Reading 1001 discussion

3 stars

When searching for a book to read set in Albania Kadare's name came up many times and though I was more interested in a few of his other novels this was the only one that my small town library had on its shelves, so this was the one. I wish it had been another as I found this book a bit dull and found the structure choppy and disconnected.

The book's narrator is an artist named Mark, but every other chapter is a "Counter Chapter" which are stories and legends that come into Mark's mind. I found it very easy to be kicked out of the story thanks to that structure.

The book is set after the fall of the Hoxha regime and Mark is an observer of the happenings. There is a great deal of confusion, rumors and the return of some old Albanian traditions, such as blood vendettas.

It should have been a story I loved due to the intriguing setting, fascinating history and Kundare's quality writing. But I left the book unsatisfied.

Rating: 3 stars

I've read about 5 of Kadare's books, and this is my least favorite. I did like the way he incorporates Albanian folklore and history into his stories (that is a common theme in his books). I actually enjoyed the folkloric counter chapters more than the contemporary story line, even though I felt that they interrupted, rather than enhanced, the book's plot. The history of Kanun and blood feuds is interesting, but I think he did a better job of illustrating this in Broken April.

Pre-2016 review:

*** 1/2

At the end of the millenium in Northern Albania, a painter is involved involuntarily by his girlfriend in a murder committed by his brother. This is done against a background of Albanian society extirpating itself out of communism and tempted in some areas to reconnect with its past, as exemplified by the resurgence of the Kanun, an immemorial code of honor similar to the Italian vendetta. The story is interspersed with counter-chapters, detailing folk tales, Greek mythology events or possible versions of the truth from some events in the story, in a style that is reminiscent of Kundera. This is a multi-layered, at times poetic text which provides an idea of the struggles of the Albanian people in their transition out of communism. It will probably require a re-read at some point and it made me learn a thing or two about Albania, which was only renown to me until now for its tractor factories and its corruptible soccer players.

I like reading Ismail Kadare. This is the second book I've read. It is interesting to read about the Kanun. In this book, he sets an argument that the Kanun is more honorable than all the ways people kill each other now. I did not like the sexual content of this one. I found the story of the snake bridegroom very interesting. I found it interesting the diversions into the Greek Mythology and also the discussion of the Titanic. Albania is transitioning out of communism.

My fourth Ismail Kadare book and my least favorite of the lot, although I did find that Kadare struck an interesting balance between our Main Character's shaky interior musings, the legends and traditions of the old world that has just been allowed to resurface, and the confusion of the transition from Communism to an authoritative capitalism. The Main Character, Mark, doesn't seem to have much to do other than paint once in awhile and show up at the office once in awhile. He spends a great deal of time thinking about his girlfriend but doesn't see her that often throughout the time this book's events take place. His girlfriend entangles him in her brother's desperate act to provide a clear focus and idealistic purpose to his own life which backfires and causes the brother to forfeit his life entirely. The Main Character's paranoia rises throughout the book but doesn't culminate in any clear actions. I did find the musings on the Prometheus and the first theft of fire and the Greek concept of Immortality very rich concepts to contemplate.

This was my first book by Kadare, and I am pleased to see that others in the group think it is not his best on the list. That's what I was hoping, because I was vaguely disappointed by this one, and it's good to know I can look forward to others. I found the Albanian setting, the folklore, and the Kanun interesting - all new to me - but I thought Mark made a tedious main character.

Mark is a painter in a small town in Northern Albania. He is struggling with his art and struggling to come to terms with the situation in post-Hoxha Albania - stuck between looking towards a capitalist future and closer links with Europe or turning to the medieval rules of honour and blood of the Kanun .

I enjoyed the myths and stories that Mark muses on, especially visions of Death, the legend of Tantalus, and the marriage of a young girl with a bewitched snake, and I found the glimpses of the changing political situation fascinating.

I was less engaged by Mark’s relationship and artistic difficulties, they were too internalised and drawn too sketchily to really grab the readers attention. I also found the language slightly flat and off kilter - I read the book was translated to English from a French translation from the original Albanian so it is difficult to tell if the author or the translator made it sound so stilted.

I find Kadare an interesting writer but I thought this was weaker than Broken April.

The structural metaphors here are not subtle, but overall the book is effective. The opening scene is of a hibernating snake, recently unearthed by boys, poking it with a stick and a cluster of citizens debating what to do, kill it, warm it and care for it, or bury it again. This, we soon come to understand represents the situation with the fall of dictatorship in Albania and, like a sleeping, unearthed snake about to wake, of the old blood feud-governed tribal law of the mountains. The people have choices here. The other unsubtle metaphor sexualizes the land itself and the secrets of the dictatorship like the body of the protagonists lover. There a folk tale woven in about a woman who marries a snake, which meshes well, and riffs on the contrasting outcomes from the actions of Prometheus and Tantalus stealing the prerogatives of the gods (fire and immortality) to improve life on earth, which is more about the retribution of gods and so I was less sure of how it was applicable to the present moral dilemma of the characters confronting the resurrection of an old, bloody system of "justice".

I learned a lot about Albania from this novel, which I liked, and I enjoyed the alternating reality and myth-telling/dream chapters and counter-chapters as a way of showing me the emotional state of the characters and the complexity of loyalties to the past and future. But as is often the case with translated literature, the prose is frequently a bit awkward and I wonder if he doesn't need a better a translator, with a more poetic vision, to re-create in English what is lauded as great literature, to be compared with Kafka.

read Feb. 2025

I do enjoy Kadare’s writing. This is a short novel, but complex. Kadare seemed to be drawing on Albania’s history, along with contemporary times and Greek myth. Here the fall of communist rule has led to the resurgence of the vendetta culture of Albania. Kadare plays with the construction of a novel here, and I felt this was interesting although for me maybe not 100% effective. 4*

As with others here, I liked the Albanian myth/history bits but disliked the book's choppy structure. I listened to the audiobook and read and re-read several chapters but still got confused frequently. The ending left me just ... [shrugs]


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