Księga Blama

by Aleksandar Tišma, Magdalena Pertyńska (Translator)

"Księga Blama" jest rodzajem odpowiedzi na wezwanie węgierskiego pisarza Tibora Cseresa, autora głośnych "Zimnych dni", również poświęconych nowosadzkiej akcji zagłady. Cseres napisał we wstępie do polskiego wydania swojej książki (1966 r.): "Uważam Zimne dni za pierwszą połowę zdania, kóre (...) trzeba było wypowiedzieć. Pozostałą część zdania winni wypowiedzieć pisarze sąsiadujących narodów... Chciałoby się wspólnym wysiłkiem odtworzyć wspólną historię wschodniej Europy... niekiedy wzniośle piękną, niekiedy przeraźliwie krwawą i okrutną". I to czyni serbski prozaik, Aleksandar Tišma. Trzeba dodać, że czyni to z całym obiektywizmem, stawia bowiem znak równości między nacjonalizmem węgierskich strzałokrzyżowców i serbskich czetników.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Holocaust, War, Serbian Literature, World War II, Novels

233 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Aleksandar Tišma (rođen 16. januara 1924. u Horgošu, preminuo 16. februara 2003. u Novom Sadu) je bio jugoslovenski i srpski pesnik i pisac. U njegovim delima najviše su zastupljene lirske pesme, zatim romani i novele.

Bio je urednik Letopisa Matice srpske u periodu od 1969. do 1973.

Osnovnu školu i gimnaziju pohađao je u Novom Sadu. Maturirao je 1942. godine. U Budimpešti je studirao (od 1942. do 1943.) ekonomiju pa romanistiku. Stupio je u narodnooslobodilačku borbu decembra 1944. godine. Demobilisan je novembra 1945. godine, nakon čega se zaposlio kao novinar u Novom Sadu, u „Slobodnoj Vojvodini“, a zatim, 1947. godine, u Beogradu, u „Borbi“. Na beogradskom Filozofskom fakultetu 1954 godine diplomirao je anglistiku. Od 1949. je živeo u Novom Sadu i radio u izdavačkom preduzeću „Matica srpska“, najpre kao sekretar, a posle i kao urednik.

Tišma je nosilac više nagrada za prozu, poeziju i prevodilaštvo.


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English:


Aleksandar Tišma (1924–2003) was a Serbian writer of significant acclaim, known for his exploration of the human condition during and after World War II. Born in the city of Horgoš, in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now Serbia), Tišma was of mixed heritage, with a Serbian father and a Hungarian Jewish mother, a background that profoundly influenced his literary perspective.

Tišma's early life was marked by the tumultuous events of World War II. He witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust and the complexities of identity in a region plagued by ethnic tensions. These experiences became central themes in his work, which often delved into the moral ambiguities of war, guilt, and the long shadows cast by historical trauma.

He studied in Budapest and Belgrade, and eventually settled in Novi Sad, where he worked as a journalist and editor before dedicating himself fully to writing. Tišma's breakthrough came with the novel The Use of Man (1976), which is often regarded as one of his most powerful works. The novel explores the lives of a group of people before, during, and after the war, dissecting the devastating impact of the conflict on their psyches and relationships.

Another significant work, Kapo (1987), further established Tišma's reputation as a masterful chronicler of human frailty and complicity in evil. This novel, which tells the story of a Jewish concentration camp inmate who becomes a kapo (a prisoner assigned to supervise other prisoners), raises difficult questions about survival, collaboration, and the corrupting influence of power.

Throughout his career, Tišma wrote with a stark, unflinching style, often employing sparse language to convey the depth of his characters' suffering. His works are marked by a deep empathy for his characters, even as he explores their darkest impulses and moral failings.

Tišma's contributions to literature were recognized both in his homeland and internationally. His work was translated into many languages, bringing his harrowing yet insightful depictions of life in wartime Eastern Europe to a global audience. He received numerous awards, including the prestigious NIN Award, one of the highest literary honors in the former Yugoslavia.

Aleksandar Tišma passed away in 2003, but his legacy endures through his powerful body of work, which continues to resonate with readers and offers a profound exploration of the complexities of human nature in the face of atrocity.

Reviews

[Guille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Qué bien se queda uno tras leer un buen libro. Qué bien se queda uno cuando, además, el libro ha servido para conocer a un autor que hasta ese momento me era totalmente desconocido. Qué bien se queda uno, además, al saber que el libro forma parte de toda una pentalogía. Qué bien se queda uno.

El remordimiento y la vergüenza del superviviente es el tema que vertebra esta novela. Por supuesto, no faltan los episodios terribles del padecimiento del pueblo serbio judío a manos de los alemanes y de los húngaros y de la venganza o justicia posterior, pero excepto en el tramo final de la novela, la narración de los mismos evita todo dramatismo, limitándose a poco más que una enumeración somera de aquellos desmanes sin que ello evite que nos sigan impresionando por su crueldad. Hechos terribles que se nos dan a conocer en paralelo a la vida cotidiana de la ciudad de entonces -la escuela, los bailes de juventud, el amor- y a la vida cotidiana de la ciudad del ahora –el trabajo, el matrimonio, los antiguos amigos y conocidos, los muchos desaparecidos- desde el que se narra toda la historia.

