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Adio kauboju
“I tako. Stigla sam. Da stigla! Ja sam se vratila u taj grad. Koji je golema ropotarnica, blato i maslinici, divota prašine, večeri na zapuštenoj terasi hotela Ilirija, teški metali u zraku, izmet i borovina, mačke i klizava riblja krljušt na masnom brodskom navozu i more zategnuto sve do studenog, kad zapušu lebići.”
Ovim riječima Ruzinava se, u ljeto 200X., vraća u primorsko mjestašce, a avantura čitanja romana Adio Kauboju Olje Savičević Ivančević počinje: pritegnite uzde, čvrsto i meko sjednite u sedlu, natucite šešir, budite cool i dostojanstveni, jer upravo ste ujahali u roman koji ulazi u legendu. Adio kauboju je roman o netoleranciji, o nasilju, o drugima i drugačijima, u ovom slučaju o Danijelu, bratu Ruzinave, i Braći Irokezima, o obitelji u kojoj su ostale dvije sestre i majka i njihovim odnosima, o generaciji koja se osipa, o lokalnom tranzicijskom gazdi Vrdovđeku, o lažnim herojima Nedu Montgomeryju i Anđelu s usnom harmonikom—jasno je, nalazimo se u srcu vesterna—tu je i istraga jedne smrti, željezni konj u punom trku, misteriozno pismo, mailovi, spisateljica gospođa 0...
Roman je ispričan kroz poetske fragmente gustoće urana i opojnosti kanabisa, skakućući u vremenu i skupljajući se prema kraju, velikom finalu s pucanjem i putovanjem. U ovom romanu su se sreli Michael Ondaatje i Sergio Leone, iz likova kao da progovara nešto od duha otočana Ranka Marinkovića, a za glazbu su bili zaduženi Ennio Morricone i Toma Bebić. Mogli bismo reći, bilo jednom u Starom Naselju, pored mora... A tako je i danas.
Ovim riječima Ruzinava se, u ljeto 200X., vraća u primorsko mjestašce, a avantura čitanja romana Adio Kauboju Olje Savičević Ivančević počinje: pritegnite uzde, čvrsto i meko sjednite u sedlu, natucite šešir, budite cool i dostojanstveni, jer upravo ste ujahali u roman koji ulazi u legendu. Adio kauboju je roman o netoleranciji, o nasilju, o drugima i drugačijima, u ovom slučaju o Danijelu, bratu Ruzinave, i Braći Irokezima, o obitelji u kojoj su ostale dvije sestre i majka i njihovim odnosima, o generaciji koja se osipa, o lokalnom tranzicijskom gazdi Vrdovđeku, o lažnim herojima Nedu Montgomeryju i Anđelu s usnom harmonikom—jasno je, nalazimo se u srcu vesterna—tu je i istraga jedne smrti, željezni konj u punom trku, misteriozno pismo, mailovi, spisateljica gospođa 0...
Roman je ispričan kroz poetske fragmente gustoće urana i opojnosti kanabisa, skakućući u vremenu i skupljajući se prema kraju, velikom finalu s pucanjem i putovanjem. U ovom romanu su se sreli Michael Ondaatje i Sergio Leone, iz likova kao da progovara nešto od duha otočana Ranka Marinkovića, a za glazbu su bili zaduženi Ennio Morricone i Toma Bebić. Mogli bismo reći, bilo jednom u Starom Naselju, pored mora... A tako je i danas.
213 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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About the author
Olja Savičević Ivančević
32 books130 followersWrites poetry, prose, columns. Author of several poetry collections and books.
Lives in Split, Croatia.
Lives in Split, Croatia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
October 21, 2023
1.5
Ovaj me roman od jedva nešto više od 200 stranica umorio. Toliko nabacanih i nepovezanih misli i opisa događaja, kao da sam bila unutar tuđe glave i pokušala pohvatati konce s kojima bih trebala isplesti ono što nam autorica želi dati na dar. Nisam vješta u pletenju, a i kreativnost mi nije jača strana.
Prvi mi je put nakon desetak godina došlo da se ne mučim s čitanjem, da odustanem, ali nisam jer od priče koja je zadatak za čitateljski klub se ne odustaje. Nešto sam pohvatala, jesam, jer sam samu bit dobila, ali umorilo me.
Vjerujem da je do mene, to što se nisam uspjela povezati ni s pričom, ni s likovima, ni stilom, ni idejom... Do mene je. Većina članica kluba su imale potpuno druge utiske i divno mi je bilo čuti što sam trebala doživjeti. Njih mi je bilo super slušati i uživala sam u zadovoljnim opisima putovanja kroz istu knjigu.
Kad se budem ovog naslova sjetila prizvat ću osjećaj napora, ne zbog dobro opisane priče koja tjera čovjeka na takvu emociju, već na cjelokupan doživljaj prolaženja kroz nju.
Uspjela sam iz teksta izdvojiti par meni zanimljivih misli nad kojima sam se zamislila i ne sumnjam da će ovaj roman nekom drukčijem čitaču biti odličan, što dokazuju i nagrade koje je autorica za njega dobila. Skidam kapu, čestitam i bježim u neku drugu priču! Vama savjetujem da čitate i donesete svoj sud!
„... čini se da je sve okej, a to je ponekad isto kao i da jest.“
„Ponos je tako bizarna odlika, autodestraktivna, nisam baš načisto s tim zašto ga ubrajamo u vrline.“
„Ljubav i smrt su riječi bez deminutiva. (...) Nema od njih ni veće ni manje riječi. Za razliku od života koji je životić.“
Ovaj me roman od jedva nešto više od 200 stranica umorio. Toliko nabacanih i nepovezanih misli i opisa događaja, kao da sam bila unutar tuđe glave i pokušala pohvatati konce s kojima bih trebala isplesti ono što nam autorica želi dati na dar. Nisam vješta u pletenju, a i kreativnost mi nije jača strana.
Prvi mi je put nakon desetak godina došlo da se ne mučim s čitanjem, da odustanem, ali nisam jer od priče koja je zadatak za čitateljski klub se ne odustaje. Nešto sam pohvatala, jesam, jer sam samu bit dobila, ali umorilo me.
Vjerujem da je do mene, to što se nisam uspjela povezati ni s pričom, ni s likovima, ni stilom, ni idejom... Do mene je. Većina članica kluba su imale potpuno druge utiske i divno mi je bilo čuti što sam trebala doživjeti. Njih mi je bilo super slušati i uživala sam u zadovoljnim opisima putovanja kroz istu knjigu.
Kad se budem ovog naslova sjetila prizvat ću osjećaj napora, ne zbog dobro opisane priče koja tjera čovjeka na takvu emociju, već na cjelokupan doživljaj prolaženja kroz nju.
Uspjela sam iz teksta izdvojiti par meni zanimljivih misli nad kojima sam se zamislila i ne sumnjam da će ovaj roman nekom drukčijem čitaču biti odličan, što dokazuju i nagrade koje je autorica za njega dobila. Skidam kapu, čestitam i bježim u neku drugu priču! Vama savjetujem da čitate i donesete svoj sud!
„... čini se da je sve okej, a to je ponekad isto kao i da jest.“
„Ponos je tako bizarna odlika, autodestraktivna, nisam baš načisto s tim zašto ga ubrajamo u vrline.“
„Ljubav i smrt su riječi bez deminutiva. (...) Nema od njih ni veće ni manje riječi. Za razliku od života koji je životić.“
January 6, 2022
3 Stars - Good book
This is such an interesting and unusual book. I’ve never read anything quite like it and yet I would say the general plot (daughter returns home to her mom and sister years after her father died and brother died by suicide) isn’t revolutionary.
