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Krstitelj
Radnja romana odvija se početkom prvog stoljeća nove ere na području Galileje i Judeje, a jednim dijelom i u starom Rimu, u doba burnih političkih i vjerskih previranja. Glavni su junaci mladići Elizej i Bileam te fatalna Saloma. Njihovi će se životi, na različite načine, iz temelja izmijeniti kada susretnu Ivana Krstitelja. U ovom romanu bogate fabule, natopljenom snažnim emocijama, strastima i zanosima, kao jedan od sporednih junaka pojavljuje se i sam Isus Krist.
283 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
52 people want to read
About the author
Miro Gavran
79 books102 followersMiro Gavran is a contemporary Croatian author, born in 1961. His works have been translated into 35 languages, and his books have come out in 150 different editions at home and abroad. His dramas and comedies have had more than 200 theatre first nights around the world and have been seen by more than two million theatre-goers.
He is the only living dramatist in Europe to have a theatre festival devoted solely to his plays outside his/her homeland; the Gavranfest has been held in Slovakia since 2003.
He debuted in 1983 with the drama Creon's Antigone, speaking out forcefully about political manipulation. This was followed three years later by the drama Night of the Gods, the theme being the relationship between the artist and the powers-that-be under a totalitarian system. He then wrote a cycle of plays concentrating on male-female relations, in which his heroes were often great historical persons. He has created a series of complex female characters. His heroines are both strong and emotional. He has written some forty plays to date, including Death of an Actor, All About Women, All About Men, George Washington's Loves, Chekhov Says Good-Bye to Tolstoy, How To Kill The President, Greta Garbo's Secret, Parallel Worlds, Nora in Our Time, My Wife's Husband, Dr Freud's Patient...
There have been first nights of his plays throughout the world, in: Rotterdam, Washington, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Buenos Aires, Waterford, Mumbai, Bratislava, Prague, Ljubljana, Sarajevo, Krakow, Belgrade, Budapest, Athens, Augsburg, Vienna, Sofia.
He has had nine novels published: Forgotten Son, How We Broke Our Legs, Klara, Margita or A Journey into a Former Life, Judith, John the Baptist, Pontius Pilate and The Only Witness to Beauty, Kafka's friend, along with a collection of short stories entitled Small Unusual People.
In his early novels, he describes life in the Croatian provinces, featuring everyday folk, anti-heroes of sorts, who retain a positive stance towards life even when they are confronted with injustice and major difficulties. This is perhaps best seen in his novel, Forgotten Son (1989), in which the central personage is a slightly mentally challenged young man of twenty.
As a forty-year-old, Gavran started to write psychological-existential novels inspired by biblical characters, bringing them nearer to the sensibilities of contemporary readers. These books have been popular with both believers and non-believers, since their messages are universal.
His books have been published in all corners of the globe: in Beijing, Vienna, St Petersburg, Oslo, Istanbul, Paris, Prague, Bratislava, Sofia, Ljubljana...
Gavran has received more than twenty literary awards in Croatia and abroad, including the Central European Time Award, given annually in Budapest to the best Central European author for overall opus, as well as the European Circle Award given to writers for the confirmation of European values in their texts.
With insight and humour, Miro Gavran has written eight books for children and young people: All Sorts of Things in My Head, How Dad Won Mum, Head Over Heels in Love, Happy Days, Farewell Letter, Plays with a Head and a Tail, Try to Forget and The Teacher of My Dreams. These books have also found their way to adult readers.
Gavran earned his degree in Dramaturgy at the Academy of Theatre, Film and Television in Zagreb.
He first worked as a dramaturge and theatre director at the famous ITD Theatre in Zagreb. Since 1993, he has been living and working as a free-lance, professional writer. His theatre and prose texts have been included in numerous anthologies in Croatia and in countries outside its borders, and his work is studied at universities throughout the world.
