„Romanu o Londonu težnju daje moj glavni saradnik – očajanje. U romanu je prisutna – snaga očajanja.“ Miloš Crnjanski
U najkospmopolitskijem romanu u srpskoj književnosti Crnjanski sa fascinantnom uverljivošću oživljava paradoks posleratnog života u metropoli, u kojem iseljenik ima manje nade nego u okolnostima ogoljenog potiranja života. U ratu, smrt je nametnuta, u miru, ona je izbor. Da li je pobednik u borbi za opstanak postao poraženi u borbi za autentičnost?
Roman o Londonu vrhunske domete ostvaruje odsustvom zavodljivosti priče sa neizvesnim krajem, savremenog čitaoca okupira aktuelnošću, a gubitnika u romanu svojom literarnom snagom pretvara u junaka epohalne drame koja se i danas odvija.
Miloš Crnjanski (in Serbian Cyrillic: Милош Црњански, pronounced [mîlɔʃ t͡srɲǎnskiː]) was a poet of the expressionist wing of Serbian modernism, author, and a diplomat. He initially wrote poetry but later turned to prose fiction and drama, as well. He wrote about his disillusionment, the futility of war and the destruction of his country.
Crnjanski was born in Csongrád, present day Hungary in 1893. His father was a municipal notary. The family moved to Temesvár (now Timisoara in Romania), where he grew up in a Serbian environment, favouring Serbian nationalism. After high school, he studied in Rijeka and then Vienna. After the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, he was persecuted like other Serbs and then drafted into the army to fight the Russians. He was wounded in 1915, spending time in a hospital in Vienna. He was later sent back to the Italian front. He then studied art history and philosophy in Vienna and graduated from the University of Belgrade, where he had edited the student newspaper. He later worked as a teacher, a newspaper editor and an embassy press attaché in Berlin and then in the Yugoslav Embassy in Rome. He also worked as reporter in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. In World War II, he escaped to London, where he remained after the war, becoming a British citizen. He worked in Hatchards, the bookshop, while his wife sewed dolls dresses for Harrods. He returned to Belgrade, Serbia in 1965, where he died in 1977.
Tragična sudbina jednog ruskog princa, aristokrate, u sivom, sivom Londonu; u svetu gde nema mesta za emigrante, nepovodljive, koji gaje poštovanje prema svojoj časti, svojim uverenjima i zemlji.
Roman prati postepeno gašenje jedne životne iskre. Roman prati osobenjaka, romantika, koji se samo zbog svoje žene, trudio, i ponižavao; koji je patio za prošlošću, i koji je bio oličenje nečeg starog što ne može, ne može da se prilagodi onom novom. Novoj sredini.
Rjepnin je čovek ponosan, čovek dostojanstven, koji odbija svaku vrstu pomoći od onih, koji se ne drže morala; samim tim, odbija maltene svaku vrstu pomoći, i, propada. A propada i njegova voljena, lepa, mlađa žena, Nađa, koja šije i prodaje lutke kako bi oni preživeli; jer, Rjepnin uvek završi sa otpusnicom, pre ili kasnije.
U borbi za opstanak, Rjepnin gubi borbu za život. On prestaje da vidi radost, i boje. Za njega, sve gubi smisao. Samo ga Nađa, i ljubav i poštovanje prema njoj, održavaju na površini. Ni je sluti da je trudna.
„Kao mravi, gomile su hitale, ćutke, na posao, a hiljade i hiljade lica prolazila, kao maske, u nekom ludilu…Život je uvek isti. Ustaje se, trči na stanicu, stoji se, slepljeno, tesno u vozu, pa se izlazi, automatski, iz podzemlja u Londonu. Nemo. Trči se u neki podrum, a vraća uveče, posle rada, četrdeset godina tako…Otkud to u Engleskoj? Otkud toliki pokojnici, milioni pokojnika koji u Engleskoj govore i šapuću?“.