La novela sigue un equilibrado desorden de espacios temporales que dan fe de la maraña emocional en la que vive el protagonista, Miroslav Blam, personaje indolente que se mueve entre la memoria de hechos y personas que están siendo barridos por el olvido de una sociedad que se sobrepone a la tragedia, y las fantasías sobre lo que no fue ni será, inútilmente compensadoras tanto del pasado que le obsesiona y por el que se culpa y avergüenza como del presente del que se siente excluido.

El lenguaje, sencillo y ágil, se acomoda perfectamente tanto a la minuciosidad obsesiva de algunas descripciones como a la concisión administrativa con la que son tratados otros episodios; tanto a las escenas de acción como a las reflexiones melancólicas; tanto al registro periodístico de hechos como a la carga sentimental de una cartas de amor y desesperación. El lirismo, que también tiene su momento, es siempre contenido y eficaz; el interés por el devenir de la historia no decae en ningún momento.

En resumidas cuentas, una buena novela de un muy interesante autor al que espero volver pronto.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miroslav Blam ist ein jüdischer Überlebender, der nicht ins Leben zurückfindet. Er hat die ungarische Besetzung der serbischen Bačka und damit seiner Heimatstadt Novi Sad überlebt und das Massaker vom Januar 1943 an der jüdischen und serbischen Bevölkerung, in dem der Rest seiner Familie ermordet wurde. Sein Leben verdankt er der christlichen Heirat mit einer Serbin und der Fürsprache durch den Kollaborateur Peodrag Popadić. Dieses gerettete Leben macht ihn aber nicht glücklich. Für uns gibt es kein Hier und Jetzt., wie es ein Mitüberlebender formuliert. Blam kann sich nicht von den Geistern der Vergangenheit lösen, von Schwester und Schulfreunden, die im Widerstand umkamen, von den Plätzen seiner Kindheit und Jugend, von den jüdischen Ahnen, die auch Opfer antisemitischer Übergriffe geworden sind. Und auch nicht vor seiner Untätigkeit, davor, dass er anderen nicht geholfen hat. Er führt ein verlogenes Leben, ein Halbleben oder Scheinleben, … nachdem er all jene in den Abgrund gestoßen hat, die ihm ihre Hände entgegenstreckten, um ihn mit sich zu ziehen.

Mahnmal des Massakers vom 21. - 23. Januar 2943


Ich war selbst in Novi Sad, und es fällt mir schwer vorzustellen, dass diese vielgestaltige, weltoffene Stadt (das Heimatmuseum ist in 6 Sprachen ausgeschildert) der Schauplatz solcher Verbrechen war. Selbst der Autor scheint bisweilen erstaunt darüber, wie Nachbarn zu Denunzianten und Handlangern der Mörder wurden. Das Besondere an dem Buch ist, dass Tišma keine Helden kennt. Seine Menschen bleiben mehrschichtig, im Widerstand, wie auch in der Mittäterschaft, vor allem aber in der breiten Masse, die sich mit der Besatzung arrangiert, die weiterhin arbeitet, liebt und feiert. Kann man es ihnen verdenken, dass sie nicht kämpfen, sondern einfach weiterleben?

[Tony]

From the Introduction:

In April 1941, when Tišma was thirteen years old, Yugoslavia was invaded and occupied by German, Italian, Hungarian, and Bulgarian troops. . . . Jews, if they did not fall into the hands of the Nazis to be taken to Serbia and gassed in mobile vans, were persecuted or perished in a series of raids, the most notorious of which took place in Novi Sad. There, over a period of three days, starting on January 20, 1942, some 1,400 Jews and Serbs, including women and small children, were led at gunpoint onto the frozen Danube, shot in the back, and shoved into holes in the ice. Tišma and most of his family were spared thanks to a Hungarian neighbor who misled the soldiers knocking on doors and searching for people on their list, but his beloved grandmother Theresa Miller was rounded up with several hundred other Jews and Serbs and was on her way to the banks of the Danube to be killed when a cable arrived from military authorities in Budapest ordering an end to the mass slaughter. . .

Tišma uses this, a lived horror, as the temporal setting for his story. And Blam, whose book it is, is born from Tišma's shaped sense of estrangement.

I found it odd, but not off-putting, that Blam was in full-blown adolescent rut while all around him the world appeared to be ending. He would let himself be baptized. He would marry a Christian. And so he would be saved. And so he would be lost.

There is an intriguing symbiotic character, a Serbian collaborator named Predrag Popadić. Poapdić becomes Blam's wife's lover and fathers a daughter passed off as Blam's. He finds work for Blam. And when the soldiers come, he saves Blam's life.

Blam learns all this, and so he is numb when, later, he is offered a chance at another revenge.

Tišma suggests you listen to Dvořák's Serenade for Strings when you sort this through.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tišma's "Book of Blam" is what I'd like to call a book that explains without having to explain.

Some of us are slain because of what we believe in.
Some of us are slain because of who we associate with.
Some of us are slain because we look like the enemy.

Miroslav Blam survives due to a conversion and without saying he feels guilt, he bleeds it all over the pages. As people around him die for someone's purpose (or their own), he wanders around wishing his life had meaning. He seems like a man that wants to die, but also needs to find a reason to enjoy life; survivor's guilt is almost as bad as death.

"This is the end. Aca Krkljuš is now exactly what he would have been had he not returned from the Danube, and what Blam would have been had he remained with his family in that house in Vojvoda Šupljikac Square, had have not been so taken with Janja or perhaps with the salvation he sensed in her. Was it worth it? Inhaling the moist air redolent with freshly dug earth, drawing in deeply into his lungs, he feels it was: life is wonderful, sweet, fragrant, palpable, engrossing. He feels a thrilling, irresistible impetus in the cold contact of the raindrops on his neck, feels it in the sticky soil that cools the soles of his feet through the stiff soles of his shoes, feels it in his frozen hands that seek warmth in the pockets of his coat. Death is terrifying no matter where and when it comes, and life, though it brings us closer to death with every instant, is wonderful."

Once we become de-sensitized from the atrocities of an era, history will repeat itself. You can guarantee that.

[Emmeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Blam is a man tasked with continuing to live, after losing everything and everyone. We meet him standing on the outside corridor of his unusual building. He is simply looking down on the world but dark thoughts intrude. If someone came for him now, how would he escape? He couldn’t.

I find this book very difficult to summarize. I feel that it can’t be explained in many words fewer than the words used to write it. The usual reviewing praise doesn’t seem to work in this case. Is it a masterpiece? A tour de force? I don’t know. It’s a small book about a survivor. There is no tension in terms of plot – it tells the stories of how others died and Blam lived, and we know from the first chapter that they died and he lived. Nonetheless, the horror mounts slowly. It’s not particularly gruesome. We are told, quietly, what happened to everyone. And the horror mounts. And you read on, it isn’t difficult to pick up, it’s not a book you avoid because it’s unpleasant. Sometimes it’s a joy to read merely for the way it’s all put together. Sometimes it is unusual – as in a thread that imagines Blam is given a shot at revenge, which we know from the beginning can never be, because the man who will help him get it is already dead. Still, the horror mounts.

It's a short book about unimaginable pain and horror and destruction and human beastliness. And also about life being worth living, if you can.

Life is wonderful, sweet, fragrant, palpable, engrossing. He feels a thrilling, irresistible impetus in the cold contact of the raindrops on his neck, feels it in the sticky soil that cools the soles of his feet through the stiff soles of his shoes, feels it in his frozen hands that seek warmth in the pockets of his coat. Death is terrifying no matter where and when it comes, and life, though it brings us closer to death with every instant, is wonderful.

[Babette Ernst · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5*
Blam ist ein Jude aus Novi Sad in Serbien, der Anfang der 1950er Jahre seine Heimatstadt durchwandert und sich dabei an das Leben vor dem Krieg und an die Ereignisse der Judenverfolgung erinnert. Die Juden aus Novi Sad sind größtenteils verschwunden, die Synagoge ist ein Konzerthaus, das Leben hat sich völlig verändert, nur Blam ist noch da. Er hadert mit seiner Identität, hat als Jude eher zufällig, ohne eigenes Zutun und ohne körperliche Leiden die Verfolgung überlebt. Aber wer ist er und welchen Platz hat er in der Gesellschaft?

In nicht chronologischen Szenen werden Sequenzen aus dem Leben Blams gezeigt und Erinnerungen lebendig, die zusammengenommen ein eindrucksvolles Bild eines Menschen ergeben, der sich selbst keine Existenzberechtigung zuschreibt. Er empfindet eine Schuld darin, überlebt zu haben ohne durch die Hölle gegangen zu sein. Ihm fehlt der jüdische Glaube, der ihm Zugehörigkeit liefern könnte, anderen Gemeinschaften fühlt er sich aber ebenso wenig zugehörig und so ist er ein einsamer Mensch, der sich selbst in seiner Ehe fehl am Platz fühlt.

Besonders gelungen finde ich, wie durch die Zusammensetzung der Szenen die Situation, in der Blam steckt, gezeigt wird, ohne dass es weiterer Erklärungen bedurft hätte. Der Sprachstil ist gut, wirkt aber weniger durch außergewöhnliche Sätze, als durch die Auswahl und wohlüberlegte Beschreibung der kleinen Szenen. Nur an wenigen Stellen hätte ich mir mehr Informationen gewünscht und hatte das Gefühl von Leerstellen.