He has been living in Zagreb, Croatia since he was twenty. He is married to the actress Mladena Gavran, and founded the Gavran Theatre with her in 2002. Their son Jakov is a student of acting.
He is the only living dramatist in Europe to have a theatre festival devoted solely to his plays outside his/her homeland; the Gavranfest has been held in Slovakia since 2003.
He debuted in 1983 with the drama Creon's Antigone, speaking out forcefully about political manipulation. This was followed three years later by the drama Night of the Gods, the theme being the relationship between the artist and the powers-that-be under a totalitarian system. He then wrote a cycle of plays concentrating on male-female relations, in which his heroes were often great historical persons. He has created a series of complex female characters. His heroines are both strong and emotional. He has written some forty plays to date, including Death of an Actor, All About Women, All About Men, George Washington's Loves, Chekhov Says Good-Bye to Tolstoy, How To Kill The President, Greta Garbo's Secret, Parallel Worlds, Nora in Our Time, My Wife's Husband, Dr Freud's Patient...
There have been first nights of his plays throughout the world, in: Rotterdam, Washington, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Buenos Aires, Waterford, Mumbai, Bratislava, Prague, Ljubljana, Sarajevo, Krakow, Belgrade, Budapest, Athens, Augsburg, Vienna, Sofia.
He has had nine novels published: Forgotten Son, How We Broke Our Legs, Klara, Margita or A Journey into a Former Life, Judith, John the Baptist, Pontius Pilate and The Only Witness to Beauty, Kafka's friend, along with a collection of short stories entitled Small Unusual People.
In his early novels, he describes life in the Croatian provinces, featuring everyday folk, anti-heroes of sorts, who retain a positive stance towards life even when they are confronted with injustice and major difficulties. This is perhaps best seen in his novel, Forgotten Son (1989), in which the central personage is a slightly mentally challenged young man of twenty.
As a forty-year-old, Gavran started to write psychological-existential novels inspired by biblical characters, bringing them nearer to the sensibilities of contemporary readers. These books have been popular with both believers and non-believers, since their messages are universal.
His books have been published in all corners of the globe: in Beijing, Vienna, St Petersburg, Oslo, Istanbul, Paris, Prague, Bratislava, Sofia, Ljubljana...
Gavran has received more than twenty literary awards in Croatia and abroad, including the Central European Time Award, given annually in Budapest to the best Central European author for overall opus, as well as the European Circle Award given to writers for the confirmation of European values in their texts.
With insight and humour, Miro Gavran has written eight books for children and young people: All Sorts of Things in My Head, How Dad Won Mum, Head Over Heels in Love, Happy Days, Farewell Letter, Plays with a Head and a Tail, Try to Forget and The Teacher of My Dreams. These books have also found their way to adult readers.
Gavran earned his degree in Dramaturgy at the Academy of Theatre, Film and Television in Zagreb.
He first worked as a dramaturge and theatre director at the famous ITD Theatre in Zagreb. Since 1993, he has been living and working as a free-lance, professional writer. His theatre and prose texts have been included in numerous anthologies in Croatia and in countries outside its borders, and his work is studied at universities throughout the world.
He has been living in Zagreb, Croatia since he was twenty. He is married to the actress Mladena Gavran, and founded the Gavran Theatre with her in 2002. Their son Jakov is a student of acting.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 11, 2018
Krstitelj je roman čija se radnja temelji na Bibliji, a iako nosi naziv Krstitelj, glavni lik zapravo nije Ivan, već njegova dva njegova učenika i Saloma koja postaje njegov treći učenik. Dva Ivanova učenika su obojica mladi Židovi, ali zapravo su jako različiti jedan od drugoga. Roman je napisan tako da svatko poglavlje prati unutrašnje misli njih dvojice i Salome. Radnja se najviše vrti oko Ivana Krstitelja, ali spominje se i Isus. Saloma je naročito zanimljiv lik, a Gavranova verzija dosta je drugačija od one kanonske. Možda se to čini kao neobična intepretacija, ali meni zapravo ima smisla. Tko zna je li Saloma doista glavni krivac za smrt Ivana Krstitelja? Čak i da jest, ostaje pitanje tko ju je nagovorio.
