isolation of illness.

Spahic was only in his twenties when he wrote this novel, and yet it has become a secret cult favourite around Europe. Its amazing that he hasn't yet managed to win a fan-base here in the UK, but this is only to our loss...

[Nikolina Cali · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[G. İlke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bir hayal kırıklığı daha... Arka kapakta vadedilen "Cüzzamlı insanların hayatta kalma mücadeleleri" açıklaması tamamen uydurma. Hayatta kalmaktan ziyade, kaçıp gitme mücadelesi demeliydiler. Yorumum biraz "spoiler"lı olabilir ama hikaye özetle şöyle(sonunu yazmadım tabii ki): Cüzzamlı bir grup adamı (ve yaşlı bir kadını) bir binaya kapatmışlar (güya hastane), başlarındaki doktordan ya da güvenlikten bahseden yok! Yakınlarda bir fabrika var, işçileri iktidarı protesto ediyor ara sıra. Güvenlik güçleriyle çatışıyorlar, ölenler oluyor. Bizim kahramanımız ise arkadaşı Robert ile birlikte kaçma planları yapıyor. Bu arada hastanede doğal ve doğal olmayan ölümler de oluyor, (yine görevli kimseden bahsedilmiyor) bizimkiler gömüyor ölenleri. Sonunu elbette yazmayacağım ama buraya kadar anlattıklarımdan da anlaşılacağı üzere ben pek sevmedim kitabı. Yani yazarın tam nereye vurgu yaptığını anlayamadım; cüzzamlıların hislerinden bahsetmiyor pek (mesela Albert Camus'un Veba'sında insanı içine çeken bir duygu-durum söz konusuydu, bunda kesinlikle her şey çok yüzeysel), Çavuşesku'nun neden sevilmediğinden de (devrim neden oluyor, halk ne istiyor hiçbir bilgi verilmiyor)... Kısa bir kitap olmasına rağmen okumakta oldukça zorlandım. Bittiği için memnunum, hatta Allahtan kısa da daha fazla zaman kaybetmedim diye seviniyorum. Gerçek bir hikaye olması hikayeyi benim için gerçekçi kılmadı maalesef, anlatımdan dolayı sevemedim belki de, bilemiyorum. Uzun sözün kısası, tavsiye etmiyorum. =)

[Zahraa · Rating 4 out of 5]

هذه المره الأولى التي لم أستطع شرب كوب الشاي أثناء القراءة!

"كنا بالنسبة إليهم رجس من عالم آخر."

[mi.terapia.alternativa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gerhard Hansen fue un cientifico noruego que en 1873 aisló el bacilo causante de la lepra. De ahí que a la lepra también se la denomine enfermedad de Hansen, al bacilo que la causa, bacilo de Hansen y a los enfermos, hijos de Hansen.

En la Rumanía de la época de Ceausescu, unos pocos meses antes de la revolución que lo cambiaría todo para siempre, en la última leproseria de Europa, viven 11 enfermos marginados por esta enfermedad y resignados al único destino posible.

No vayáis pensando una visión romántica de un grupo maldito a los que compadecer . No, el autor no cuenta una historia triste y lacrimogena con la que apenarnos profundamente por estos enfermos, sino una historia espeluznante. Una historia con momentos desagradables con detalles explícitos y una historia terrible y descarnada describiendo hasta qué extremos se puede llegar cuanto los miembros de una comunidad (leproseria en este caso) se vuelven unos contra otros.

Los dos personajes principales, atrapados por esta enfermedad en una comunidad enferma y en un mundo no menos enfermo, nos muestran como hasta en situaciones tan terribles en las que la enfermedad, el hambre,la miseria, la opresión y la tiranía son una constante, la amistad, la compasión, la lealtad y el sueño de escapar de allí y ser libre pueden hacer que una pequeña esperanza te de fuerzas para seguir adelante.


Estremecedor y demoledor.

[هارون · Rating 2 out of 5]

بدايتها كانت رائعة ومن بعد النصف الاول بدأت تصبح ثقيلة ومملة ولم استطع انهاء الرواية كاملة فقد قرأت ثلثي الرواية وتوقفت عند الصفحة ١٥٠ ولم اكن متشوقاً جداً لمعرفة النهاية ، كانت هذه الرواية اول رواية اقرؤها من دولة الجبل الاسود وبداية غير موفقة لكن لن احكم على ادب هذه الدولة من خلال رواية واحدة وكاتب قد لا يكون من اشهر كتابها

[Raya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A work of fiction with leprosy as its fitting metaphor, this short and tragic novel is an allegorical snippet to Southeastern Europe's history.

It is an exceptionally moving story of Romania during the 1989 revolution and two lepers waiting to have their worlds destroyed, as they survive in the last leper house in Europe.
After reading the story, I also did some research on Ceasescu's Romania and the story became more living to me in retrospect.

The writing is lyrical, grotesque, and at times violently graphic (it did make my stomach churn). Now that I'm trying to remember a few more details, I particularly recall the scenes with the blood-thirsty dogs around the leper house at night.
Blending horror, humor and history into a single story under 200 pages, this book is painfully underrated.

If you are okay with mention of blood and gore, do give this a read at some point.

[Allan Farmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

La historia transcurre en una leprosería de Europa Oriental, con la particularidad que es la última en todo el mundo. Se va narrando lo que sucede día a día, desde los amores hasta los conflictos.
Me pareció muy interesante, absorbente y con un buen estilo. El único punto malo es que para mí, la historia hubiera terminado en el penúltimo capítulo.
Con este libro cubro el punto de Montenegro .

[Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a remote part of south-Eastern Romania, a community of lepers live alone, exiled from the world and condemned to live out their days watching the world from a safe distance. Hansen's Children is the story of the inhabitants of the last remaining European leprosarium in the late 1980s.

The community live alone, and restricted to a narrow experience of life must rub along together, sharing in both good and bad times. In good times they share stories of themselves, tend the grounds, form companionships and take care of one another. In bad times they endure fear and revulsion from outsiders, the lonely pain and self-pity of their own physical demise, bitter memories of past lives and gruesome deaths.

Beyond the limited landscape visible from the windows of the compound, Romania is suffering the brutal and repressive regime of Ceausescu, the General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party. A miniature theatre reflecting the story of a nation is played out watching workers at a fertiliser factory opposite the colony, while all the lepers can do is simply observe as labourers rise up to protest against the dictatorship of Ceausescu, battle police retaliation and march towards a revolution.

Infected by the air of insurrection and frustrated by the restrictions of their insignificant world the lepers begin to turn against each other. Members begin to inflict tyranny and oppression on fellow residents, and petty disagreements become violent conflict. Before long vengeful murder and hopeless suicide, imprisonment and siege, anarchy and desertion reign inside the commune.

Hansen’s Children, named after Gerhard Hansen (1841-1912), the Norwegian scientist who isolated the bacillus Mycobacterium leprae, is a brooding look at the fall of communism, as it is dismantled both within and beyond the walls of the leper colony. Yet despite dark subject matter depicted in a dark era following dark events it manages to be remarkably human, unexpectedly free of gore, and totally absorbing.

Ognjen Spahić, whose words are aided by an adept translation from Will Firth, manages to give an utterly convincing insight into the kind of regrets and pragmatism that might be shared by individuals with such a terrible disease. The morbidly fascinated reader is transcended, despite lack of experience with either the disease or the conflict, yet entirely able relate to the narrator’s recurrent shift from dry wit to desperation. It is a crisp and unfettered portrayal of leprosy, without taint from sentimentality or sympathy.

Hansen’s Children was winner of the Ovid Festival Prize in 2011 and several other prestigious literary prizes in Romania and Bosnia, and has been translated into several languages. The author, Spahić, is one of a growing number of prominent writers from Montenegro, which seems lately to be generating an emerging wave of Balkan talent. Told from a perspective you will be unlikely to have read before, or read again, Hansen’s Children is brilliantly original and utterly enthralling.

[Ramazan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Mona · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5*

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Copiii lui Hansen", romanul muntenegreanului Ognjen Spahić, poate fi citit ca o lecție de istorie cu privire la destinul leproșilor din Evul Mediu până azi. La Tichilești, un sătuc uitat de lume din județul Tulcea, se află ultima leprozerie din Europa, locul unde scriitorul imaginează o poveste emoționantă despre o colonie de bolnavi. Incomodă, chiar stânjenitoare pe alocuri, cu un puternic impact vizual, lectura se concentrează pe istoriile și dramele personale ale ultimilor locuitori din acest spațiu anacronic.

Varietatea cercului de personaje oferă perspective diferite asupra bolii. Izolarea leprozeriei, o fortăreață a timpului, creează mediul propice pentru dezvoltarea unei mici societăți anarhice și observarea acesteia în cele mai mici detalii. Avem un cuplu de homosexuali ce își poate trăi iubirea în liniște, departe de oprobriul lumii comuniste, un maghiar în vârstă – martor al atacului nemților din 1942, un american – fost spion la Berlin în perioada războiului rece, o bătrână ce doar așteaptă să moară și alți câțiva, amintiți trecător. Firele acțiunii sunt plămădite prin vocea eului narativ, bun prieten cu americanul Duncan.

(fragmente din recenzia completă: http://www.bookishstyle.ro/copiii-lui...)

[Tabola03 · Rating 3 out of 5]

قراءة رواية ذات طابع سياسي لسقوط الشيوعية، من منظور مريض مجذوم في آخر مستعمرة جذام في أوروبا، أدخلني في جو كئيب ومريض لمعاناة من أُغلقت عليهم أبواب الدنيا بسبب بكتيريا عصوية. كنت في البداية متحمسة للغاية لقرائتها ولكنها لم ترتقي كثيراً لتوقعاتي، وللأمانة أعجبني صدق الكاتب في تصوير المريض كإنسان مسكين وشرير في وقت واحد، لم يجعلهم ملائكة بحت ولا شياطين بحت، صورهم كما يجب أن يكون عليهِ الإنسان إذا أصابه الجذام. الأمانة كانت أفضل ما في الكتاب.

"على مر السنين أدت حقيقة الجذام إلى قاعدة مفادها أن العواطف مستحيلة وممنوعة في مستعمرة الجذام: كنا جميعاً جسداً واحداً يعيش المرض، وينام فيه، ويموت به"

[Heather Noble · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read anything quite like this book. Set in a leper hospital in Romania (the last in Europe) the effects of the disease on the bodies and minds of its victims acts as a metaphor for the falling apart of Eastern Europe and the brutality and inhumanity that follows. And yet the compassion and loyalty of the two main characters trapped by disease in a diseased world is totally convincing.

[Chavlich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moj dragi sostanovalec Robert W. Duncan je dostikrat povedal, da je zgodovina tretje oko človeštva in da je z njim mogoče jasneje videti nedoumljive brloge naše melanholične dobe. Vedno sem odgovoril tako, da sem citiral Emila Ciorana, ki piše, da bi v svetu brez melanholije slavčke pekli na ražnju.

Dobra knjiga.

[Gabriela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written in a horrific sort of way, a bit awful due to the topic itself. Though the author managed very very well to render the atmosphere and the situation. I had no idea before that there used to be a leprosy camp close to Bucharest, during the communism.

[Eya Beldi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark, sad, terrifying.
Revealing the dark truths happening in Europe.
I personally don’t like war related books, and this book is exactly that. But I don’t want to say more as anything will spoil it.

[Marius Indrieş · Rating 4 out of 5]

sad is a happy word for the last books I've bought I

lepră
România 1989
crimă
dezumanizare
lepră

Viena?

[Vuk Vuckovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leprozorijum.
Leprozorijum.
Leprozorijum.

