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The Legend of the Sleepers
'For once there had been false idols and asses' heads drawn on the walls...'
Sleepers awake in a remote cave and the ancient mystic Simon Magus attempts a miracle, in these two magical, otherworldly tales from one of the greatest voices of twentieth-century Europe.
Sleepers awake in a remote cave and the ancient mystic Simon Magus attempts a miracle, in these two magical, otherworldly tales from one of the greatest voices of twentieth-century Europe.
64 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
19 people are currently reading
808 people want to read
About the author
Danilo Kiš
85 books538 followersDanilo Kiš was born in Subotica, Danube Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the son of Eduard Kiš (Kis Ede), a Hungarian Jewish railway inspector, and Milica Kiš (born Dragićević) from Cetinje, Montenegro. During the Second World War, he lost his father and several other family members, who died in various Nazi camps. His mother took him and his older sister Danica to Hungary for the duration of the war. After the end of the war, the family moved to Cetinje, Montenegro, Yugoslavia, where Kiš graduated from high school in 1954.
Kiš studied literature at the University of Belgrade, and graduated in 1958 as the first student to complete a course in comparative literature. He was a prominent member of the Vidici magazine, where he worked until 1960. In 1962 he published his first two novels, Mansarda and Psalam 44. Kiš received the prestigious NIN Award for his Peščanik ("Hourglass") in 1973, which he returned a few years later, due to a political dispute.
During the following years, Kiš received a great number of national and international awards for his prose and poetry.
He spent most of his life in Paris and working as a lecturer elsewhere in France.
Kiš was married to Mirjana Miočinović from 1962 to 1981. After their separation, he lived with Pascale Delpech until his early death from lung cancer in Paris.
A film based on Peščanik (Fövenyóra) directed by the Hungarian Szabolcs Tolnai is currently in post-production.
Kiš was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature and was due to win it, were it not for his untimely death in 1989.
Kiš studied literature at the University of Belgrade, and graduated in 1958 as the first student to complete a course in comparative literature. He was a prominent member of the Vidici magazine, where he worked until 1960. In 1962 he published his first two novels, Mansarda and Psalam 44. Kiš received the prestigious NIN Award for his Peščanik ("Hourglass") in 1973, which he returned a few years later, due to a political dispute.
During the following years, Kiš received a great number of national and international awards for his prose and poetry.
He spent most of his life in Paris and working as a lecturer elsewhere in France.
Kiš was married to Mirjana Miočinović from 1962 to 1981. After their separation, he lived with Pascale Delpech until his early death from lung cancer in Paris.
A film based on Peščanik (Fövenyóra) directed by the Hungarian Szabolcs Tolnai is currently in post-production.
Kiš was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature and was due to win it, were it not for his untimely death in 1989.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
March 17, 2022
Two plodding stories rife with mysticism and biblical references. No doubt there is more meaning in them than my puzzled brain can glean.
Penguin Modern Classics
#1 - Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.
#2 - Television Was a Baby Crawling Toward That Deathchamber by Allen Ginsberg
#3 - The Breakthrough by Daphne Du Maurier
#4 - The Custard Heart by Dorothy Parker
#5 - Three Japanese Short Stories (3 authors)
#6 - The Veiled Woman by Anais Nin
#7 - Notes on Nationalism by George Orwell
#8 - Food by Gertrude Stein
#9 - The Three Electroknights by Stanislaw Lem
#10 - The Great Hunger by Patrick Kavanagh
#11 - The Legend of the Sleepers
Penguin Modern Classics
#1 - Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.
#2 - Television Was a Baby Crawling Toward That Deathchamber by Allen Ginsberg
#3 - The Breakthrough by Daphne Du Maurier
#4 - The Custard Heart by Dorothy Parker
#5 - Three Japanese Short Stories (3 authors)
#6 - The Veiled Woman by Anais Nin
#7 - Notes on Nationalism by George Orwell
#8 - Food by Gertrude Stein
#9 - The Three Electroknights by Stanislaw Lem
#10 - The Great Hunger by Patrick Kavanagh
#11 - The Legend of the Sleepers
December 12, 2021
Video review coming soon.
Too blasphemous for religious people, too many religious references for non- or anti-religious people. What audience was he trying to appeal to? Was it just to create a noise?