Despite the title containing the word cowboy, I did not expect the book’s language and story to contain so much about the cowboy/Indian theme. It’s fascinating although I found it jarring and never quite got used to it all. It wasn’t bad just really surprising how much there was.
It’s hard for me to say whether or not I’d recommend this book because it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting so I’m still processing it. I can say it is well written and unique.
This is such an interesting and unusual book. I’ve never read anything quite like it and yet I would say the general plot (daughter returns home to her mom and sister years after her father died and brother died by suicide) isn’t revolutionary.
Despite the title containing the word cowboy, I did not expect the book’s language and story to contain so much about the cowboy/Indian theme. It’s fascinating although I found it jarring and never quite got used to it all. It wasn’t bad just really surprising how much there was.
It’s hard for me to say whether or not I’d recommend this book because it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting so I’m still processing it. I can say it is well written and unique.
January 7, 2016
Dada has grown up in a small town in Croatia from which she escaped as soon a she could at the age of eighteen. But she is drawn back to this bizarre town by the horrible suicide of her younger brother, Daniel. The book is told from Dada’s point of view and we are given information about her life and hometown as Dada remembers it. She speaks of memory being like a tape that “rolls forward and backwards. Fw-stop-rew-stop-rec-play-stop, it stops at important places, some images flicker dimly frozen in a permanent pause, unclear.” The narrative runs in the same way that Dada describes a tape: sometimes we get a passage that is an old memory and then all-of-sudden we are thrust into her present; Dada also likes to fast forward to her future and speculate on what she will do next.
The setting is a coastal town in Croatia which is hot, dirty and badly polluted. Dada’s own father died from an acute case of asbestos poisoning. People in the town, especially the children, love old westerns and when they were young, Dada and her brother Daniel act out scenes from the westerns they have watched at the local movie theater. Like a typical American western that takes place on the border between civilization and the vastly unorganized territory, Croatia at the time also occupies a space somewhere between civilization and a strange wilderness. The western theme is fitting for a place like Croatia which was torn apart by war in the Balkans and it is Dada’s generation that is still trying to recover from this conflict.
Dada describes many eccentric characters that she has known since childhood; many residents of this town that she calls the “Old Settlement” do not seem to conform to what most would consider normal social behavior. For example, her great-grandmother, who was a diabetic invalid, is described as the “insatiable one” because of her reputation for sex. Professor Herr, a neighbor of Dada’s family and the local vet, has his home ransacked by a group of young people and he mysteriously disappears soon after. It also seems that he is the only one who has any answers about Daniel’s mysterious and puzzling death.
The cowboy and western theme is further developed when a group of actors and extras show up to film a western-style movie. All of the extras hang around the Old Settlement with their big hats and belt buckles. Some of them even start shooting chickens with their pistols. Dada has a very brief and passionate affair with one of these extras named Angelo. It appears that Angelo also knew Dada’s brother Daniel and although he denies it, he might have some knowledge about Daniel’s mysterious death.
The final part of the book comes to a very fast-paced and dramatic conclusion. The circumstances of Daniel’s death are revealed amidst a showdown between the fake cowboys and one of the eccentric villagers. I was not surprised to learn that this author is also a poet since many of the lines in this book blur the distinction between lyric and prose. In the end, we are reminded that cowboys, although a nice fantasy as a short distraction, are not real and that oftentimes there will never be a hero riding into town on that white horse. Sometimes the bad guys do win.
For more of my reviews please visit: www.thebookbindersdaughter.com
The setting is a coastal town in Croatia which is hot, dirty and badly polluted. Dada’s own father died from an acute case of asbestos poisoning. People in the town, especially the children, love old westerns and when they were young, Dada and her brother Daniel act out scenes from the westerns they have watched at the local movie theater. Like a typical American western that takes place on the border between civilization and the vastly unorganized territory, Croatia at the time also occupies a space somewhere between civilization and a strange wilderness. The western theme is fitting for a place like Croatia which was torn apart by war in the Balkans and it is Dada’s generation that is still trying to recover from this conflict.
Dada describes many eccentric characters that she has known since childhood; many residents of this town that she calls the “Old Settlement” do not seem to conform to what most would consider normal social behavior. For example, her great-grandmother, who was a diabetic invalid, is described as the “insatiable one” because of her reputation for sex. Professor Herr, a neighbor of Dada’s family and the local vet, has his home ransacked by a group of young people and he mysteriously disappears soon after. It also seems that he is the only one who has any answers about Daniel’s mysterious and puzzling death.
The cowboy and western theme is further developed when a group of actors and extras show up to film a western-style movie. All of the extras hang around the Old Settlement with their big hats and belt buckles. Some of them even start shooting chickens with their pistols. Dada has a very brief and passionate affair with one of these extras named Angelo. It appears that Angelo also knew Dada’s brother Daniel and although he denies it, he might have some knowledge about Daniel’s mysterious death.
The final part of the book comes to a very fast-paced and dramatic conclusion. The circumstances of Daniel’s death are revealed amidst a showdown between the fake cowboys and one of the eccentric villagers. I was not surprised to learn that this author is also a poet since many of the lines in this book blur the distinction between lyric and prose. In the end, we are reminded that cowboys, although a nice fantasy as a short distraction, are not real and that oftentimes there will never be a hero riding into town on that white horse. Sometimes the bad guys do win.
For more of my reviews please visit: www.thebookbindersdaughter.com
July 21, 2016
Honestly, I am blown away by the 3.79 grading that this book is receiving. Although Savicevic uses an abundance of words she never says anything. I could not tell you one thing that happened in this book. It was as if some very unremarkable person with an equally unremarkable life, pocket-dialed you and left a voicemail that was equivalent to 200+ pages. It felt like torture slogging through this.
I don't think I could convey how much I disliked this book. Just terrible. Awesome cover artwork, tho!
I don't think I could convey how much I disliked this book. Just terrible. Awesome cover artwork, tho!
May 5, 2016
In summer 2009, Dada (aka Rusty) returns to her Croatian hometown to care for her mother, who, her sister reports, has become increasingly dependent on Valium, sleeping pills and alcohol. Back in Zagreb she’d been working as a photographer for a website that rips off other people’s stories and sleeping with someone else’s husband. Going home means abandoning that secondhand life and facing up to the fact of her brother’s death – when he was 18 he threw himself under a train. “One has to sit down beside one’s demon and mollify it until it’s calm – that’s all, perhaps, that can be done,” she muses.
Now for the title: Dada’s late father, brother, and friends (“the Iroquois Brothers”) were all big on cowboys and Indians. Her father, who worked for The Balkan Cinema, was always on the cowboys’ side, the presumed side of justice and honor. When news comes that a spaghetti western actor/director named Ned Montgomery will be passing through town, it causes Dada to think about her father and her brother and, what’s more, about the workings of her own memory: “memory is the present of all remembered events. … But memory is also the saboteur editor in the back room, cutting and pasting, reframing to the very end, or at least until Alzheimer’s.”
I wasn’t sure about the whole cowboy thing, especially a third-person omniscient interlude labeled “Western” (as opposed to Part One, “Eastern”), about Ned’s misadventures in Croatia. Perhaps the cowboy movies’ stereotypical standoff of races is meant to echo what happened in the former Yugoslavia not so long ago; “The advent of the war had a way of making people’s ethnicity everybody’s business,” Dada recalls. But overall the plot felt to me like a bit of a muddle: Dada goes some places, sees some people, talks and thinks about her brother, helps her mother out a bit, and then declares “it’s time for me to ride off into the sunset” and gets back on a train.
Anyway, this was interesting in places and I liked some of the descriptive language, like “You’ll never get rid of the damp and woodworm, the stink of burned onions, or the kids on your steps.” The dialogue, however, sometimes seems coarse and unlearned – non-agreement of subject and verb, eliding some vowels, etc. (e.g. “Death don’t bother me none”). I guess it was the translator’s choice to try to convey the slangy level of the diction.
This was named the best Croatian novel of 2011. Savičević is the author of six poetry collections and a story collection.
Thanks to McSweeney’s for sending a digital copy for review.
Now for the title: Dada’s late father, brother, and friends (“the Iroquois Brothers”) were all big on cowboys and Indians. Her father, who worked for The Balkan Cinema, was always on the cowboys’ side, the presumed side of justice and honor. When news comes that a spaghetti western actor/director named Ned Montgomery will be passing through town, it causes Dada to think about her father and her brother and, what’s more, about the workings of her own memory: “memory is the present of all remembered events. … But memory is also the saboteur editor in the back room, cutting and pasting, reframing to the very end, or at least until Alzheimer’s.”
I wasn’t sure about the whole cowboy thing, especially a third-person omniscient interlude labeled “Western” (as opposed to Part One, “Eastern”), about Ned’s misadventures in Croatia. Perhaps the cowboy movies’ stereotypical standoff of races is meant to echo what happened in the former Yugoslavia not so long ago; “The advent of the war had a way of making people’s ethnicity everybody’s business,” Dada recalls. But overall the plot felt to me like a bit of a muddle: Dada goes some places, sees some people, talks and thinks about her brother, helps her mother out a bit, and then declares “it’s time for me to ride off into the sunset” and gets back on a train.
Anyway, this was interesting in places and I liked some of the descriptive language, like “You’ll never get rid of the damp and woodworm, the stink of burned onions, or the kids on your steps.” The dialogue, however, sometimes seems coarse and unlearned – non-agreement of subject and verb, eliding some vowels, etc. (e.g. “Death don’t bother me none”). I guess it was the translator’s choice to try to convey the slangy level of the diction.
This was named the best Croatian novel of 2011. Savičević is the author of six poetry collections and a story collection.
Thanks to McSweeney’s for sending a digital copy for review.
April 28, 2015
A deeply personal piece of unfinished business draws Dada, the spirited heroine of Farewell, Cowboy, from the towers of Zagreb, back to the grimy streets of her hometown on the shores of the Adriatic in this debut novel from Croatian poet and writer Olja Savičević. Once she arrives her first task is to relieve her older sister of the responsibility of keeping track of their mother who seems to be surviving on a routine of pharmaceuticals, soap operas and bi-weekly treks to the cemetery to visit the graves of her son and husband. But at the heart of Dada’s return to the Old Settlement is a need to lay to rest her questions surrounding the suicide of her beloved younger brother Daniel several years earlier.
For complete review see:
https://roughghosts.wordpress.com/201...
For complete review see:
https://roughghosts.wordpress.com/201...
July 9, 2020
Ova knjiga Splićanke Olje Savičević Ivančević donosi jednu sumorniju, ali realniju stranu života u primorskim mjestima. U kojima vlada ljeti vlada sparina, učmalost, prvih godina nakon rata kad se radnja knjige dešava i dezorijentiranost. Sve to pruzrokuje želju za nasiljem kod maldih. Ili izloženost istom kod pojedinaca različitih po porijeklu, seksualnoj orijentaciji, bilo čemu. Glavna junakinja koju svi u romanu zovu Ruzinava dolazi u taj grad istražiti misteriozno samoubistvo svog brata Danijela, na kojeg se i odnosi ovaj naslov...ali događaji koji slijede dodatno kompliciraju odnose između nje i ostalih mještana , pogotovo između majke i sestre koje traže od nje da ostavi svog brata da počiva u miru...
"Ljubav i smrt su riječi bez deminutiva. Nema od njih ni veće ni manje riječi. Za razliku od života koji je - životić".
"Ljubav i smrt su riječi bez deminutiva. Nema od njih ni veće ni manje riječi. Za razliku od života koji je - životić".
August 6, 2016
Едно момче се е самоубило на 18, няколко години по-късно сестра му се връща в нажеженото до червено тяхно градче при полудяващата им майка, за да се опита да си отговори на някои въпроси.
Книгата е в три части: основна, кратко разяснение и пришит завършек - всяка е в различен тон и донякъде от различна гледна точка и докато втората ми идва малко прекалено обяснителна, третата намирам за направо досадно излишна.
Докато четях основната част, бях много доволна от умението на авторката да пише обиграно - това е тип литература, към която нямам особен сантимент, но която, ако е добре изпълнена, уважавам. Имам предвид литературата на професионалистите, които пишат истории поради вътрешна или външна необходимост от писането (ритуала, ритъма на подаване на текстове, срещата с читатели/критици), не от конкретните истории. Аз съм по-любопитна и пристрастена към робуващите на историите автори, но дори и така ценя профитата: без да е насъщна, книгата на Оля Савичевич не е и загуба на време, ако я прочетеш: де��орът на събитията подава доста интересна информация, има моменти и изрази, които звънтят хубаво.
За съжаление втората и третата част, които заедно са има-няма една седма от романа, го дърпат надолу: това му е лошото на професионалното писане - като се счупи нещо във формата, всичко отива по дяволите. Необичайните образи стават неправдоподобно много, множат се и необичайните случки, включват се и разкриващи истини писма (най-противните deus ex machina на затруднените писатели) и затриват водещия реализъм на цялото.
Неща, които не оживяха в цялата книга: диалозите, второстепенните персонажи - и двете неща си останаха реквизит, при това конфекция.
Адмирации за чудесния предговор, посветен на чудесната преводачка Русанка Ляпова. Пълен шаш от корицата и особено от снега на нея. Лайтмотив в цялата книга е откачената жега в мястото, където се връща разказвачката, жегата е направо герой в романа ("задухата е такава, че се потят и тапетите в стаите") - откъде се взе този сняг, на фона на който се веят шарени кърпи (техният пък смисъл какъв е)??
Книгата е в три части: основна, кратко разяснение и пришит завършек - всяка е в различен тон и донякъде от различна гледна точка и докато втората ми идва малко прекалено обяснителна, третата намирам за направо досадно излишна.
Докато четях основната част, бях много доволна от умението на авторката да пише обиграно - това е тип литература, към която нямам особен сантимент, но която, ако е добре изпълнена, уважавам. Имам предвид литературата на професионалистите, които пишат истории поради вътрешна или външна необходимост от писането (ритуала, ритъма на подаване на текстове, срещата с читатели/критици), не от конкретните истории. Аз съм по-любопитна и пристрастена към робуващите на историите автори, но дори и така ценя профитата: без да е насъщна, книгата на Оля Савичевич не е и загуба на време, ако я прочетеш: де��орът на събитията подава доста интересна информация, има моменти и изрази, които звънтят хубаво.
"Нежността в нея се беше втвърдила като бучка захар, с която можеше да си изпочупиш зъбите."
"Тялото й е едро, бушува дори когато е неподвижна."
"...простосмъртните балканероси" :)
"...паметта е монтажистът саботьор в задната стаичка..."
За съжаление втората и третата част, които заедно са има-няма една седма от романа, го дърпат надолу: това му е лошото на професионалното писане - като се счупи нещо във формата, всичко отива по дяволите. Необичайните образи стават неправдоподобно много, множат се и необичайните случки, включват се и разкриващи истини писма (най-противните deus ex machina на затруднените писатели) и затриват водещия реализъм на цялото.