Već sam pročitala jedan Gavranov sličan roman, onaj temeljen na priči o Juditi. Moram priznati da mi je zanimljivo kako oba ova djela imaju isti motiv gubitka glave. Gavran je Juditi preobrazio, dao joj je dubinu i osobnost, a ista stvar se događa i sa Salomom. Kroz Gavranovo pero pratimo težak život Salome, djevojke koju nitko od njena naroda nije volio i koju su svi samo iskorištavali.
Kada sam pisala ogled o Juditi, primjetila sam da ona kao i mnogi, živi dva života i ima dva lica. Isto bi se moglo reći za Salomu. Još jednom ne iznenadilo koliko je Gavran dobar u prikazivanju ženske psihe. Saloma, kao i Judita, je žena uvelike ograničena svojoj sredinom. Rimsko društvo zapravo je na svoj način jednako kruto i okrutno. Saloma je uhvaćena u spletke i nije čudno što kao Judita ima jedno lice koje pokazuje u javnosti, a drugo koje čuva za sebe. Za Gavranovu Juditu sam rekla da nije licemjer, ona jednostavno još nije pronašla način da podijeli i to drugo lice sa svijetom, a možda taj način i ne postoji, možda je dovoljno mudra da zna da se neke stvari i ne mogu podijeliti, da neke tajne duše uvijek ostaju tajne. Je li isto slučaj sa Salomom?
Možda i nije. Saloma traži učitelja i prijatelja u Ivanu Krstitelju. Razlika između Salome i Judite je možda u tome što jedna živi u starozavjetnom, a druga u novozavjetnom svijetu. Saloma se usuđuje nadati i vjerovati. Juditina priča je ona o ljubavi, ta ljubav joj daje dubinu. No, što slijedi nakon ljubavi? Samoća! Judita ne pronalazi srodnu dušu u židovskoj zajednici, dok nekim ljudima u ovoj knjizi to polazi za rukom. Prijateljstvo se prikazuje kao najveća vrijednost. Dirljivi su opisi odnosa Ivana i njegovih učenika, pa i razgovora Isusa sa Ivanom.
U ovoj knjizi ima puno stradanja, ali i puno ljubavi. Salomina ljubav je pak nezemaljska. Ona se ne ostvaruje u ljubavnom odnosu s muškarcem, već u potrazi jedinstva duha. Zapravo Krstitelj je djelo u kojem ima više mistike nego u Juditi. Postoji podjela na materijalne i duhovne osobe. Nema u ovom romanu previše osuđivanja, već se pokazuje da jednostavno postoje ljudi koji imaju drugačije težnje. Na primjer, postoji i treći Ivanov učenik, skromni ribar Andrija, koji postaje i Kristov učenik. Na njegovom primjeru se vidi da svjetovno obrazovanje nije sve. Neke se stvari vide samo duhom. Kao što sam rekla, pripovjedanje prati dva Ivanova učenika, a o Andriji se saznaje posredno od njih. Obojica ga zapravo drugačije doživljavaju. Jedan od Ivanovih učenika bio je samo razočaran jer nije dobio što je htio u svjetovnom životu, te mu se odmah vratio kada mu se ukazala prilika, dok mu je drugi bio vjeran do kraja. Toga što je imao zemaljske težnje zapravo ova knjiga ne optužuje. Nisu svi za sve, reklo bi se. Rekla bi da ovaj roman razlike među ljudima promatra kao nešto prirodno, a to mi se dopalo.