The imagery was horrifying but the plot was boring because we don't care about anyone or anything? It's almost like he uses Biblical references to forgo the effort of writing characters, which is odd given he does nothing with the words that he does use to build a strong story or message. The writing seems weirdly nihilistic like the kind of person who might go looking for a fight with strangers... Morbid and introverted without any insight to the actual way people think or feel.
Like an anti-Christian, slow-motion version of Kafka that occurs mostly without dialogue or events.
Like an emotionless, joyless, sexless version of Chuck Palahniuk, but based on alternative retellings of the Bible.
No real message here, just mess. From the way that he writes, I imagine that his face would be very punchable.
Too blasphemous for religious people, too many religious references for non- or anti-religious people. What audience was he trying to appeal to? Was it just to create a noise?
The imagery was horrifying but the plot was boring because we don't care about anyone or anything? It's almost like he uses Biblical references to forgo the effort of writing characters, which is odd given he does nothing with the words that he does use to build a strong story or message. The writing seems weirdly nihilistic like the kind of person who might go looking for a fight with strangers... Morbid and introverted without any insight to the actual way people think or feel.
Like an anti-Christian, slow-motion version of Kafka that occurs mostly without dialogue or events.
Like an emotionless, joyless, sexless version of Chuck Palahniuk, but based on alternative retellings of the Bible.
No real message here, just mess. From the way that he writes, I imagine that his face would be very punchable.
April 30, 2018
I wasn’t a fan of this one, it felt like reading the Bible except at least then perhaps I’d get to understand Christians more. I can’t imagine ever wanting to read more Kiš.
June 5, 2018
The Legend of the Sleepers:
Some people wake up in a cave after a few years and get carried to another cave. Lots of thinking, their bodies have become almost like stone.
The Magus:
Look I Can do special magic tricks.
DEAD!
Some people wake up in a cave after a few years and get carried to another cave. Lots of thinking, their bodies have become almost like stone.
The Magus:
Look I Can do special magic tricks.
DEAD!
May 29, 2020
I'd never heard of Danielo Kis before reading this entry in the Penguin Modern Classics set, but it's clear he's an excellent writer, and it was a pleasure to read these two short stories.
Both of the stories, "The Legend of the Sleepers" and "Simon Magus," read a little like fantasies, and Kis plays with a sense of unreality in both. In the former, a sleeper awakes after centuries of slumber, unsure if what is happening is a dream or reality – or is it memory? The reader isn't sure either – and in the latter, the story provides two versions of the fate of the maligned Simon Magus, enemy of Christianity's earliest apostles.
The sense of unreality and the poetic style reward less an effort to picture exactly what's being described than the reader simply allowing the flow of words to rush over them. To his credit, Kis makes this clear from the start of "The Legend of the Sleepers," when he repeats the same scene three or four times in slightly different language, each building on the previous. It's an odd, slightly off-putting way to begin a story, but it at least lets you know what you're in for.
Overall, though, Kis seems like the kind of writer who deserves more attention in the West, but writing from Yugoslavia in the mid to late 20th century likely made that difficult. I'm glad he was included in this collection.
Both of the stories, "The Legend of the Sleepers" and "Simon Magus," read a little like fantasies, and Kis plays with a sense of unreality in both. In the former, a sleeper awakes after centuries of slumber, unsure if what is happening is a dream or reality – or is it memory? The reader isn't sure either – and in the latter, the story provides two versions of the fate of the maligned Simon Magus, enemy of Christianity's earliest apostles.
The sense of unreality and the poetic style reward less an effort to picture exactly what's being described than the reader simply allowing the flow of words to rush over them. To his credit, Kis makes this clear from the start of "The Legend of the Sleepers," when he repeats the same scene three or four times in slightly different language, each building on the previous. It's an odd, slightly off-putting way to begin a story, but it at least lets you know what you're in for.
Overall, though, Kis seems like the kind of writer who deserves more attention in the West, but writing from Yugoslavia in the mid to late 20th century likely made that difficult. I'm glad he was included in this collection.
April 4, 2022
This book contains two of Danilo Kiš's stories about faith, truth, lies, dreams, reality and miracles. I found it interesting, and I have to admit that it certainly carries its own, unique breeze. Both stories were very good.
August 3, 2021
I thought this would be more mythical. Not quite my cup of tea though.
November 17, 2025
najbolja Kišova priča, fuck the rumours
June 5, 2022
Eerste verhaaltje was een beetje onsamenhangend maar wel heel mooie beschrijvingen!! Tweede verhaaltje was zwaaaar fucked up en wel echt vlot om te lezen!!