Неща, които не оживяха в цялата книга: диалозите, второстепенните персонажи - и двете неща си останаха реквизит, при това конфекция.
Адмирации за чудесния предговор, посветен на чудесната преводачка Русанка Ляпова. Пълен шаш от корицата и особено от снега на нея. Лайтмотив в цялата книга е откачената жега в мястото, където се връща разказвачката, жегата е направо герой в романа ("задухата е такава, че се потят и тапетите в стаите") - откъде се взе този сняг, на фона на който се веят шарени кърпи (техният пък смисъл какъв е)??
December 28, 2021
Farewell, Goodbye sees the main character Dada return to her family home in Croatia to see her sister and her mother and on a search for the truth of why her brother had died. Also returning to the village is the vet who lived next door to which her brother Daniel had died. The cowboy in the detail being a reference to her brothers like of western movies along with their predeceased father who died at a young age, a film lover who worked first in the cinema then at a video shop.
As a crossover to this, the old western star Ned Montgomery is in Croatia to direct a new movie with some filming on location close to the town. There is a shadow of the wars that had gripped the Balkans and affected, Dada reminisces about the time her sister and her were interviewed for a radio project by German students. There is also families that had fled the town at the outbreak of the war. A memory that comes to mind is that they'd play cowboys and indians because if they played Croatian and Serbians, no one would want to be the Serbians in that game, not even the children with Serbian identity.
In some ways, the vet reminds of Doc in Sweet Thursday and Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. I think it may be the mix of the very educated person (something the vet acknowledges that he is over educated). The other characters in this like Angelo The Giggolo and Maria are of an eccentric nature and add more substance to the portrait of the poor area to which Dada has returned.
Savicevic's prose is captivating, at times I felt I needed to stop, sit back and absorb the beauty of her writing. It is exquisite in the descriptions verging on lyrical. There is also a humour to her. Savicevic in this novel shows herself to be a fine writer, a novel that while the main theme may not be enjoyable, is itself a novel to sit back and enjoy.
A particular credit for this is the superb translation by Celia Hawkesworth, who just captured the novel marvellously. A beautiful novel.
As a crossover to this, the old western star Ned Montgomery is in Croatia to direct a new movie with some filming on location close to the town. There is a shadow of the wars that had gripped the Balkans and affected, Dada reminisces about the time her sister and her were interviewed for a radio project by German students. There is also families that had fled the town at the outbreak of the war. A memory that comes to mind is that they'd play cowboys and indians because if they played Croatian and Serbians, no one would want to be the Serbians in that game, not even the children with Serbian identity.
In some ways, the vet reminds of Doc in Sweet Thursday and Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. I think it may be the mix of the very educated person (something the vet acknowledges that he is over educated). The other characters in this like Angelo The Giggolo and Maria are of an eccentric nature and add more substance to the portrait of the poor area to which Dada has returned.
Savicevic's prose is captivating, at times I felt I needed to stop, sit back and absorb the beauty of her writing. It is exquisite in the descriptions verging on lyrical. There is also a humour to her. Savicevic in this novel shows herself to be a fine writer, a novel that while the main theme may not be enjoyable, is itself a novel to sit back and enjoy.
A particular credit for this is the superb translation by Celia Hawkesworth, who just captured the novel marvellously. A beautiful novel.
July 5, 2016
I picked this up after reading an excerpt from the McSweeney's website, and because it had an interesting title.
I'm not quite sure if anything happens in this book. Though Savičević uses many words, she conveys little. The characters are flat, archetypal, forgettable; whatever semblance of plot feels forced. Reading this sapped my energy - imagine the mental fog that accompanies getting out of bed in the morning, or wandering around in a literal fog and having no idea which direction is which. Is it an accomplishment that this deflected my mind to unrelated things even as I tried forcing it to concentrate?
On the plus side, some super witty sentences earn this an extra star.
I'm not quite sure if anything happens in this book. Though Savičević uses many words, she conveys little. The characters are flat, archetypal, forgettable; whatever semblance of plot feels forced. Reading this sapped my energy - imagine the mental fog that accompanies getting out of bed in the morning, or wandering around in a literal fog and having no idea which direction is which. Is it an accomplishment that this deflected my mind to unrelated things even as I tried forcing it to concentrate?
On the plus side, some super witty sentences earn this an extra star.
January 30, 2017
Algoritam
Zagreb, 2010.
Knjiga je podijeljena na tri dijela; 1. "Eastern", 2."Western" te 3."Adio".
Jezik je iznimno aktualizirajući. Razigran, maštovit, otkačen u tom smislu posjeduje marinkovićevsku energiju. Tekst vrvi neologizmima, regionalizmima te majstorski izvedenim urbanim vernakularom. Čest je krnji infinitiv koji doprinosi vernakularnosti i opuštenosti u tekstu. Sljedeći primjeri vernakulara; "Zaspala bi pred upaljenim teveom...", "Danijel se poslije smije, kaže- Šta vam je, samo sam se zafrkava. Da vidim ko će me spasit.", "Balkanjerosima". Idući primjer bio bi primjer hapaksa, ja bar nisam nikada prije a ni ranije susreo ovu riječ, a zbilja je kul i pokušat ću od nje iznjedriti neologizam; "vragočanstvena". Prostote doprinose ugođaju svakodnevice; "Ne kurči se, rekli bi u Starom Naselju." Svojevrsni sintaktički paralelizmi se javljaju pri ponavljanju određenih kratkih odlomaka teksta; "Moja je soba kutija u kući kutiji." Ova rečenica se javlja uzastopce dva puta na početku novog potpoglavlja koje je uvijek nenaslovljeno i neoznačeno. Drugi primjer svojevrsnog sintaktičkog paralelizma, ima ih još no neću sve baciti- nisam lud, je sljedeći; "Zagreb je ostao iza mene kao najdalji grad na svijetu, dalji od Osake i Juneana i Santa Fea." U svakom slučaju autorica je očito vodila veliku brigu o tekstu.
Sastavni dijelovi teksta su pisma, mejlovi te grafiti (Stranče, ovdje te zakon ne štiti).
Radnja je onaj faktor koji je ovo djelo razdvojio od ozvjezdičenja u vidu četvorke ili petice. Vrijeme radnje su nulte, mjesto je jedno dalmatinsko naselje.
Narator je homodijegetski pripovjedač u vidu likuše, bar u prvom dijelu, dok se kasnije javlja i pripovjedač u trećem licu gdjegdje. Likuša-naratorica stalno retardira radnju svojim retrospekcijama, sve se vrti oko njenog unutarnjeg svijeta. Njen unutarnji svijet je dosadan. Njeno ime je Dada a nadimak "Ruzinava". Tekst povremeno ipak ostvaruje sadržajne poene kada zakucava socijalno stanje Sanaderove Hrvatske;
"I tako stigla sam. Da stigla! Ja sam se vratila u taj grad. Koji je golema ropotarnica, blato i maslinici, divota prašine, večer na zapuštenoj terasi hotela Ilirija, teški metali u zraku, izmet i borovina, mačka i klizava riblja krljušt na masnom brodskom navozu i more zategnuto sve do studenog, kad zapušu lebići.
Na putu prema doma, trgovački centri i šume jumbo plakata, tundra i tužne prizemnice na cesti, ali prije toga prolazim kroz osvijetljena šetališta, dolje su kruzeri, u putničkoj luci, vodiči s rukom podignutom u vis ispred kolona japanskih i američkih staraca s protezama i tupeima, kockarnice, blagi vjetri hašiša, vonj tijela i parfema, acid, trans, folk, Saint Tropez, Monte Carlo, Cista Provo, belle dame sains merci, cure na visokim potpeticama u tegnute u bijeli najlon i životinjske kože, obrijani momci koji zveckaju ključevima ulaštenih automobila, ruke im, dok im dodiruju lice, mirišu na znoj i genitalije, na novac i duhan."