Kao i kod Judite, sam jezik ovoga djela sasvim je prilagođen svome originalnom uzorku. Gavran koristi puno citata iz Bilblije, a na puno mjesta ponavljaju se Isusove i Ivanove novozavjetne riječi. Dodaje im se neko dodatno značenje, ali se od njih ne odstupa. Nadalje, u pisanju Gavran koristi arhaične riječi, a uz to i prikladna glagolska vremena (imperfekt i aorist veoma često), uspješno prizivajući osjećaj biblijskoga pripovijedanja. Kao i u Juditi, samo pisanje u Krstitelju je veoma ujednačeno, svi su likovi uvjerljivi pripovjedači. Roman je veoma dubok, zalazi u mističnost, a opet je jako čitljiv. Za svaku preporuku!
Već sam pročitala jedan Gavranov sličan roman, onaj temeljen na priči o Juditi. Moram priznati da mi je zanimljivo kako oba ova djela imaju isti motiv gubitka glave. Gavran je Juditi preobrazio, dao joj je dubinu i osobnost, a ista stvar se događa i sa Salomom. Kroz Gavranovo pero pratimo težak život Salome, djevojke koju nitko od njena naroda nije volio i koju su svi samo iskorištavali.
Kada sam pisala ogled o Juditi, primjetila sam da ona kao i mnogi, živi dva života i ima dva lica. Isto bi se moglo reći za Salomu. Još jednom ne iznenadilo koliko je Gavran dobar u prikazivanju ženske psihe. Saloma, kao i Judita, je žena uvelike ograničena svojoj sredinom. Rimsko društvo zapravo je na svoj način jednako kruto i okrutno. Saloma je uhvaćena u spletke i nije čudno što kao Judita ima jedno lice koje pokazuje u javnosti, a drugo koje čuva za sebe. Za Gavranovu Juditu sam rekla da nije licemjer, ona jednostavno još nije pronašla način da podijeli i to drugo lice sa svijetom, a možda taj način i ne postoji, možda je dovoljno mudra da zna da se neke stvari i ne mogu podijeliti, da neke tajne duše uvijek ostaju tajne. Je li isto slučaj sa Salomom?
Možda i nije. Saloma traži učitelja i prijatelja u Ivanu Krstitelju. Razlika između Salome i Judite je možda u tome što jedna živi u starozavjetnom, a druga u novozavjetnom svijetu. Saloma se usuđuje nadati i vjerovati. Juditina priča je ona o ljubavi, ta ljubav joj daje dubinu. No, što slijedi nakon ljubavi? Samoća! Judita ne pronalazi srodnu dušu u židovskoj zajednici, dok nekim ljudima u ovoj knjizi to polazi za rukom. Prijateljstvo se prikazuje kao najveća vrijednost. Dirljivi su opisi odnosa Ivana i njegovih učenika, pa i razgovora Isusa sa Ivanom.
U ovoj knjizi ima puno stradanja, ali i puno ljubavi. Salomina ljubav je pak nezemaljska. Ona se ne ostvaruje u ljubavnom odnosu s muškarcem, već u potrazi jedinstva duha. Zapravo Krstitelj je djelo u kojem ima više mistike nego u Juditi. Postoji podjela na materijalne i duhovne osobe. Nema u ovom romanu previše osuđivanja, već se pokazuje da jednostavno postoje ljudi koji imaju drugačije težnje. Na primjer, postoji i treći Ivanov učenik, skromni ribar Andrija, koji postaje i Kristov učenik. Na njegovom primjeru se vidi da svjetovno obrazovanje nije sve. Neke se stvari vide samo duhom. Kao što sam rekla, pripovjedanje prati dva Ivanova učenika, a o Andriji se saznaje posredno od njih. Obojica ga zapravo drugačije doživljavaju. Jedan od Ivanovih učenika bio je samo razočaran jer nije dobio što je htio u svjetovnom životu, te mu se odmah vratio kada mu se ukazala prilika, dok mu je drugi bio vjeran do kraja. Toga što je imao zemaljske težnje zapravo ova knjiga ne optužuje. Nisu svi za sve, reklo bi se. Rekla bi da ovaj roman razlike među ljudima promatra kao nešto prirodno, a to mi se dopalo.