Ein wirklich gelungenes Buch, das eine mir bisher unbekannte Facette des 2. Weltkriegs zeigte.

[Pedro · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Vino la muerte, y se olvidó de mí; desde entonces, no vivo, solo transito'.
Esta podría ser una declaración de Miroslav Blam, omitido por haberse convertido y casado con una cristiana, mientras su familia era absorbida por el holocausto.
Como un zombie se recluye de la vida, escondido en una oficina anónima, en su departamento en la buhardilla del edificio Merkur; a la vista de todos, invisible para todos.
No es simplemente otra novela sobre la persecución a los judíos en la mitteleuropa, de la que forma parte Novi Sad; hay mucha verdad y profundidad en la amarga y magnífica prosa de Tisma, que la hace trascender las circunstancias en la que ocurre la historia.
El sufrimiento que me proporcionó, hace que mi enojo quiera bajarle la calificación; pero debo reconocer que es una novela excelente.

[Gerhard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miroslav Blam ist der einzige Überlebende seiner Familie. Novi Sad im Bezirk Vojvodina wurde 1941 von deutschen und ungarischen Nationalsozialisten besetzt; Massentötungen folgten. Mit seiner traumatischen Belastung erinnert er sich in den 50er Jahren an einzelnen Vorkommnisse, die in einzelnen Kapiteln knapp erzählt werden. Ein Stück Zeitgeschichte!

[Svetolik Taštinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ako ne računam pedesetak stranica „Vera i zavera”, nepažljivo i nabrzinu pročitanih, ovo mi je prvi susret s Aleksandrom Tišmom.

Kada bih vam okvirno predstavio temu romana, mislim da ne bih uspeo da vas zainteresujem. Zato što ja ne bih uspeo dovoljno dobro da se izrazim, a ne zato što roman nije prijemčiv za čitanje. Pod utiskom sam nekih vrlo potresnih i neprijatnih slika. Jer je aspsurdnost rata takva da istovremeno i razbešnjuje i rastužuje. (Eto, poslednjom rečenicom nagovestio sam atmosferu u koju je roman smešten. Ali imam osećaj da sam ga time i uprostio. Ne bih da određujem temu ovog romana, niti da određujem žanr. Ma, ne znam šta da kažem, a nešto želim, pa moram. Svakako ga pročitajte jednom, vredi.)

[Jonfaith · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first reading of this elegiac novel happned as I was housesitting of sorts for my friend Roger. This was during his brief period between marriages, houses and, apparently, outlooks on life. The issues are universal; in the Lager, survival was random, not a merit. It was a few years later that I bought my own copy at Square Books and read it again. Strange, I also bought Chabon's Final Solution while there.

[Knjigočatac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Svaki se tekst (ne)svjesno intertekstualno nastavlja na onaj koji mu prethodi, organski pod-uvezan narativ prethodnog uvučen je simboličko-metaforičkim putem u novi tekstualni konstrukt koji se na njega – htio ne htio – nastavlja, nadovezuje, i to dodajući nešto od cajtgajsta koji ga dooblikuje ne mijenjajući poglavitu cjelinu utemeljenu na prošlom iskustvu (literature). "Knjiga o Blamu" takav je roman koji predstavlja postratnu, ne odisejadu, tu lutadu bremenitu događajima, nego blamajadu kao odražavanje manirističkog dvadesetog vijeka u kojem je Odisej, taj antički junak, ne više junak, nego antijunak Miroslav Blam koji se u ratu obreo a da ga nije istinski doživio. Savremena odisejada, blamajada, predstavlja lutadu bremenitu ne-doživljajima. Takav manir, naslijeđen uliksovskim (džojsovskim) pretkom, pritom nadograđen, junaštvo transformiše u oblik pacifističko-pasivnog herojstva koji vapi za prefiksom "anti-", koji ne zna za antičko, ili mu je utoliko daleko da nije kadar da ga pojmi. Blam je prototip pacifističkog Odiseja antijunaka modernizma ("post-" nam ovdje nije potrebno), koji prominjuje ratnički usud na koncu shvatajući istinitost nužnosti osjećanja zajedničkog umiranja ukoliko se ne namjerava utonuti u odsutnost. Da pozovemo još jednog takvog prototipa: Blam je poput Melkiora Tresića, antijunaka što puzi pod prijetećim okom Kiklopa-Polifema koji ne samo da je bivao prijetnjom vremešnom Odiseju, koji ne samo da je progonio Tresića, nego progoni i Miroslava Blama, i to postratno, kao usud (samo)odmazde čija kompozicija ori prostorom vascjelog svijeta odagnavajući Saturna, i sintetišući i antičko i moderno kanda su jednovremeni, jednoepohalni, tu – jedan pokraj drugog. Kod Tišme, u sceni u kojoj Blam sluša muziku u sinagogi, rastjerujući njome smrt kao što je to činio jedini – od sedamnaest članova porodice koja je dospjela 1944. u Belzen-Bergen – preživjeli Funkenštajn, sam se javivši kad je komandant Kerbler, ljubitelj muzike, upitao ko umije da svira, stoji: "Da, vidi jasno i sebe, kao da se u njemu, ili izvan njega negde postrani, otvorilo još jedno, treće oko, koje nezavisno od njegove volje i od volje sviju okolo, posmatra." I na kraju odjek-pitanje: "Pa ko to onda posmatra?" Treće oko Miroslava Blama forma je samogledanja, nadograđenog fenomena koji je uslijedio nakon izvanjskog Kiklopa-Polifema koji prati Tresića, sada je Polifem sâm Blam samoprogonjen, samouništen, dopustivši da ne bude uključen u dešavanja koja su ga kao pripadnika ljudskom življu prošla, dopustivši mu da prođe ne znajući, neobaviješten. "Ništa od svega toga on podrobno ne zna, o svemu je propustio da se raspita, ne samo od Funkenštajna večeras, nego još mnogo ranije, od drugih preživelih, od očevidaca, iz knjiga. Propustio je da sam to doživi!", kaže Tišma.
Miroslav Blam nije ni na platou smrti, ni onom njemu suprotno postavljenom platou života, nego u neodređenom (samo)prostoru, međupostavljenom koji samodovoljnošću pogubljuje; njemu je ostalo "samo ovo trajanje u laži, opijenost van smrti ali i van života".
Potpuno pogubljenje Blamovo nastupa kao konsekvenca neučestvovanja a posmatranja raspršene krvi, umrlih, streljanih, pogubljenih, njegovim slijepim očima prošli su svi mrtvi, i bliski i oni koji to nisu, prošli su proževši porozni komad njegova tijela, kao što je isto prošlo ne prožimajući ništa nego samo sebe, tako umrijevši bez izdaha. "Mrlje od krvi pobijenih sprane su, sve je čisto, lepo osvetljeno, muzika svira. Ali avetinjski utisak je tu, i on za Blama više ne izvire iz prošlog, već iz sadašnjeg. On nema tu šta da traži." Sadašnje kao otuđeno od prošlog postavlja avetinjsko koje je bolest subverzije iznikle iz oboljelog kao samoodbrana od samonapada. Kazna za lažan život, poluživot, prividan život, kako kaže Tišma, nastupa bespogovorno hitajući poput metka pred zanijemjelim Predragom Popadićem upucanim u otvorena usta poslije uzvika: "Jače zini!". Oroz je povučen, pucanj odjekuje, i sve se raspršuje u paramparčad. "Za trenutak njegovo okraćalo telo stajalo je na nogama uspravno, kao krojačka lutka, zatim se složi na zemlju." Tako i Blam čeka da se složi na zemlju osjećajući predznak trećeg oka (Polifem=Rat).
"To je prizor sledećeg rata: mesto njegove buduće prozivke. 'Miroslav Blam', reći će mu se, tamo na mansardi, ili dole pred zgradom, ili na trgu; ili će se izgovoriti neki broj koji je njemu dat. On će istupiti, i staviti glavu u omču, ili će stati pred cevi pušaka. Neće se izmaći ovaj put, nego će spojiti krug koji je samovoljno prekinuo: omogućiće da se zbude jedno ubistvo koje treba da se zbude, otkriće ubistvo više, ubicu više i žrtvu više u čoveku za koga se to inače ne bi znalo, koji to možda ni sam ne bi znao – kao što su činili svi njegovi pre njega, izvšavajući, sada mu izgleda, čin najdublje istine."
"Knjiga o Blamu" put je – kako veli Gvozden svojim predgovorom – mukotrpnog oživljavanja istine. I nije bez razloga "istina", kao kontrapunkt lažnom, prividnom životu koji je vodio Blam, posljednja riječ romana.

[Calzean · Rating 4 out of 5]

During WWII Yugoslavia was carved up, partitioned, dissected and euthanised. In the Vojvodina province, Novi Sad was governed by the Hungarians and along with Jews many old scores were settled.
Miroslav Blam survives but now needs to live with his regrets, guilt and more difficultly with people who were once his enemies.
The book has a couple of depressing chapters that stood out from the other depressing chapters. One describes what happened to the individuals who resided in Jew Street. Another described the 1942 massacre of Jews and Serbs by following the conduct of a number of the Hungarian patrols. In between these depressive tales the book also covers the normality of life that also occurred and the revengeful atrocities that occurred at the end of WWII.
In a short book, Tisma gives a snapshot of the complexities of Serbia and the brutality of man to man.

[Carlos B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

No es ninguna casualidad que blam (vergüenza en serbocraota) sea tanto el apellido del protagonista como parte del título del libro. El autor podría haber utilizado sitničav (mezquino) o nemilosrdno (sin piedad).