Mogli ste primijetiti također i jednu tekstualnu referencu; "divota prašine".
No da se vratim na radnju. Sam kraj, dolazak Ned Montgomerya i Teda u Staro Naselje te dvostruko ubojstvo Marije i Anđela, je tako izlizano i jadno da je to preloše. Drugi likovi su bijedno okarakterizirani, Danijel te Karlo Šain su trebali biti prikazani daleko potpunije jer ovako djeluju poput likova dječje priče.
Olja je vrhunska u jeziku a katastrofalna u naraciji i radnji. Bar u ovom djelu.
Zagreb, 2010.
Knjiga je podijeljena na tri dijela; 1. "Eastern", 2."Western" te 3."Adio".
Jezik je iznimno aktualizirajući. Razigran, maštovit, otkačen u tom smislu posjeduje marinkovićevsku energiju. Tekst vrvi neologizmima, regionalizmima te majstorski izvedenim urbanim vernakularom. Čest je krnji infinitiv koji doprinosi vernakularnosti i opuštenosti u tekstu. Sljedeći primjeri vernakulara; "Zaspala bi pred upaljenim teveom...", "Danijel se poslije smije, kaže- Šta vam je, samo sam se zafrkava. Da vidim ko će me spasit.", "Balkanjerosima". Idući primjer bio bi primjer hapaksa, ja bar nisam nikada prije a ni ranije susreo ovu riječ, a zbilja je kul i pokušat ću od nje iznjedriti neologizam; "vragočanstvena". Prostote doprinose ugođaju svakodnevice; "Ne kurči se, rekli bi u Starom Naselju." Svojevrsni sintaktički paralelizmi se javljaju pri ponavljanju određenih kratkih odlomaka teksta; "Moja je soba kutija u kući kutiji." Ova rečenica se javlja uzastopce dva puta na početku novog potpoglavlja koje je uvijek nenaslovljeno i neoznačeno. Drugi primjer svojevrsnog sintaktičkog paralelizma, ima ih još no neću sve baciti- nisam lud, je sljedeći; "Zagreb je ostao iza mene kao najdalji grad na svijetu, dalji od Osake i Juneana i Santa Fea." U svakom slučaju autorica je očito vodila veliku brigu o tekstu.
Sastavni dijelovi teksta su pisma, mejlovi te grafiti (Stranče, ovdje te zakon ne štiti).
Radnja je onaj faktor koji je ovo djelo razdvojio od ozvjezdičenja u vidu četvorke ili petice. Vrijeme radnje su nulte, mjesto je jedno dalmatinsko naselje.
Narator je homodijegetski pripovjedač u vidu likuše, bar u prvom dijelu, dok se kasnije javlja i pripovjedač u trećem licu gdjegdje. Likuša-naratorica stalno retardira radnju svojim retrospekcijama, sve se vrti oko njenog unutarnjeg svijeta. Njen unutarnji svijet je dosadan. Njeno ime je Dada a nadimak "Ruzinava". Tekst povremeno ipak ostvaruje sadržajne poene kada zakucava socijalno stanje Sanaderove Hrvatske;
"I tako stigla sam. Da stigla! Ja sam se vratila u taj grad. Koji je golema ropotarnica, blato i maslinici, divota prašine, večer na zapuštenoj terasi hotela Ilirija, teški metali u zraku, izmet i borovina, mačka i klizava riblja krljušt na masnom brodskom navozu i more zategnuto sve do studenog, kad zapušu lebići.
Na putu prema doma, trgovački centri i šume jumbo plakata, tundra i tužne prizemnice na cesti, ali prije toga prolazim kroz osvijetljena šetališta, dolje su kruzeri, u putničkoj luci, vodiči s rukom podignutom u vis ispred kolona japanskih i američkih staraca s protezama i tupeima, kockarnice, blagi vjetri hašiša, vonj tijela i parfema, acid, trans, folk, Saint Tropez, Monte Carlo, Cista Provo, belle dame sains merci, cure na visokim potpeticama u tegnute u bijeli najlon i životinjske kože, obrijani momci koji zveckaju ključevima ulaštenih automobila, ruke im, dok im dodiruju lice, mirišu na znoj i genitalije, na novac i duhan."
Mogli ste primijetiti također i jednu tekstualnu referencu; "divota prašine".
No da se vratim na radnju. Sam kraj, dolazak Ned Montgomerya i Teda u Staro Naselje te dvostruko ubojstvo Marije i Anđela, je tako izlizano i jadno da je to preloše. Drugi likovi su bijedno okarakterizirani, Danijel te Karlo Šain su trebali biti prikazani daleko potpunije jer ovako djeluju poput likova dječje priče.
Olja je vrhunska u jeziku a katastrofalna u naraciji i radnji. Bar u ovom djelu.
October 9, 2020
“Za stotinu dana ću preboljeti, za tisuću dana zaboraviti. To nije ni najgora ni najbolja priča u mom životu.”
June 15, 2025
“Ostani gori, drž’ se površine”, rekao je otac i bacio me u more s mula. “Plivaj, bogati, imaš duge ruke i noge”, smijao se glasno, preplanula lica i svijetlih obrva. I plivala sam, kao štene, kao svako dijete.
Danijel je skočio za mnom i potonuo. Samo buć. I ništa. Tad sam jedini put čula Ma da viče. Urlala je na oca. I sestra je vikala i plakala, stojeći na obali u mokrim kupaćim gaćicama, a iz usta su joj ispadali nesažvakani balavi komadi kruha s paštetom. Ali ja sam vidjela da je Danijel ostao sjediti dolje na dnu, nije ni pokušao izroniti.
“Malo se naguca”, ponavlja otac iz mora, držeći ga. Danijel se poslije smije, kaže: “Šta vam je, samo sam se zafrkava. Da vidim ko će me spasit.”
Ostavljaj me samu u moru dok ga iznose, na tren.
Naučila sam nešto o istovremenosti: da je sjećanje sadašnjost svih zapamćenih događaja.
Prošlost nije što je bila, kažem.
Provlačim se kroz sirene i Ulična svjetla, glasove i oči putnika. Ljudi se žustro kreću kak da znaju kamo idu. Pomislim kako mogu sjesti u bilo koji od ovih vlakova i odvesti se u bilo kojem smjeru. Za mnom klopće kufer, najvjernije pseto. Ja sam prolaznik. Premda se u ovom trenutku tako ne čini - imam sve što mi je potrebno.
Danijel je skočio za mnom i potonuo. Samo buć. I ništa. Tad sam jedini put čula Ma da viče. Urlala je na oca. I sestra je vikala i plakala, stojeći na obali u mokrim kupaćim gaćicama, a iz usta su joj ispadali nesažvakani balavi komadi kruha s paštetom. Ali ja sam vidjela da je Danijel ostao sjediti dolje na dnu, nije ni pokušao izroniti.
“Malo se naguca”, ponavlja otac iz mora, držeći ga. Danijel se poslije smije, kaže: “Šta vam je, samo sam se zafrkava. Da vidim ko će me spasit.”
Ostavljaj me samu u moru dok ga iznose, na tren.
Naučila sam nešto o istovremenosti: da je sjećanje sadašnjost svih zapamćenih događaja.
Prošlost nije što je bila, kažem.