June 9, 2024
I had wanted to read the stories of Danilo Kis for many years, ever since I heard he was the 'Borges of the Balkans'. This little book of two stories seemed an ideal introduction to his work. And yet I really disliked the first story, the title story. It didn't engage my attention at all, my mind kept wandering and I found it difficult to focus on the action (what little of it there was) and the ideas (if there were any they mostly passed me by)...
But the second story, 'Simon Magus', is tremendous. That second story is why I have given this book four stars and why I intend to seek out more of Danilo Kis' work. It certainly belongs in the top division of all the short stories I have ever read. So for me this book was one of two very distinctive halves, and the second half was vastly better than the first...
But the second story, 'Simon Magus', is tremendous. That second story is why I have given this book four stars and why I intend to seek out more of Danilo Kis' work. It certainly belongs in the top division of all the short stories I have ever read. So for me this book was one of two very distinctive halves, and the second half was vastly better than the first...
April 12, 2022
This one caused me pain.
Heavy on the biblical references, it seems my lack of piety was my downfall here. I’m sure if I had more (or any) faith, or had spent any time at all on the scriptures, I’d be able to find more meaning and impact here.
But the true fact is, I have no interest in anything holy, including these two short stories. A blasphemous statement indeed, but after reading them, the notion of being struck down by an errant lightning bolt would be a more than welcome outcome.
Heavy on the biblical references, it seems my lack of piety was my downfall here. I’m sure if I had more (or any) faith, or had spent any time at all on the scriptures, I’d be able to find more meaning and impact here.
But the true fact is, I have no interest in anything holy, including these two short stories. A blasphemous statement indeed, but after reading them, the notion of being struck down by an errant lightning bolt would be a more than welcome outcome.
December 2, 2022
Unlike most reviewers here I loved both of these strange, rather haunting retellings.
March 19, 2023
I kinda loved this? Very weird stuff. Loved that Simon's main goal was to piss off god himself
April 6, 2023
mam teorię że to wszystko to był jednak sen
May 10, 2018
In diesem Band sind zwei Geschichten enthalten, die titelgebende "The Legend of the Sleepers" sowie "Simon Magus".
Der "Legend of the Sleepers" ist die 18. Sure des Koran vorangestellt, die im Prinzip auch die Handlung vorwegnimmt: "They stayed in their cave three hundred years, increased by nine" (Koran XVIII:25). Die kurze Erzählung basiert auf der Legende der sieben Schläfer von Ephesus. Der Überlieferung zufolge wurden sieben Christen unter der Herrschaft des römischen Kaisers Decius um das Jahr 250 gezwungen ihrem Glauben abzuschwören. Die Christen weigerten sich und zogen sich in eine Höhle zurück um zu beten, dabei fielen sie in eine Schlaf. Währenddessen ließ Decius den Höhleneingang verschließen. Die Christen wachen schließlich 300 Jahre (+9 im Koran) wieder auf, verkünden den Namen Gottes in der nun christlichen Region und sterben anschließend.
So weit eine prinzipiell interessante Hintergrundgeschichte. Davon ließt man in der Erzählung leider gar nichts. Die Anzahl der Schlafenden ist hier auf drei reduziert, plus ein Hund - bei dem allerdings nicht klar hervorgeht ob er nur schläft und verwest wie die anderen oder ob er bereits tot ist. Jedenfalls beginnt einer der drei Schlafenden aufzuwachen. In weiterer Folge bekommt er mit (oder träumt er?), wie eine Menge in die Höhle eintrittund die drei Schlafenden und den Hund in einer Prozession in eine Stadt trägt. Dabei reflektiert der Aufwachende ständig, ob er nur träumt oder ob die Geschehnisse wirklich passieren. Jedenfalls reflektiert der Wachende ständig über Details, Details und noch mehr Details. Die Erzählung endet schließlich wieder in der Höhle, wo die drei Schlafenden liegen und ihren totenähnlichen Schlaf schlafen - es bleibt offen, ob sie den Märtyrertod gestorben sind oder nicht.
Alles in allem eine wirre Erzählung voller langweiliger Details, komplett ohne Höhepunkte. Hier hätte ich dem gesamten Band nur 1-2* gegeben, aber die zweite Erzählung reißt das Ganze wieder etwas heraus.
In der Erzählung "Simon Magus" geht es um die gleichnamige Figur, bekannt als der erste Ketzer der Kirche. Er zieht mit seiner Gefährtin Sophia (dargestellt als Hure aus einem syrischen Bordell und nimmersatte Mischung aus Rachel, Lot's Tochter und der griechischen Helena) siebzehn Jahre nach dem Tod Jesu durch Samaria und predigt die Falschheit Gottes, dabei den Spuren der Aposteln Jesu folgend. Simon Magus meint, das irdische Leben sei das einzig wahre und es sei aufgrund der Schlechtigkeit Gottes die Hölle, während die Aposteln vom ewigen Leben im Paradies predigen. In einem Dorf kommt es schließlich zum Aufeinandertreffen der Aposteln (darunter Johannes und Petris) und von Simon Magus. Petrus meint zu Simon: Nur der Herr kann Wunder wirken. Simon widerspricht dem und erklärt, er werde nun in den Himmel fliegen. Nach einem Monolog über die Schrecklichkeit Gottes beginnt Simon tatsächlich zu schweben und immer höher in die Luft zu steigen. Da spricht Gott zu Petrus und mahnt ihn, dies sei nur eine Illusion. Petrus schafft es die restlichen Aposteln von der Illusion zu überzeugen, und dadurch beeinflusst hört Simon auf zu schweben und stürzt zu Boden, wo nur sein zerschmetterter Leichnam liegenbleibt. In einer weiteren Episode mit einer anderen Version lässt sich Simon in einem Sarg in ein Grab legen, um drei Tage später wieder aufzuerstehen. Als der Sarg nach drei Tagen geöffnet wird ist Simon jedoch bereits verwest.
Die Geschichte um Simon Magus ist recht kurzweilig erzählt, deshalb alles in allem 3*
Der "Legend of the Sleepers" ist die 18. Sure des Koran vorangestellt, die im Prinzip auch die Handlung vorwegnimmt: "They stayed in their cave three hundred years, increased by nine" (Koran XVIII:25). Die kurze Erzählung basiert auf der Legende der sieben Schläfer von Ephesus. Der Überlieferung zufolge wurden sieben Christen unter der Herrschaft des römischen Kaisers Decius um das Jahr 250 gezwungen ihrem Glauben abzuschwören. Die Christen weigerten sich und zogen sich in eine Höhle zurück um zu beten, dabei fielen sie in eine Schlaf. Währenddessen ließ Decius den Höhleneingang verschließen. Die Christen wachen schließlich 300 Jahre (+9 im Koran) wieder auf, verkünden den Namen Gottes in der nun christlichen Region und sterben anschließend.
So weit eine prinzipiell interessante Hintergrundgeschichte. Davon ließt man in der Erzählung leider gar nichts. Die Anzahl der Schlafenden ist hier auf drei reduziert, plus ein Hund - bei dem allerdings nicht klar hervorgeht ob er nur schläft und verwest wie die anderen oder ob er bereits tot ist. Jedenfalls beginnt einer der drei Schlafenden aufzuwachen. In weiterer Folge bekommt er mit (oder träumt er?), wie eine Menge in die Höhle eintrittund die drei Schlafenden und den Hund in einer Prozession in eine Stadt trägt. Dabei reflektiert der Aufwachende ständig, ob er nur träumt oder ob die Geschehnisse wirklich passieren. Jedenfalls reflektiert der Wachende ständig über Details, Details und noch mehr Details. Die Erzählung endet schließlich wieder in der Höhle, wo die drei Schlafenden liegen und ihren totenähnlichen Schlaf schlafen - es bleibt offen, ob sie den Märtyrertod gestorben sind oder nicht.
Alles in allem eine wirre Erzählung voller langweiliger Details, komplett ohne Höhepunkte. Hier hätte ich dem gesamten Band nur 1-2* gegeben, aber die zweite Erzählung reißt das Ganze wieder etwas heraus.
In der Erzählung "Simon Magus" geht es um die gleichnamige Figur, bekannt als der erste Ketzer der Kirche. Er zieht mit seiner Gefährtin Sophia (dargestellt als Hure aus einem syrischen Bordell und nimmersatte Mischung aus Rachel, Lot's Tochter und der griechischen Helena) siebzehn Jahre nach dem Tod Jesu durch Samaria und predigt die Falschheit Gottes, dabei den Spuren der Aposteln Jesu folgend. Simon Magus meint, das irdische Leben sei das einzig wahre und es sei aufgrund der Schlechtigkeit Gottes die Hölle, während die Aposteln vom ewigen Leben im Paradies predigen. In einem Dorf kommt es schließlich zum Aufeinandertreffen der Aposteln (darunter Johannes und Petris) und von Simon Magus. Petrus meint zu Simon: Nur der Herr kann Wunder wirken. Simon widerspricht dem und erklärt, er werde nun in den Himmel fliegen. Nach einem Monolog über die Schrecklichkeit Gottes beginnt Simon tatsächlich zu schweben und immer höher in die Luft zu steigen. Da spricht Gott zu Petrus und mahnt ihn, dies sei nur eine Illusion. Petrus schafft es die restlichen Aposteln von der Illusion zu überzeugen, und dadurch beeinflusst hört Simon auf zu schweben und stürzt zu Boden, wo nur sein zerschmetterter Leichnam liegenbleibt. In einer weiteren Episode mit einer anderen Version lässt sich Simon in einem Sarg in ein Grab legen, um drei Tage später wieder aufzuerstehen. Als der Sarg nach drei Tagen geöffnet wird ist Simon jedoch bereits verwest.
Die Geschichte um Simon Magus ist recht kurzweilig erzählt, deshalb alles in allem 3*
April 25, 2019
Opulent, dreamlike prose that uses classical and Late Antique settings and legends (the titular one common to Muslim and Christian tradition) to explore something of the culture and worldview of that time and to consider themes including religion, social change, love, time, consciousness, and mortality.
September 9, 2018
A fine introduction to the work of Danilo Kis.
April 3, 2021
2.5 out of 5 stars
This was just alright. A little shy of three stars in my opinion. I read it all aloud to myself and it's probably for the best.
Happy reading!
This was just alright. A little shy of three stars in my opinion. I read it all aloud to myself and it's probably for the best.
Happy reading!
April 22, 2023
Two short stories which, though a little difficult to discern, to me appear to be satirical writings on religion and the contradictions and ironies Kiš feels they invoke in their teachings. In the title story, we appear to have a metaphor and a real-world exploration of the idea of purgatory and I read into it as describing how absurd and torturous a concept it is and how it surely is at odds with the idea of an omnibenevolent God. In Simon Magus, the religious criticism is more obvious, with the eponymous Simon and the narrator seeing the worship of a God seventeen years after Jesus’ death as non-sensical given the atrocities that occur around them. The story ultimately ends with the pagan Simon convincing the locals to take to his absurd beliefs also despite simply dying at both attempts of a miracle - perhaps quite bluntly taking aim at believers themselves?
August 29, 2023
The Sleepers feels a bit like a mixture of the plangent type of Edgar Allen Poe's poems and Rilke (and I cannot imagine being the first to say that when A Dream Within a Dream even seems to be directly quoted and seems to inspire the writing strongly). But then there is a lot of senseless reputation of "was that too a dream?" in here to make it feel like there was nothing in this than someone doubting reality, and it was not a particularly interesting or complex kind of doubting at that.
The second story in this collection, Simon Magus is better because there is actually a story here and the style is more interesting while staying readable .
The second story in this collection, Simon Magus is better because there is actually a story here and the style is more interesting while staying readable .
October 24, 2020
I might revisit this story in the future, as I found it interesting (albeit confusing, but that it partly why I found it interesting).
But I am only giving this three stars because I actually liked the first story a lot. The second one seemed... wholly unnecessary.
But I am only giving this three stars because I actually liked the first story a lot. The second one seemed... wholly unnecessary.
July 2, 2023
I was intrigued by the first,titular story and liked the writing and themes in it , but didn't care much for the second story.
March 27, 2024
Het eerste kortverhaal is wa vaag, ma de tweede is machtig
July 1, 2024
o segundo conto é slay, o primeiro é tenebroso
May 4, 2025
I'm happy that I finished this book. It was boring, to say the least, and I usually don't mind philosophical books.
May 15, 2025
checking if the author is still alive so that i can give this a bad review without hurting his feelings in case he sees my goodreads account
July 28, 2021
Full review will follow later!
October 3, 2025
I’d be grateful if anyone were to tell me what the point of it all was. Surely, I’d have understood more was I a Christian, but I’m happy I’m not. Nonsense.
February 15, 2026
Hace tiempo que dos relatos no me adentraban tanto en una historia como las que he encontrado con Danilo kiŝ. Se lo recomiendo a todos!
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