Fužinski bluz

by Andrej E. Skubic

Fužine Blues is a novel about the life and people of contemporary Ljubljana and about what happens behind apartment walls. Most of all, the novel addresses the lack of dialogue that allows ordinary things such as football, beer, and women to be discussed.
Fužine Blues takes place on June 13, 2000, the day of the football match between Slovenia and Yugoslavia in the qualifications for the European Cup that ended with a breathtaking tied result of 3:3. The setting is the housing development of Fužine, known for its ethnically mixed population. The novel presents the parallel stories of four protagonists living on the tenth floor of the same high-rise apartment building in Fuž Peter Sokič – Pero – a former heavy metal enthusiast in his early thirties; Igor Ščinkavec, a forty-something real estate agent; Janina Pašković, a sixteen-year-old high school student, and; Vera Erjavec, a retired Slovenian professor. Each of the four speaks in their own respective "language" about their jobs, friends, the neighborhood, love, random acquaintances, and coworkers. On the day of the football match, an important occasion, they each strive to do something that will somehow alter their position in life. The protagonists are searching both for their place in the community and for meaning in life, but are too weak to engage with their own destiny because they cling to the past and are unable to face the present.
The novel was dramatized by Ana Lasić and staged by the Slovenian National Theatre Drama Ljubljana in the 2005/06 season (litteraeslovenicae.si).

Genres: Fiction

265 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Andrej Ermenc Skubic (born 28 December 1967) is a Slovene writer, playwright, and translator.
Skubic was born in Ljubljana in 1967. He studied English and Slovene at the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Arts, and he also worked at the faculty from 1998 to 2004, when he received his doctorate in sociolinguistics.
In 2000 he won the Kresnik Award for his novel Grenki med, in 2007 the Župančičeva Award of the City of Ljubljana for his novel Popkorn and in 2012 the Prešeren Foundation Award and the Kresnik Award for his novel Koliko si moja? He lives in Ljubljana and works as a freelance writer and translator. Among others he has translated into Slovene works by Irvine Welsh, Flann O'Brien, Patrick McCabe, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, and Gertrude Stein. In 2007 he got the Sovre Award for exceptional literary translation for his translations of the selected writings of Gertrude Stein and James Kelman's novel How Late It Was, How Late (Slovene: Kako pozno, pozno je bilo)

Reviews

[John Brookes · Rating 4 out of 5]

In reading this Slovenian novel I spent a fascinating few days in the company of a diverse group of individuals in Fužine, apparently one of the less salubrious areas of the capital city, Ljubljana.

The author, Andrej Skubic, is also an accomplished translator; and it came as no surprise that he has translated – amongst others – the gritty urban Scottish author Irvine Welsh of ‘Trainspotting’ fame. Whilst this novel is not derivative of Welsh’s breakthrough novel, there is a certain focus on the immediate first-person narrative, told in local dialect (which the translation into English captures well), which Welsh also typifies.

However, whilst Welsh tends to go for a range of different narrative voices in his works; they are generally from the same socio-economic background (i.e. working class Edinburgh) - whereas Skubic paints a much wider social palette. His protagonists range from the 16-year old Janina (the daughter of a Montenegrin immigrant, finding her own identity in an alien environment), to Igor (a former bus driver now striking out into entrepreneurial flat-letting - most of the protagonists live within a particular towerblock in Fužine), through to Vera (a retired professor of linguistics at Slovenia’s University, and a divorcee forced to re-appraise both her younger and present life through a chance contact with a former friend and colleague).

Most interesting to myself however - and possibly also to Skubic himself, as this character forms the main narrative focus of the book – is Pero. Pero is a former counter-culture heavy metal freak who displays a touching bewilderment that his former youthful friends have either become ‘respectable’ by getting jobs and families; or have died through excess of drugs or drink. We first meet Pero in a desperate state of isolation and alcoholism in the aforementioned high-rise. A possible redemption is hinted at in his decision to raise himself out of drink-induced stupor and contact his old crowd; and at first we are led to believe this may be an option. However, it soon becomes clear that his ‘crowd’ have moved on (whether through social inclusion, death or drug addition) and Pero is left alone…leading to a poignant series of vignettes where Pero refuses to accept this and describes imaginary social outings with his old friends who are not there for him.

Gluing this disparate narrative together (which all takes place within 24 hours) is the build up between a football match taking place on the day of the very first football match between independent Slovenia and Yugoslavia. This match is an obvious metaphor in terms of ‘Yugo’ / Slovenian tensions, with some characters (e.g. Vera and Janina) indifferent to the outcome, and others such as Pero and Igor placing a huge degree of importance on it. Skubic as an author ramps up a charged sense of tension around the match itself which never ignites (Igor has an verbal confrontation with an adversary which never erupts into violence in the book), and it has to be said that Fužine’s more nefarious inhabitants come off as much more restrained than Welsh’s casual exponents of violence based in Edinburgh.

Ultimately, this novel is not a didactic one – i.e. it presents a number of perspectives of Slovenian lives and views without being judgmental. However, the metaphor of the football match seems – to me – to be saying that there are inevitable divisions in Slovenian society (along class and ethnic lines) but they do not need to be ones which lead to violence. Even the two opposing characters who we are lead to expect a fight between in the book whilst the match is on (Igor and Mirkovic) diffuse the situation (albeit not on friendly terms). They find a way to each save face without violence. Indeed if the football match is seen as a metaphor for the potential divisions in Slovenian society, it is telling that the final result – so important to the opposing factions – is never even revealed in the book (we find out that 6 goals have been scored, as Janina counts the fireworks from her room, but we do not know which side has scored the goals). And maybe that is the point of the book: countries and societies will inevitably have their differences; but these can actually lead to common ground rather than conflict. A football match has people that want one side or another to win, but surely they are all unified in being followers of football?

[Nia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mogoče ni fer da ocenjujem knjigo ker sem prebrala dramatizacijo ampak bom sem napisala, ker moram spucat dušo nekomu pa naj bo to goodreads. To delo je eno teh k so tako polna nekega subtilnega nasilja in sovražstva med ljudmi, jebanja v glavo pa neke globoke bolečine in obupa znotraj vsakega karakterja in vse to je zavito v neko kritiko sistema, ki poka po šivih od tematik in ljudi pri meni pa ne pusti zares nobenih drugih čustev kot samo neko globoko neprijetnost in paniko. Ne maram brati na tak način tudi če lahko iz jezika in peljanja zgodbe vidim da je to kvaliteten pisatelj.rab Moje srce in moj živčni sistem rabi malo pavze, mogoče za vedno, rabim neko čustveno nežnost in upanje. Ne zame trenutno ali pa sploh skratka.

[Maurits]

DNF