Provlačim se kroz sirene i Ulična svjetla, glasove i oči putnika. Ljudi se žustro kreću kak da znaju kamo idu. Pomislim kako mogu sjesti u bilo koji od ovih vlakova i odvesti se u bilo kojem smjeru. Za mnom klopće kufer, najvjernije pseto. Ja sam prolaznik. Premda se u ovom trenutku tako ne čini - imam sve što mi je potrebno.
August 10, 2015
Set in a dreary town on the Adriatic coast, the novel follows the heroine Dada as she tries to find out why her younger and much-loved brother Daniel threw himself under a train a few years earlier.
The tone of disillusionment and decay shrouds the book like a fog hanging over a sea: the country is recovering from the Balkan Wars of the 1990s; Dada is listless after a relationship breakdown; and her family is struggling to live with the trauma of Daniel’s death.
The “plot" comes a distant second to the picaresque cast of characters and the language, and Savičević’s background as a poet is evident in some of the beautiful imagery and descriptions of the decrepit town.
Overall, while the story is too diffuse for the novel to be called truly gripping, Savičević writes with power and verve. Well done to Istros Books for bringing her work to English-speaking readers.
Full review on https://jjawilson.wordpress.com/
The tone of disillusionment and decay shrouds the book like a fog hanging over a sea: the country is recovering from the Balkan Wars of the 1990s; Dada is listless after a relationship breakdown; and her family is struggling to live with the trauma of Daniel’s death.
The “plot" comes a distant second to the picaresque cast of characters and the language, and Savičević’s background as a poet is evident in some of the beautiful imagery and descriptions of the decrepit town.
Overall, while the story is too diffuse for the novel to be called truly gripping, Savičević writes with power and verve. Well done to Istros Books for bringing her work to English-speaking readers.
Full review on https://jjawilson.wordpress.com/
October 29, 2015
One sister's poetic and sometimes less poetic search for the meaning of her brother's intentional death - suicide.Voyage through the other side of the touristic mediterranean coastal town, through the places more distanced from the sea, but closer to the hills, stones, sidewalks, ground.
January 2, 2016
oronuli ostaci djetinjstva, doma, obitelji i života jedne propale studentice, dio su sjajno ispričane štorije o mraku naših života i vremena u kojem živimo.
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September 28, 2024Оля Савичевич - "Адио, каубой", изд. "Ерто" 2015, прев. Русанка Ляпова
Един септемврийски ден, една софийска Алея на книгата един дъжд, една шатра, в която буквално се сбъдна библейското "Почукай и ще и се отвори".
Така започва моята история с тази книга.
А нека добавя и друго - че аз всъщност не отидох за нея. Отидох за друга книга на същата авторка, а ми предложиха и тази. И понеже дори намирането на шатрата вече си беше цяло приключение, реших да допълня това приключение и д взема и тази книга.
Още по-странното е, че нейното заглавие ми прозвуча - и още ми звучи - странно познато. Като нещо, което съм виждала, чувала, може би дори преживявала някога в миналото. Все ено някой ме повика. И дори не прочетох цялата анотация.
"Адио, каубой" е историята на едно завръщане. Поне това прочетох от написаното на корицата и си казах, че всички тези истории си приличат. Че са едновременно спомени за детството или младостта и опит за помиряването на тези спомени с действителността, която откриваш, когато се връщаш. И обикновено има разграничение между миналите и сегашните моменти, между миналите и настоящите образи.
Тук обаче не е така.
Тук всички - дори героинята, която разказва историята - са едновременно призрачни и реални. Четеш и се питаш дали някой от отдавна заминалите няма да се завърне внезапно, дали това, което четеш, е наистина историята такава, каквато се е случила, или е някаква нейна версия, безкрайно променена от многото допълване, спомени, тълкувания, докато накрая единственото сигурно нещо остават имената на героите.
А може би дори не и те. Защото са малцина онези, които наричат героинята с истинското й име. За тези, при които се завръща, тя е останала с името, което сама си е дала - и то звучи много по-убедително от онова, с което е кръстена.
Разказ за миналото, спомен за детството, опит за изясняване на стари останали неясни събития - тази книга е всичко това. Поетична, тъжна, сурова, опитваща се да сложи край на едно минало и да сложи началото на нова настояще - тази книга е всичко това. И оставя усещането, че си се разделил с истински хора, а не с литературни герои. И в последното изречение си ги оставил да поемат по новия си път. И можеш да кажеш само едно:
Адио, Рузинава.
Един септемврийски ден, една софийска Алея на книгата един дъжд, една шатра, в която буквално се сбъдна библейското "Почукай и ще и се отвори".
Така започва моята история с тази книга.
А нека добавя и друго - че аз всъщност не отидох за нея. Отидох за друга книга на същата авторка, а ми предложиха и тази. И понеже дори намирането на шатрата вече си беше цяло приключение, реших да допълня това приключение и д взема и тази книга.
Още по-странното е, че нейното заглавие ми прозвуча - и още ми звучи - странно познато. Като нещо, което съм виждала, чувала, може би дори преживявала някога в миналото. Все ено някой ме повика. И дори не прочетох цялата анотация.
"Адио, каубой" е историята на едно завръщане. Поне това прочетох от написаното на корицата и си казах, че всички тези истории си приличат. Че са едновременно спомени за детството или младостта и опит за помиряването на тези спомени с действителността, която откриваш, когато се връщаш. И обикновено има разграничение между миналите и сегашните моменти, между миналите и настоящите образи.
Тук обаче не е така.
Тук всички - дори героинята, която разказва историята - са едновременно призрачни и реални. Четеш и се питаш дали някой от отдавна заминалите няма да се завърне внезапно, дали това, което четеш, е наистина историята такава, каквато се е случила, или е някаква нейна версия, безкрайно променена от многото допълване, спомени, тълкувания, докато накрая единственото сигурно нещо остават имената на героите.
А може би дори не и те. Защото са малцина онези, които наричат героинята с истинското й име. За тези, при които се завръща, тя е останала с името, което сама си е дала - и то звучи много по-убедително от онова, с което е кръстена.
Разказ за миналото, спомен за детството, опит за изясняване на стари останали неясни събития - тази книга е всичко това. Поетична, тъжна, сурова, опитваща се да сложи край на едно минало и да сложи началото на нова настояще - тази книга е всичко това. И оставя усещането, че си се разделил с истински хора, а не с литературни герои. И в последното изречение си ги оставил да поемат по новия си път. И можеш да кажеш само едно:
Адио, Рузинава.
July 31, 2025
2,5⭐️
October 19, 2025
I’ve never read anything from Croatia, so I probably enjoyed it more because it was a melancholic tortured poet, rogue outsider, blinding, listless summer, dust and olive trees, sludgy, post war European story but in a new environment hehe. I wouldn’t say it had much of a plot (well it did but honestly it wasn’t very clear) but that didn’t really matter cause you felt absorbed by the characters!
Read
May 23, 2017In Vaarwel, cowboy ligt niets er te dik bovenop. Het is niet dat Olja Savičević te schaars met woorden is, maar ze besteedt ze in elk geval niet aan leed. Ze weigert om sentiment aan te wakkeren, en om te verdwalen in de psyches van haar personages. Misschien doet ze dat omdat er teveel bronnen van leed zijn in Vaarwel, cowboy. Het hoofdpersonage Dada keert terug naar haar wijk in Split, die de ravage van de oorlog in de jaren '90 nooit echt te boven is gekomen. Ze beschrijft het als een troosteloze, te hete, sjofele badplaats. Ze is teruggekomen omdat haar moeder daas door haar dagen heen zweeft, verslaafd geraakt aan pillen na de zelfmoord van haar jongste zoon, Dada's broertje Danijel. Het is Dada nooit helemaal duidelijk geworden hoe hij tot zijn daad is gekomen, en dat is deels de reden voor haar terugkomst: ze wil haar pijn niet verminderen (dat zou niet eens kunnen) maar het in een vorm gieten die het misschien zou kunnen verklaren. Dat zij dit in de laatste bladzijden pas opbiecht aan een wildvreemde, zegt eigenlijk ook al genoeg.
Zoals ik al zei: meer dan genoeg leed. Maar deze roman gaat niet over leed.
Savičević beschrijft eigenlijk alles behalve het leed: alles eromheen, in plaats van de rauwe pijn die Danijels dood heeft achtergelaten. En mede dat maakt het zo'n sterke roman. Je voelt de zindering van de hete maar niet warme zomer, de hardheid van Dada's zus, en de vervallenheid van de wijk, en alles samen draait om die ene gebeurtenis, vier jaar voor het begin van het boek.
Het is geen vrolijke roman, hoewel het af en toe wel echt grappig is. Het is geen liefdevolle roman: Dada en haar familieleden voelen zich ongemakkelijk bij nauw contact, en er is ook geen ruimte voor romantische liefde. En toch is het geen enorm zware roman. Savičević jaagt haar zinnen op: er is een rusteloosheid die door het boek dwaalt. Er is geen ruimte om te lang bij de dingen stil te staan; we moeten weer door. Dat is het gevoel dat ik kreeg bij de structuur van het boek, en dat lijkt perfect te passen bij de inhoud: langzame reflectie zou misschien te pijnlijke resultaten opleveren.
En dan is er nog het cowboy-thema. Dada's overleden vader en broer waren gek op spaghetti westerns, en in Dada's jeugd speelde zij met de kinderen in de buurt, nu volwassen of dood, dat ze cowboys en indianen waren. Het paste goed in de verhaallijn, vind ik. De cowboy filmster Ned Montgomery komt in film opnemen en Split, en dit rakelt de thematiek uit Dada's jeugd weer op. Ook laat het zien dat helden uit een jeugd nooit hun verwachtingen waar kunnen maken bij een gedesillusioneerde volwassene. En op (naar mijn idee) geheel western-achtige wijze, begint het verhaal met een aankomst, en eindigt het met een vertrek.
Zoals ik al zei: meer dan genoeg leed. Maar deze roman gaat niet over leed.
Savičević beschrijft eigenlijk alles behalve het leed: alles eromheen, in plaats van de rauwe pijn die Danijels dood heeft achtergelaten. En mede dat maakt het zo'n sterke roman. Je voelt de zindering van de hete maar niet warme zomer, de hardheid van Dada's zus, en de vervallenheid van de wijk, en alles samen draait om die ene gebeurtenis, vier jaar voor het begin van het boek.
Het is geen vrolijke roman, hoewel het af en toe wel echt grappig is. Het is geen liefdevolle roman: Dada en haar familieleden voelen zich ongemakkelijk bij nauw contact, en er is ook geen ruimte voor romantische liefde. En toch is het geen enorm zware roman. Savičević jaagt haar zinnen op: er is een rusteloosheid die door het boek dwaalt. Er is geen ruimte om te lang bij de dingen stil te staan; we moeten weer door. Dat is het gevoel dat ik kreeg bij de structuur van het boek, en dat lijkt perfect te passen bij de inhoud: langzame reflectie zou misschien te pijnlijke resultaten opleveren.
En dan is er nog het cowboy-thema. Dada's overleden vader en broer waren gek op spaghetti westerns, en in Dada's jeugd speelde zij met de kinderen in de buurt, nu volwassen of dood, dat ze cowboys en indianen waren. Het paste goed in de verhaallijn, vind ik. De cowboy filmster Ned Montgomery komt in film opnemen en Split, en dit rakelt de thematiek uit Dada's jeugd weer op. Ook laat het zien dat helden uit een jeugd nooit hun verwachtingen waar kunnen maken bij een gedesillusioneerde volwassene. En op (naar mijn idee) geheel western-achtige wijze, begint het verhaal met een aankomst, en eindigt het met een vertrek.
February 16, 2020
Dada, on her first visit home in several years and brought back by her mother’s illness, finds herself drawn into an inquiry, her inquiry, into her younger brother’s suicide several years earlier. On that basis this sounds a bleak book, made more so when (if you know the area) you might realise that although set around Split, it is far from the glossy tourist part, or the lush beaches running south toward the resorts, but in the bleak, economically side-lined parts north of the city toward the airport – there’s not much tourist inspired wealth there…. making Dada’s home settlement/village a place of poverty, retired people and gangsters – and for the time being a film set, bizarrely for a western.
It’s here that the tone of the book is set; alongside the contrasts of tradition and wealth, poverty and innovation there is an (almost) always in the background western, invoking the image of the spaghetti western, being made, starring one of the classic figures of that genre and idol of Daniel’s, the dead brother. From the tragedy of Daniel’s death to the absurdity of the resolution of the narrative, through isolation and uncertainty, lusts sated, dreams of Zagreb fame and acceptance of an ordinary life as a migrant worker, Savičevič has cast both an absurdist narrative and cutting realist critique of contemporary Croatian life where a desire for something better is confronted by the impossibility of it being achieved.
Through all of this Savičevič, better known as a poet (this is her first novel), builds a layered and interwoven, but not overly complex, narrative packed with evocative imagery and deep sense of knowing The Settlement, or places like it, well. She is a skilled writer, shifting from the banal and prosaic to the surreal and absurd and then on to the poetic, often in successive sentences. This makes for an engaging novel where it is not just the lack of a linear narrative that kept me on my toes, but the blurring of time and place, of space and its occupants as narrative strands intersect, as problems in one sequence solved by an aside, an allusion in another setting and as even the heroes match the tattiness of The Settlement. Amid all this, all praise to Celia Hawkesworth whose translation not only shifts slyly between registers, but marks the distinctiveness of Split’s language – more than an accent, less than a dialect of Croatian.
Farewell Cowboy is engaging and captivating, beguiling and definitely literary – and a treat: many thanks to Istros Press a publishing programme that gives us texts of this quality. Highly recommended.
It’s here that the tone of the book is set; alongside the contrasts of tradition and wealth, poverty and innovation there is an (almost) always in the background western, invoking the image of the spaghetti western, being made, starring one of the classic figures of that genre and idol of Daniel’s, the dead brother. From the tragedy of Daniel’s death to the absurdity of the resolution of the narrative, through isolation and uncertainty, lusts sated, dreams of Zagreb fame and acceptance of an ordinary life as a migrant worker, Savičevič has cast both an absurdist narrative and cutting realist critique of contemporary Croatian life where a desire for something better is confronted by the impossibility of it being achieved.
Through all of this Savičevič, better known as a poet (this is her first novel), builds a layered and interwoven, but not overly complex, narrative packed with evocative imagery and deep sense of knowing The Settlement, or places like it, well. She is a skilled writer, shifting from the banal and prosaic to the surreal and absurd and then on to the poetic, often in successive sentences. This makes for an engaging novel where it is not just the lack of a linear narrative that kept me on my toes, but the blurring of time and place, of space and its occupants as narrative strands intersect, as problems in one sequence solved by an aside, an allusion in another setting and as even the heroes match the tattiness of The Settlement. Amid all this, all praise to Celia Hawkesworth whose translation not only shifts slyly between registers, but marks the distinctiveness of Split’s language – more than an accent, less than a dialect of Croatian.
Farewell Cowboy is engaging and captivating, beguiling and definitely literary – and a treat: many thanks to Istros Press a publishing programme that gives us texts of this quality. Highly recommended.
July 5, 2019
Za ovu knjigu sam cula u sklopu nedavne mozgoprazne hajke koja se u Hrvatskoj stvorila na popis lektire. Prema toj mozgopraznoj hajci, ova knjiga, skupa s jos nekima (ukljucujuci Murakamija) promovira pedofiliju. Naravno, kretencine koje lupetaju takve idiotske gluposti mozda bi mogli prvo procitat knjigu. Mada mislim da oni ne znaju citat. Zato lupetaju gluparije, koje su culi od drugih. I u cijeloj prici sam ogorcena da ovakve idiotarije, bez ukljucivanja mozdanih stanica, radi moj narod. Koji je u zadnjih 30-ak godina postao toliko glup i primitivan da ga ja ne mogu povezati s mojim djetinjstvom i mladosti. Kao da smo se iz svemira normalnosti prebacili u svemir totalne nebuloze, nerazmisljanja i pokornoga sljedbenistva ludaka. Sto gluplji, nemoralniji i kriminalniji - to nekako bolje.
Ova knjiga se bavi odrastanjem. U ovome uzasnome okruzenju u koje se Hrvatska pretvorila. Okruzenju u kojemu ako imas ikakve moralne smjernice jednostavno nisi normalan jer toliko odskaces od okoline da pocinjes preispitivati sebe. I moras bjezati. Nemas drugoga izbora. Jednostavno moras van iz te uzasne zabokrecine. A prije toga, prije nego sto mozes pobjec u zalazak sunca, moras naci objasnjenje i smisao jednoga tragicnoga dogadaja u zivotu.
O tome je knjiga. Ne promovira pedofiliju. Promovira trazenje normalnosti u prestrasnome, suludome drustvu. Uopce me ne cudi da su ovi novokomponirani moralisti navalili na nju. Crta im jako lijepo u sto su zemlju pretvorili.
Ova knjiga se bavi odrastanjem. U ovome uzasnome okruzenju u koje se Hrvatska pretvorila. Okruzenju u kojemu ako imas ikakve moralne smjernice jednostavno nisi normalan jer toliko odskaces od okoline da pocinjes preispitivati sebe. I moras bjezati. Nemas drugoga izbora. Jednostavno moras van iz te uzasne zabokrecine. A prije toga, prije nego sto mozes pobjec u zalazak sunca, moras naci objasnjenje i smisao jednoga tragicnoga dogadaja u zivotu.
O tome je knjiga. Ne promovira pedofiliju. Promovira trazenje normalnosti u prestrasnome, suludome drustvu. Uopce me ne cudi da su ovi novokomponirani moralisti navalili na nju. Crta im jako lijepo u sto su zemlju pretvorili.
February 20, 2024
povratak u detinjstvo i pogled bolu oči u oči, sve kroz kratke, ponekad zbunjene i pomešane priče od junakinje-pripovedačice.
shvatila sam valjda samo posle nekih 50 stranica da tu ima neka tajna po koju je Dada došla kući i koju ćemo sa njom tu zajedno tražiti (činilo se da je to zbirka malo povezanih pričica i to je to); 'Western' deo sam pročitala bez ikakvog interesa i mislim da nije uopšte potreban u ovom romanu (a nije ni zanimljiv); inače morala sam da se potrudim da ne bih izgubila osnovnu priču u ovoj gomili sitnih detalja i kraćih poglavlja; o samom kraju i spisateljici koja se pojavljuje kao čarobni džin ili mudri posmatrač i postavlja baš sva potrebna pitanja da nam junakinja u odgovorima sve objasni i raščisti, ne bih ni pričala.. ali uz sve te mane ovo je knjiga u kojoj je glavno lice - stvarna, živa, ne savršena i potpuno obična žena, sa svojim mislima i motivacijom, karakterom, željama i bolom. deluje mi kao odličan odgovor svim sličnim junacima muškarcima koji su preplovili svu (relativno) savremenu književnost. bez toga ne bi tu bile ni tri zvezdice
shvatila sam valjda samo posle nekih 50 stranica da tu ima neka tajna po koju je Dada došla kući i koju ćemo sa njom tu zajedno tražiti (činilo se da je to zbirka malo povezanih pričica i to je to); 'Western' deo sam pročitala bez ikakvog interesa i mislim da nije uopšte potreban u ovom romanu (a nije ni zanimljiv); inače morala sam da se potrudim da ne bih izgubila osnovnu priču u ovoj gomili sitnih detalja i kraćih poglavlja; o samom kraju i spisateljici koja se pojavljuje kao čarobni džin ili mudri posmatrač i postavlja baš sva potrebna pitanja da nam junakinja u odgovorima sve objasni i raščisti, ne bih ni pričala.. ali uz sve te mane ovo je knjiga u kojoj je glavno lice - stvarna, živa, ne savršena i potpuno obična žena, sa svojim mislima i motivacijom, karakterom, željama i bolom. deluje mi kao odličan odgovor svim sličnim junacima muškarcima koji su preplovili svu (relativno) savremenu književnost. bez toga ne bi tu bile ni tri zvezdice
May 8, 2016
An interesting, no-holds-barred and at times almost unbearably sad portrayal of the generation most affected by the war in Yugoslavia and trying to make a life after and in spite of it all. Yet, unexpectedly, the language and insights are not high-flown and dramatic, but rendered with a clear-eyed, almost cynical and mocking tone of a younger generation.
September 22, 2015
Read this on holiday in Croatia. Very good, personal story.
February 3, 2017
Hilarious, yet tragic. A literary thrill about home, journeys, and the definition of an individual.
September 19, 2024
gaučosi i pravi kauboji među ljudima sjajni momci i curice dobit će sjajnu značku svemira
October 2, 2022
This book really confused me. The author's unconventional approach to narrative, which hops through time and sometimes metaphor without clear distinction, is at times remarkable and makes for a wonderful reading experience, and at other times the exact same approach is baffling and annoying.
It feels halfway between something poignant and lovely, and something that is tiringly trying to be different whilst not providing a context that lives up to its narrative experimentation.
When it shines this book paints a powerful cultural backdrop for Croatia, small-town communities, contemporary youth, and on. It also uses its non-chronological approach and its bright metaphors to great effect at points for a vivd and at times wonderful scene.
When it's losing you it is plodding through the irritatingly precise details of a part of primary character Dada's day or hammering into you just how depraved and horrible most people seem to be in this book. Seriously, nearly everyone is a terrible person in some way. Not in a: we're all flawed people deep down - kind of way, but more in a: rat bastards at every turn - kind of way. It gets a bit tiring when character descriptions are trying to out-asshole each other.
It feels halfway between something poignant and lovely, and something that is tiringly trying to be different whilst not providing a context that lives up to its narrative experimentation.
When it shines this book paints a powerful cultural backdrop for Croatia, small-town communities, contemporary youth, and on. It also uses its non-chronological approach and its bright metaphors to great effect at points for a vivd and at times wonderful scene.
When it's losing you it is plodding through the irritatingly precise details of a part of primary character Dada's day or hammering into you just how depraved and horrible most people seem to be in this book. Seriously, nearly everyone is a terrible person in some way. Not in a: we're all flawed people deep down - kind of way, but more in a: rat bastards at every turn - kind of way. It gets a bit tiring when character descriptions are trying to out-asshole each other.
November 27, 2024
I somehow finished this because I was hoping it will go somewhere but it just never did. The writing is excruciating to read through. It feels like one of those books they make you read at school and then end up surprised that kids hate reading.
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