Ta lepljiva reč odzvanjaće mojom lobanjastom glavom još dugo poput...ovo je trebala da bude fora na račun onoga što na engleskom zovu "purple prose", a čega u ovom romanu ima na pretek (baš kao i gadnih nosnih šupljina punih krvavo-sluznih izlučevina), što mi je tek pred sam kraj knjige malo zasmetalo.
Međutim, knjiga je odlična, izuzetna čak, ako moram da pravim nijanse između odličan i izuzetan (pametan je bio Platon koji nije imao nikakve gradacije izuzetnosti, dobrote i izvrsnosti, nego samo i jednostavno: dobar ili dobro).
Spahić u momentu objave romana ima 27 godina i možda mu to i daje hrabrosti da nalazi poređenja za gotovo svaku stvar koju spomene, a možda je to i odgovorno za činjenicu da nije otrovan nekim autobiografskim (da ne kažem, autofikcijskim) momentom koji nas je u proteklih deset godina valjda sve zajedno ubio u pojam što je rezultiralo time da nam čovek priča priču. Priču! Pravu pravcatu priču, ejjjj! Pa to je danas događaj samo po sebi, a posebno kad se ovako lepo ispriča.

Leprozorijum
Leprozorijum
Leprozorijum

toliko puta ponovljeno u knjizi koja odiše vonjem, gnojem i sukrvicom gubavaca. Na svakoj strani šake i obrazi se listaju i brazdaju, zadebljavaju i gube na gipkosti da se knjiga čita gotovo kao horor.
Horor tela, horor duha i horor zoon politicon-a.

Svedeno a krcato slikama ovo je fenomenalno delo koje tek na ponekom mestu ima ispade, kao što se na primer 7-8 puta ponavlja formulacija: "kada bih bio maštovit zamišljao bih da..." ali mislim da je to stvarno sekundarno i da ako se ovoj knjizi priđe dobronamerno, onaj ko prilazi dobija veliku nagradu u pripovedanju i priči! priči! priči!

A sad vanknjiževne stvari. Ognjen Spahić, pisac iz Crne Gore, je 2004. godine (Dakle, dok je još postojala SCG) odlučio da ovu knjigu objavi u Zagrebu u IK Durieux. Mislim da ga je to automatski diskvalifikovalo iz bilo kakve konkurencije za ninovu nagradu (tadašnje propozicije zahtevale su da knjiga u prvom izdanju bude objavljena u Srbiji na srpskom jeziku), ali je zato dobio regionalno važnu nagradu Meša Selimović (tuzlanska varijanta). Kod srpskih izdavača valjda nije hteo da izdaje jer je on pisac crnogorskog jezika i tu počinju neke lude priče...Ja razumem političku potrebu država bivših republika Jugoslavije da imaju svoj poseban jezik s obzirom na ono šta je većina država prošla da bi dobila nezavisnost, ali sa istoriskog i naučnog stanovišta to jednostavno nije tako. Ne možemo sad odjednom za sleng sa Dorćola da kažemo da je čitav jedan jezik. I cela ta priča iz proglasa o zajedničkom jeziku koji je pre desetak godina promovisao Vladimir Arsenijević je malo otišla predaleko. Arsenijević je tu govorio o policentričnom jeziku a da nije znao ni šta ta sintagma znači. U redu je, neka ga svako zove kako hoće, ali ako već jeste policentrični, a jeste, to je onda srpsko-hrvatski sa standardizacijom ove ili one države. Ili ja nešto nisam dobro razumeo.

Bilo kako bilo, Spahić kaže da piše na crnogorskom i da je isto to radio i Pekić ali da su ga iz Podgorice proterali kao što su uvek radili sa kvalitetnim ljudima. Sledeće bilo kako bilo jeste da je Spahić napisao sjajno delo definitivno dostojno bilo koje nagrade, a nadam se u budućnosti i nekog novog Off/Nin izbora. I poslednje bilo kako bilo, nadam se da ljudi koje ovde imam za prijatelje ove moje opaske o jeziku neće shvatiti kao nešto što one nisu, a definitivno nisu napad na čitave nacije i ljude koji im pripadaju, već samo iznošenje jednog stava. Da je jezik npr. hercegovačko-slovenački i da ja kao Srbin pričam njime od rođenja, zaista ne bih imao nikakav problem sa tim što se on naziva hercegovačko-slovenačkim.