Kao i kod Judite, sam jezik ovoga djela sasvim je prilagođen svome originalnom uzorku. Gavran koristi puno citata iz Bilblije, a na puno mjesta ponavljaju se Isusove i Ivanove novozavjetne riječi. Dodaje im se neko dodatno značenje, ali se od njih ne odstupa. Nadalje, u pisanju Gavran koristi arhaične riječi, a uz to i prikladna glagolska vremena (imperfekt i aorist veoma često), uspješno prizivajući osjećaj biblijskoga pripovijedanja. Kao i u Juditi, samo pisanje u Krstitelju je veoma ujednačeno, svi su likovi uvjerljivi pripovjedači. Roman je veoma dubok, zalazi u mističnost, a opet je jako čitljiv. Za svaku preporuku!
February 3, 2024
Toliko dobra knjiga da mi postaje sumnjivo. U nekim trenucima se pitam je li mi dozvoljeno toliko biti ushićen oko ove knjige, dok Biblija mirno leži na noćnom ormariću netaknuta...
November 16, 2019
Pisac uspijeva ono najteže - od priče koju svi znamo i koja je toliko puta ispričana napraviti nešto što svi čitamo kao da je prvi put.
Subjektivan sam jer mi očito Gavranov stil odgovara i svaka njegova knjiga koju započnem uvuče mi se pod kožu do kraja druge rečenice. Ima nešto meni jako privlačno u stilu, rečenici, likovima, zapletu, divna mi je ta složena jednostavnost, ta neizravna izravnost, ta banalna složenost, zaista uživam. Kao da balansira na ekstremno tankoj liniji između velike vjere i najperfidnije ironije. Ne-protivna je, a zvuči i privlačna je kao gnostička evanđelja. Valjda je u tome stvar.
Uzeti kao putnu literaturu na izlet u Jordan ili Izrael.
Subjektivan sam jer mi očito Gavranov stil odgovara i svaka njegova knjiga koju započnem uvuče mi se pod kožu do kraja druge rečenice. Ima nešto meni jako privlačno u stilu, rečenici, likovima, zapletu, divna mi je ta složena jednostavnost, ta neizravna izravnost, ta banalna složenost, zaista uživam. Kao da balansira na ekstremno tankoj liniji između velike vjere i najperfidnije ironije. Ne-protivna je, a zvuči i privlačna je kao gnostička evanđelja. Valjda je u tome stvar.
Uzeti kao putnu literaturu na izlet u Jordan ili Izrael.
May 15, 2020
Великолепен роман. Чете се на един дъх!
November 19, 2024
hard, but worthy to read
This book is part of the historical/ biblical series of Gavran Miro. He manages through short chapters-impressions of different heroes build up a dynamic plot, and with minimal word count achieves a strong lasting impression, inspiring you to think about the human nature, change of human character and vices.
In this book he also is introducing the heroine character, that similarly to Judith in his other book is forced to play a dramatic role in the central character destiny. Although the central role of John the Baptist it’s not through the number of his personal narrative, but through the transformational impact on other characters lives he caused.
Another masterpiece of Gavran,where with minimalistic storytelling a strong drama is being told, leaving a reader with a long lasting impression and tormented thinking….
This book is part of the historical/ biblical series of Gavran Miro. He manages through short chapters-impressions of different heroes build up a dynamic plot, and with minimal word count achieves a strong lasting impression, inspiring you to think about the human nature, change of human character and vices.
In this book he also is introducing the heroine character, that similarly to Judith in his other book is forced to play a dramatic role in the central character destiny. Although the central role of John the Baptist it’s not through the number of his personal narrative, but through the transformational impact on other characters lives he caused.
Another masterpiece of Gavran,where with minimalistic storytelling a strong drama is being told, leaving a reader with a long lasting impression and tormented thinking….
January 19, 2014
Not as good as I expected it to be. Easy to read, dynamic but without memorable ending.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews