Odbrana i poslednji dani

by Borislav Pekić

Првобитно објављен 1975. године, роман ,,Одбрана и последњи дани“ последњи је свезак трилогије, која укључује и романе "Успон и пад Икара Губелкијана" као и "Како утишати вампира", а о последицама Другог светског рата, аутора Борислава Пекића, једног од најважнијих послератних писаца бивше Југославије. Наратор своју причу казује из затвора, где служи за убиство бившег нацистичког званичника.
У овој трагикомичној причи Пекић истражује вечна питања судбине и индивидуалне одговорности.

Genres: Serbian Literature

132 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Borislav Pekić was a Serbian/Montenegrin political activist and writer. He was born in 1930, to a prominent family in Montenegro, at that time part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. From 1945 until his immigration to London in 1971, he lived in Belgrade. A staunch anti-communist throughout his life, he was the founding member of the Democratic Party during the post-Tito era and is considered one of the greats of 20th century literature.

Reviews

[Predrag St · Rating 5 out of 5]

"U životu nekih ljudi uvek biva kako drugi snuju, a oni su kao stajaća voda, bara koja se uzmućka samo ako baciš u nju kamen."
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"Za dobar sud činjenice su lutke bez duše sve dok proces ne razmrsi konce što te lutke na kriminalnoj sceni pokreću, sve dok sud ne spozna stroj koji ih iza kulisa događaja organizuje u zločinačku predstavu. Sve dotle pravda ima posla sa prividom i njen kantar odmerava pogrešnu težinu."
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"Familija u kući - kamen o vratu."
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"Grehota je ubijati se kad je čoveku duša na mestu. To je kao da ti bog da, a ti po tome pljuneš."
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"Velikom narodu je lako da zaboravlja. Pogotovu zlo. A Srbi su mali, malecni, šaka jada. I zlo nam neka vrednost. Počesto druge i nemamo. Moramo i njega kao oči u glavi čuvati. Nikad ga, do smrti ne zaboravljamo."

[Bezimena knjizevna zadruga]

Grehota je da Gordan Mihić u pogovoru ili predgovoru svog genijalnog scenarija za "Balkan ekspres" nije napomenuo direktan i jak uticaj ovog spisa. Možda i jeste, ko će ga znati.
Pekić je bio genije, više u misli no na papiru, više u driblingu no u konceptu, večito ironično razigran i pun života.

Gorko se smejem uvek kad ga čitam, slično osećaju koji prati filmove koje je pisao Mihić.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up

[Victor O. Krausskopf · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a fresh and convincing perspective of a simple soul's interpretation of Plato's Apology. Beautifully crafted, it entertains and simultaneously allows introspection without ever being Erziehungs Roman.

[Draganf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Narodski ispričana priča o životu Andrije Gavrilovića, prožeta izvanrednim humorom, a ujedno i prvi susret sa Pekićem, naslućuje dugo prijateljstvo.

[Tatjana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Izvanredna.

[João Reis · Rating 5 out of 5]

En livräddares försvarstal, a novel by Borislav Pekić, translated from the Serbian into Swedish by Djordje Zarković. This novel has been published in English as The Apology and the Last Days, but the Swedish title does mean Apology of a Lifeguard. I don't know which one is more faithful to the original Serbian title.

Andrija Gavrilović is a poor, naive, unlucky man who works as a beach lifeguard in Serbia before WW2 and under the German occupation. For 15 years, he gets no chance to rescue anyone from the river, but he finally gets to help one drowning person. Which, in its turn, leads to a sequence of tragicomical misfortunes. Years later, in a Western German prison, Andrija, inspired by his reading of Apology of Socrates, tells the whole truth from his not-too-clever point of view. Some of the novel's scenes are unforgettable, and the closing death is particularly pathetic and chuckle-inducing.

This compelling novel is a little masterpiece of irony and political commentary by the one author I consider the most (although not completely unknown) shining hidden gem of European literature. "Apology of a Lifeguard" is a fantastic novel by a true master writer, and I can't recommend it enough. Do read it in any language available to you.

This book is the third instalment of a loose trilogy that includes another of Pekić's masterpieces: "How to Quiet a Vampire".

[Jovana Goblin · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A meni je uveliko šezdeseta, i već mi je dojadilo da u mom životu uvek biva kako drugi snuju, a ja da sam kao stajaća voda, bara koja se uzmućka samo ako baciš u nju kamen."

*

"Sa zamlatama ne koristi da se preganjaš. Bolje ih pusti da se istutnje."

*

"Dokončaće se ovoga puta po mojoj volji, a ne po tuđoj, kako me je do sada zapadalo. Uvek su me nekud vukli drugi, uvek se sa mnom nešto radilo, a ja sam samo stajao i gledao šta se čini. I imaš život, i nemaš ga.
Živ si, doduše, imaš, dakle, život, ali na đubre možeš da ga baciš kad nije tvoj, kad ti njime ne kormaniš. Sad mi je kormilo u ruci. Držim ga čvrsto, sa obe ruke, i dokraja ga ispuštati neću. Pa šta bude da bude."

*

"Za dobar sud činjenice su lutke bez duše sve dok proces ne razmrsi konce što te lutke na kriminalnoj sceni pokreću, sve dok sud, veli, ne spozna stroj koji ih iza kulisa događaja organizuje u zločinačku predstavu. Sve dotle pravda ima posla sa prividom i njen kantar odmerava pogrešnu težinu."

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

First book I’ve read by Pekić and I loved it. It mixes the story of a naive lifeguard told from the perspective of the same man, now resolute and at peace with his (very ironic, and unfair) fate. It left me with a certain sadness, but I also feel like I gained some insight into the Balkan perspective of the war and occupation, and it made me excited to read more of Platons’ works and of Yugoslavia, and definitely more of Pekić.

[Boris Laketić · Rating 3 out of 5]

Komična i zanimljiva priča o tragičnoj sudbini jednog karaktera, sa fino utkanom kritikom komunističke vlasti. Andrija Gavrilović je po svojoj paranoidnoj prirodi, samoživosti, krutosti moralnih principa i poricanju društvene stvarnosti upadljivo sličan Arseniju Njegovanu.

[bojana · Rating 5 out of 5]

i am lately really feeling these types of books: war and all around it written from a perspective of a regular person (see knjiga o milutinu). very poignant story of a former "lifeguard" and how seemingly simple situations can lead to a disaster. beautifully written.

[Renata Petric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Odlična. Čisto uživanje kad se čita.

[isidora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pekic je ozbiljan kandidat za mog omiljenog domaceg pisca.

[Jesse K · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is really a shame that the Unbound Europe series has been discontinued. I have not read all of their books, but all of them that I have read were at least good; and most of them, like this one, were great. Many of their releases were also books that probably wouldn't have been translated by anyone else, so their departure will leave a hole in the English literary sphere.

At the very least, since this book was brilliant, they went out on a good note that they can be quite proud of.

[tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Немам шта пуно да кажем о овој књизи сем да покушавам да натерам тату да је прочита да бих имала са ким да причам о њој и да ми и даље није јасно како је ово инспирисало истоимени албум Идола. Заправо имам пуно да кажем али не волим да причам у празно па зато терам тату да је прочита. Тата неће видети ово али можда барем манифестујем да је прочита. Молим те тата. Прочитај.