La premisa del libro no me atraía mucho y si me animé a leerlo fue por la fama del autor así como de su traducción al español realizada por T. Pištelek y L. F. Garrido. Sin embargo, he disfrutado bastante con su lectura gracias al estilo del autor que yo tanto relaciono con el propio de los balcánicos (a saber, frases largas con palabras cuidadosamente seleccionadas, donde de hechos cotidianos se buscan una conexión común a toda la humanidad*).

Lo primero que llama la atención es lo ruin que son todos los personajes, en mayor o menor medida. Tišma es implacable con el ser humano. Éste no sólo es capaz de lo peor sino que en algún momento de su vida lo hará. Es egoísta, adúltero, asesino o alcohólico. Bien busca activamente esas acciones, bien las comete al ser incapaz de lidiar con el presente… y el pasado. En uno de los momentos más oscuros del libro el protagonista es consciente que podría haber muerto en la guerra, no lo hizo por casualidad fortuita y esa vida “extra” que ganó ha sido inútil. No habría ninguna diferencia de haber muerto ahora o hace cuarenta años.

No obstante, uno no se deja abatir por lo que lee. El estilo tan cuidado del autor lo impide. Me ha parecido curioso que a veces es capaz de relatar de manera muy minuciosa cierto pasajes y otros lo hace sin apenas sentimientos, como si describiera los hechos de manera mecánica.

Hay dos momentos que me parecen los sublimes (si me dejan usar esta palabra). Curiosamente, cada uno está narrado de una de estas dos manera. Por un lado el enamoramiento de Blam de la que será su mujer (escrito con mucho detalle) y por el otro lado las muertes de A. y E. (narrado “fríamente”). Ambas partes son de lo mejor que he leído en mucho tiempo. No he podido despegar la mirada de las frases aún sabiendo el resultado final. Pues otra característica de Tišma es que te dice qué pasa sin más (boda y muertes en estos casos) para luego explicarte cómo ocurrió cincuenta páginas después. El interés sobre lo que uno lee no decae en ningún caso.

En resumen, da igual de qué trate un libro. Casi siempre que leo a un autor de la antigua Yugoslavia soy capaz de conectar, de emocionarme con los protagonistas, aunque yo sea un madrileño veinteañero y ellos campesinos, banes, comerciantes o hajduks de otro siglo.

*[...]volvían del colegio a su casa, haciendo juntos una parte del camino, hasta la plaza de Vojvoda Šupljikac, conversando ensimismados sobre este o aquel acontecimiento de la escuela, sobre un profesor o un alumno, en definitiva sobre el mecanismo de la naturaleza humana y las relaciones entre los individuos, se detenían junto a la verja del parque, entusiasmados por la corriente de comprensión que experimentaban y que no deseaban interrumpir [...]

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t usually write reviews, but I found this book so captivating that I felt compelled to do it this time.

Miroslav Blam îs haunted. He is haunted by his memories of the 1941-1944 foreign occupation of Novi Sad, a town in northern Serbia, the ghosts (in some cases, literally) of old classmates and acquaintances, the loss of his parents and sister, and seemingly his own shame that he survived. He is haunted by his existence, where he doesn’t seem to belong to either the living or the dead. He is instead “on this side of death, but that side of life”.

There are so many powerful elements in this book, such as when Blam walks down “Jew Street” and, for each street address, recalls who lived/worked there and their eventual fate. “Before the war number 1 Jew Street was occupied by a leather goods manufacturing company called Levi and Son…Number 8 was the home of a cross-eyed woman who made bathing suits and girdles...” The street ends in the distance with a synagogue now used by the Novi Sad Chamber Orchestra “because of its famous acoustics and absence of a congregation”. This fragment is just one illustration of the powerful concision in which Tisma writes throughout the novel and haunts us with painful memories about the different fates and life paths of people caught at the crossroads of war.

[Vladimir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prilično sam iznenađen ovim romanom. Imao sam nameru da pročitam par poznatijih Tišminih romana, više zbog lokalne povezanosti odnosno istorije Novog Sada, ali nisam imao baš neka velika očekivanja. Ovo je za mene jedan od najboljih, ako ne i najbolji domaći roman koji sam pročitao do sada.

[Kevin Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book in the author’s Novi Sad trilogy. Can’t wait to continue.

[Wendelle]

this is a book of sustained grief and elegy for the Jews and Serbs who suffered heaps of atrocities in the 1940s under the invasion of the Hungarian Arrow Cross. The protagonist, Miroslav Blam, is the sole living witness and cross-bearer burdened with the memory of a faith and life that has vanished after the Arrow Cross, under the direction of the Nazis, dispatched whole families of tailors, leatherworkers, lawyers, butchers to gas chambers or killed them in raids. Some men were bludgeoned to death; some women were paraded to dance naked in front of their families, who were forced to sing and clap. Blam survived after converting to Christianity and marrying a Christian wife, but his existence is withered by grief and he lingers on as a bookkeeper in a travel agency, in a new era of energy and vitality that seems to have deposed the memory of the entire culture that has been engulfed before. This grief is compounded by past pogroms, as generation upon generation of Jewish Blams had faced violent deaths of murders, rapes, material confiscations, persecutions away from village after village throughout Europe that did not want them. They finally land in Novi Sad only to face again this last persecution that saw the death of Miroslav's father, mother and sister. This book is engraved with the memory of the histories of sorrow of Jews and Serbs in Novi Sad.

[Boris Laketić · Rating 4 out of 5]

Narativni tok koga čini hronika Novog Sada za vreme mađarske okupacije u Drugom svetskom ratu sadrži upečatljive prizore, naročito januarske racije 1942. Dok narativni tok o Miroslavu Blamu u posleratnom vremenu obuhvata nekoliko vrlo snažnih momenata (počev od onoga što je video iz tramvaja, preko scene sa bakom koja prodaje breskve pa do završne epizode u sinagogi), a koji ovaj roman uzdižu na visok umetnički nivo. Nekako mi je ostao nedorečen Blamov odnos prema sestri i u manjoj meri prema roditeljima, a i kompozicija je mogla biti nešto skladnija.
P. S. Knjiga o Blamu je sa Kišovim Peščanikom bila u užem izboru za NIN-ovu nagradu za najbolji roman objavljen 1972. godine. Mislim da je žiri nagradio slabiji roman. Tišma je bolji pripovedač od Kiša, jače imaginacije; knjiga o Blamu je u celini umetnički snažnija i dubljeg emotivnog zahvata od Peščanika.

[Tuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the six million stories of holocaust, set in novi sad, where waves of war, cruelty, and destruction washed back and forth over the area. blam survives and tells of his life as a survivor, in his neighborhood still, seeing his streets, his tormentors, his few friends. a classic of wwii and aftermaths.

[Gerbrand · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mooi geconstrueerde roman uit 1972. We volgen Miroslav Blam jaren na de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Zijn ouders en zus en veel vrienden waren slachtoffer van de razzia’s in 1942 in Novi-Sad. De Hongaren waren verantwoordelijk voor de zuiveringen onder Joden en Serviers. Tijdens de oorlog claimden de Hongaren dit gebied namelijk weer dat ze waren kwijt geraakt na het uiteenvallen van het Habsburgse Rijk.

De leegte van Miroslav is goed voelbaar in deze roman. Wat is nog de zin van het leven na zoveel verlies. Er zitten een aantal mooie scenes in dit boek waarbij de schrijver bijna filmisch te werk gaat.

Prachtig slot hoofdstuk waarin Miroslav een concert bijwoont in het inmiddels tot concertzaal omgebouwde synagoge (een geweldige symboliek):

“Hij is murw. Niets rest er nog van het verlangen om in opstand te komen, om te schreeuwen dat dood en leven onverenigbaar zijn. Ook het derde oog is er niet meer om hem te observeren en het beeld van zijn omgeving met zijn eisen te verenigen. Dat is nu weer een gewoon beeld: een grote zaal met Levantijnse religieuze decoraties, een podium waar op gemusiceerd wordt, rijen banken waarin mensen geconcentreerd de muziek beleven. Niets. Een leeggehaalde mooie plek, een leeg paleis met een nieuwe bestemming. De bloedvlekken van de vermoorden zijn weggeboend, alles is proper, fraai verlicht, er wordt muziek gespeeld. Maar het spookachtige blijft, en voor Blam komt dat niet langer voort uit het verleden maar uit het heden. Hij heeft hier niets meer te zoeken.”

De schrijver is zelf een zoon van een Servische vader en Joodse moeder.

[Aaron Rubin · Rating 3 out of 5]

“But in the distance, beyond the thoroughfare, it’s severed extremity—the dot under the exclamation mark—is still visible: a tall, secluded synagogue with Moorish cupolas that is occasionally used for concerts by the Novi Sad Chamber Orchestra or visiting ensembles because of its famous acoustics and absence of a congregation.”

The war is over. Miroslav Blam walks along the former Jew Street, and he remembers. Blam lives, but the war he survived will never be over for him, haunted by his recollections of the people who once lived among him in his community who are no longer there. Semi-autobiographical Holocaust novel about life in Novi Sad, a city made infamous as the location for summary executions during World War Two.

3.5 stars.

[Jordan Tomeš · Rating 5 out of 5]

Žid, který jako jediný ze své rodiny přežil holokaust, protože přestoupil ke křesťanství, po válce vrávorá mezi nihilismem a absolutní odevzdaností. Silný. Knihu s tak pasivním hlavním hrdinou, která je ale přesto nabitá emocema a příběhem, jsem ještě nečetl.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, on the Hungarian Occupation of parts of Yugoslavia, and the massacre of Serbs and Jews during that time. Well written. Hope to read it in the original someday. Would put it up there with Masquerade: Dancing Around Death In Nazi Occupied Hungary.