[Gianni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sembra di avere tra le mani una matrioska in cui lo strato esterno è l’agognato mondo libero che racchiude al suo interno una nazione isolata, la Romania della dittatura di Ceausescu, che a sua volta isola dentro di sé un universo concentrazionario, un lebbrosario, temuto e tenuto lontano, in cui vive un pugno di uomini ai margini dell’umanità. È il 1989, il regime è alle battute finali, Ceausescu sta per essere rovesciato e la rivolta si muove tra continuità e violenza, ma i lebbrosi deformi e sfigurati sono comunque evitati e stigmatizzati, ”Sentivo che anche in un simile mondo io sarei stato qui, dove ero adesso; avrei fatto gli stessi sogni, pronunciato le stesse parole. Sarei rimasto un lebbroso.”
Le dinamiche relazionali all’interno del lebbrosario ricalcano i ruoli e la violenza delle relazioni sociali esterne, ma tra queste, nel bene e nel male, spiccano l’amicizia e la solidarietà tra il protagonista, il narratore, e Duncan, entrambi protesi verso la fuga e la ricerca della libertà, con tutte le remore e le paure che ciò comporta perché ”Nel paese regna l’anarchia e ogni rivoluzione, purtroppo, separa il grano dal loglio”, e coloro che hanno precedentemente lasciato il lebbrosario sono probabilmente morti, ”morti per il mondo, nati in Dio.”
È una narrazione di ampio respiro che non si limita alla contingenza storica e in cui la malattia di Hansen è anche l’immagine della condizione umana.
Unico piccolo grande neo è il ripetuto riferirsi alla lebbra come ”virus di Hansen”, quando l’agente patogeno responsabile non è un virus ma un batterio.

[Nolwenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in the last European leper colony in Romania in the mid 1980s, this novella tells the story of two young men condemned to a life of isolation in the colony, watching the last days of Ceaucescu’s regime unfold in the nearby factory. Desperate to escape for a better life, the two young men found themselves at odds with their unfortunate companions.
The political context is interesting and it is hard to imagine that such lepers colonies existed in 1985. But overall I struggled with this book. This is an unflinching look at what life must have been for those men and women struggling to survive a horrible illness with very little support and medication. And as much as it may well be historically interesting, I struggled with the amount of bodily fluids described and agonised over. The author appears to have a fascination for gruesome details, phlegm and odours which I found difficult. And that is me being a nurse and having no qualms about the reality of bodies. This felt a little gratuitous and unnecessary. I found no relief in the end and could not relate to either main characters.
This novel and the author are widely respected as pioneers in Montenegrin literature but this was not for me.

[Johan D'Haenen · Rating 4 out of 5]

De titel van het boek verwijst naar lepra, ook wel de "ziekte van Hansen" genoemd, naar de Noorse arts Armauer Hansen die in 1873 voor het eerst de ziekteverwekkende bacterie beschreef.
Je bevindt je in de laatste Europese leprozenkolonie in Roemenië, midden de delta van de Donau. Het regime van Ceaușescu is op sterven na dood... er zijn opstanden, de revolutie kan elk moment uitbarsten. En de leprozenkolonie? Dat is een eiland aan z'n lot overgelaten in een land in chaos, vergelijkbaar met het eiland van "Lord of the flies". Het is een nachtmerrie waaruit geen ontsnappen mogelijk is terwijl de Europese Unie toekijkt... en dat is ook de metafoor van dit werk. "Hansen's Children" is een metafoor voor wat het begin van het nieuwe millennium betekent, de meedogenloze chaos van het neoliberale laatkapitalisme waarin het individualisme overheerst.
"We are lepers, and you are swine!" schreeuwt het hoofdpersonage uit, en terecht.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new and unexpected reading experience. Hansen's Children was dark and grisly, and violent, and tragi-comic, and unexpectedly-delightful. I grew up hearing about a leper colony on Molokai, and a love interest in high school once showed me leper bandages she and her mother were knitting for some far-away colony, in what I took to be a fanciful Victorian pursuit of a certain set that preferred to use the word "consumption" over the banal "tuberculosis" (guilty). Spahic takes us into the mind and life and isolated community of a leper in the last leper colony in Europe, during a total breakdown of internal and external social order during the Romanian Revolution. Debilitating illness and tenderness paired with raging IDs, and the impulse to survive make for an unforgettable read.