[Fransien Vandeweghe · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 *

[Danijela · Rating 5 out of 5]

~ Zaklona nema kada si opterećen ljubavlju, a potera te sledi: to je bezizlaz, predsoblje žrtvenika, ka kome se krećeš, guran, bez povratka pognute šije. ~

~ Nisu shvatali, nisu se usuđivali da poveruju svome shvatanju i nadi u smisao strke sve dok nije oko njih zapraštala komanda da se okrenu nalevo krug i pođu nazad prema gradu. Potrčali su. Trčali su gurajući se, čepajući se, jecajući, trčali su starice i starci, žene sa decom u naručju. Trčali su ostavljajući za sobom utihnulo kupalište, zaobilazeći leševe posejane po putu. ~

~ Smrt je bila ta koju je prizivao lutajući ulicama, u potrazi za bezličnim, koje će zastrti njegov stid; smrt je je i ovo što traži ovde u "akustici", u opštem, u utapanju, brisanju osobenosti, ostataka drevnosti, sećanja, u opojstvu muzike. ~

~ Vaši su stradali u logoru? - Delimično. Od uže porodice, četiri člana, tri su stradala u logoru: moja mati, moja žena, moja kći. Sin mi je umro od smrzotina na prisilnom radu u Ukrajini. Od šire porodice, devetnaest članova, trinaest je umrlo u logorima, dvoje je ubijeno za vreme racije, jedan je obešen na samom početku okupacije, jer je, rekli su, pucao u mađarske vojnike, jedna tetka umrla je od posledica mučenja ovde kod kuće, a jedan mi se bratanac otrovao pred odvođenje u logor. ~

~ Nad glavama su im zakrčali glasnogovornici, neko je govorio, odsečeno, svečano, da je racija završena, da su u njoj otkriveni opasni elementi koje je stigla zaslužena kazna, a oni, ostali su, eto, nepovređeni u svojim ustavnim pravima te će se moći vratiti kućama. Gomila je u neverici zavikala, neki su kliknuli "Ura! Živeli!", tapšali se i grlili se, ljubili se i plakali. Polako, pa sve nestrpljivije, nasrtljivije, počeo je razlaz. ~

[Treesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this bc I thought I was gonna go to Serbia. Did not end up going to Serbia. Still finished the book. Usually I don’t love meandering books, but the writing was so good I didn’t mind. You really ache for Blam.

Two favorite quotes:

“Life, thought it brings us closer to death with every instant, is wonderful”

“he will enable a death to happen that must happen; he will reveal another murder, another murderer, another victim—in a man in whom they would not have been revealed, a man who might not even have seen them in himself—as all his people had done before him, thus committing, as he now realizes, an act of the most profound truth”

[Lorri · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for a light read, a joyful read, or a book that is filled with peaceful depictions, then 'The Book of Blam' is not for you.

The pages are filled with compelling flashbacks and interwoven memories of times past, infused in Blam's reflections within his current life. His daily life is played out minute by minute, without wasting one second, in reflection of his family, friends and those he knew of in Novi Sad.

The trauma of Holocaust events played into his life in every aspect, and the emotional and mental damage to him was extreme.

I found the word-imagery to be vivid and brilliant, and Tisma's depictions of events gripping. It was difficult to put down, even though it was a slow-moving read.

It was confusing to me at first, and took me a while to realize that he was living the lives of others no longer with him. His reflections included their routines and way of being, in the here and now, as though they were still living breathing individuals.

The story line, all told, is a sad one, and one that does not sweeten or sugar coat life during WWII, a period of extensive upheavals and slaughters in Novi Sad. In that respect I thought that 'The Book of Blam' was brilliantly written.

[Britta · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Book of Blam gives us a powerful portrayal of the Holocaust in the Balkans, through the eyes of Blam, a man whose survival is arguably more curse than blessing. Tišma plops the reader down in Eastern Europe and unflinchingly guides them through a heavily based on fact fictionalized account of the January 1942 Novi Sad Massacre and the subsequent deportation of the Jewish population. I thought The Book of Blam was challenging to read at times--it's certainly not the most uplifting piece of fiction. Yet, we cannot shy away from the darker sides of history, and The Book of Blam is an invaluable work of fiction for that reason. Additionally, I though Heim's translation was readable and did the book justice.

[Nick Sweeney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miroslav Blam is a non-religious Jew, brought up in the Serbian town of Novi Sad, and leads a relatively straightforward and unremarkable life there until the start of the Second World War. With the Hungarian occupation of the town, the policies, and the whims, of anti-Semitism impact on his life and on those of his friends and family. Blam is the only survivor of a network of family and friends. The Book of Blam details his reminiscences of what happened to the people he knew during that brutal and senseless time, and Aleksandar Tisma doesn't pull any punches in his telling of those stories. Not a pleasant read at all, but a different take on the Holocaust.

[Mateu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impactante y cautivador collage de historias alrededor de la comunidad judía de Novy Sad y del protagonista, único superviviente al paso del nazismo y la llegada posterior del comunismo. Compuesto de secuencias que saltan del presente al pasado continuamente, del pensamiento y dialogo interno a la descripción de hechos.